Section 5A Basketball Preview

Dec 3

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

Section 5A Basketball Preview

Girls Basketball

Barnum Bombers

The Barnum Bombers are once again the Class of Class A as the Bombers enter the 2009-2010 basketball season as the favorite to be crowned the Minnesota Class A State Champion. The Bombers have made an impressive run to the state tournament over the past four seasons, appearing three of those four years. The Bombers finished third in 2006, in 2008 they were the Class A state runners-up and last year they finished third by beating Bigfork in the third-place game.

The Bombers will return all five starters again this season and will be led by senior all state player Katrina Newman. Newman recently chose UMD to continue her basketball career. Along with Katrina Newman the Bombers will feature Jessica Newman, Sarah and Katie Myhre and Leah Nordvall as the starting five that rivals any starting five in single A.

Head Coach Randy Myhre told Northland Sports Online that the key to the Bombers success will be limiting injuries and mistakes. The Bombers will not be as deep as last season with their two top players off the bench not playing this season. Even missing two players off last year’s team this squad has a lot of players who have considerable playing experience. Barnum will also have one of the toughest schedules in the state as they prepare for another playoff run.

Cromwell Cardinals

Head Coach Dave Foster always gets the best from his player’s year in and year out as they will be in one of the toughest sections in girls basketball this year. The top four teams in the section are all ranked in the top 15 in the state Class A opening poll of the season.

Cromwell had a respectful 10-15 record last season and should be a strong team again this season in the Polar League. The Cardinals return four seniors with extended playing experience and will be led by Arianna Korpela and her outside shooting ability. Ashley Collman, Tayah Johnson, and RaeAnn Odegaard are the other seniors that will help lead the Cardinals. Junior Lisa Peterson and Sophomore Makayleigh Cahoon will also see extended playing time form Cromwell.

Boys Basketball

Barnum Bombers

The Barnum Bombers may be the one of the teams flying under the radar this season as most teams will be looking at ML-WR, Cromwell and Esko in the Polar League. The Bombers might just sneak up on some teams and surprise them. Head Coach Richard Newman has an experienced and well-balanced team returning as Newman enters his twelfth season as the head coach.

Newman has a hardworking team returning and will need inside help to be successful this season. Josh Hogan is the team’s leading returning scorer from last season and will be counted on for a lot of the scoring. Nick White, Taylor Carlson, and Justin Newman all return with extensive playing time.

Barnum’s head coach Richard Newman has 224 career victories and a winning percentage of almost 75%. Newman will need to use all of his skills as a coach to make a run deep into the section playoffs in March. Newman will have one new assist coach as former player Josh Earlywine joins Mike Carlson on the coaching staff.

Cromwell Cardinals

The Cromwell Cardinals will return four players with starting experience this season, two are three year starters. Point guard Jordan Smith (1st Team All-Conference a year ago) and forward Ryan Hutar (All-Conference Honorable Mention a year ago). Cody Smith started every game a year ago and Nolan Wester started over half of Cromwell’s games. Jordan Suhonen, who started several games, broke his leg in football and will likely be out most, if not all, of the season.

Other key returners include seniors Tyler Envall, Shawn Anderson, Dustin Byer, and juniors Mike Hedin, Tyler Sulkowski and Pat Dahl. The Cardinals are expected to be a very competitive team both in the conference and section. Cromwell finished 16-9 overall last season and is a contender for both the conference and section championships.

Head Coach Bill Pocernich is assisted by Jeff Gronner again this season and as long as the Cardinals can remain healthy they should be a top team in the area. The Cardinals open their regular season on December 11th at Silver Bay.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com