East Central Confernece Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Today, we'll highlight a conference out west and one out east. First, we'll look at the Dunn-St. Croix Conference, after that, we'll shift our focus to a conference that sent two teams to the D3 state tournament in the East Central Conference.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kewaskum</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The reigning D3 state champions will look much different when they take the court this season. The three integral figures in last year's group Madi Dogs, Morgan Adams, and Julia Steger, are all gone and graduated. I don't expect this year's group to be as ready to go as last year's group early in the season, and even late in the year, they could still have some ways to go, but that's what happens after a senior class like the 2023s Kewaskum had left. Remember, this program has come a long way since the 23s got there because the year before Adams, Dogs, and Steger got there, the program had just wrapped up an 0-23 campaign.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Waupun</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If you ask anyone within the Warrior program, they feel like they left a lot on the table last season. Waupun's state title defense didn't go as planned. Most will still argue that since they made the state tournament and won their sectional again, they had an excellent season, and to an extent, I'd agree. If you ask [player_tooltip player_id='209617' first='Kayl' last='Petersen'], [player_tooltip player_id='209618' first='Gracie' last='Gopalan'], [player_tooltip player_id='374233' first='Lydia' last='Aalsma'], and Coach Aalsma, they'd say their goals last season were to win another state title. All of those figures from last year who experienced that disappointment are back again and are capable of becoming a dominant group in D3. I don't think there's a trio in D3 who has as much talent as the three D1 commits the Warriors will roll out, and I always say not to bet against Kay Petersen and [player_tooltip player_id='209618' first='Gracie' last='Gopalan'], and I won't start now.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kettle Moraine Lutheran</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Charges are an intriguing group over the next few seasons. The duo of [player_tooltip player_id='448261' first='Madeline' last='Leffel'] and [player_tooltip player_id='448257' first='Makenzie' last='Luehring'] creates a solid balance of offense and defense on their own, and that's not even mentioning how solid every KML team is fundamental. There's a reason that Waupun hadn't won a game in Jackson, against KML, in years before this past season. They aren't easy to contain, which won't change this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Winneconne</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Joey Perry leaving is arguably the most significant departure in any program in the conference. There are possibly two kids in the East Central who could put up 40 in a game, and Perry did it against Waupun last season. A loss like that is hard to fix without significant talent to fill that void.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Plymouth</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ava Miller and [player_tooltip player_id='448290' first='Campbell' last='Booth'] are two guards who'll decide how good this Plymouth team will be at the end of the season. Both kids are used to playing significant roles and will have the opportunity to help lift Panthers up the standings.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ripon</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='444785' first='Karsyn' last='Bauman'] is back and will have even more responsibility on the offensive end of the floor. The Tigers lost some college-level talent, but Bauman could have a standout season because she's physically capable of playing a high-usage role.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Berlin</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This Berlin group will have some size in the frontcourt with 6-0 junior Callie Kurzeck and 5-10 senior Jane Hoffman in the frontcourt. It's not often you find a team who finished last in their conference and had ten wins on the season, and I suspect they won't stay at the bottom next season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>My Predictions</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Waupun</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Kettle Moraine Lutheran</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Plymouth</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Ripon</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Berlin</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Kewaskum</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Winneconne</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list -->