South Central Preview

Being that I am from Wisconsin Dells I follow the home team fairly closely, which means that I follow the South Central pretty close. I will admit that I focuses most of my attention to the top two teams in the conference Wisconsin Dells and Adams Friendship. This is because WD is my home team and Adams is really the only other good team in the conference. The remaining teams in the conference are pretty low level and they last few years the only teams with over .500 conference records are Adams and the Dells.

Once again the conference will come down to the top two teams. Adams was the state runner ups in division two last year but, took a huge hit when it was announced that senior Tommie Gaston, one of the top players in the state, will not be at Adams Friendship this year. Despite the loss of Gaston Adams should be right there with Wisconsin Dells for the top team. They bring back their top scorer 6'1 senior Lance Fritz who will probably see his scoring average increase even more with the departure of Gaston, and 6'4 junior Bryce Wormet, who was the sixth man last year but, showed some flashes of brilliance last year and I expect him to have a huge year.

Wisconsin Dells will also be a two man show with the return of 6'0 senior Jade Royston who was a 20 point scorer a year ago and 6'9 junior big man Nate Gibson. Royston has a very smooth shot from 15 foot out to through point range and last year really started to open up his game a bit by taking the ball to the hoop more. Gibson right now is pretty raw at this point but, he's 6'9 and that means he's a game changed. Gibson has a real nice hook shot that he uses with his back to the basket and from what I've heard has had a nice summer.

Mauston will probably finish third in the conference as 6'4 senior Tyler Tardiff is a returning first team all conference player and is another guy that had a strong off season. The Golden Eagles also have 6'0 senior Brian Hall back who average 10 points a game last year. Wautoma is next in line coming off a very successful football season and have three starters back including 5'9 senior Ryan Renner who average 13 points a game a year ago. Nekoosa brings back three starters and appear to have quite a few guys in the 6'2 and 6'3 range that should contribute. Westfield should be bottom of the barrel again as it appears that they do not have a player over 6'1.

Predicted Conference Finish
1. Adams Friendship 9-1
Wisconsin Dells 9-1
3. Mauston 5-5
4. Wautoma 4-6
5. Nekoosa 2-8
6. Westfield 1-9

All Conference 1st Team
Jade Royston 6'0 senior Wisconsin Dells
Lance Fritz 6'1 senior Adams Friendship
Tyler Tardiff 6'4 senior Mauston
Bryce Wormet 6'4 junior Adams Friendship
Nate Gibson 6'9 junior Wisconsin Dells

2nd Team
Ryan Renner 5'9 senior Wautoma
Brian Hall 6'0 senior Mauston
Logan Nelson 6'0 senior Nekoosa
Sean Wise 6'2 senior Wautoma
Tony Kuchta 5'11 senior Adams Friendship

HM
Jimmy Alvin 5'11 senior Wisconsin Dells
Nick Mittelstedt 6'1 senior Westfield
Parker Detjens 6'4 senior Wautoma

I know I was a little harsh to the rest of the teams outside of Adams and Wisconsin Dells but, the truth is no one else has really competed with those two teams since the conference lost Lodi and Poynette and added Wautoma. Tomorrow I will be focusing on the Big Eight conference and may be taking in the Janesville Craig vs Madison Edgewood game tomorrow night.