Boys’ story lines

1. Farewell to a talented class

There have been talented senior classes in the past, but the current crop of seniors is perhaps the metro’s deepest ever, even without Gary Trent Jr., who left Apple Valley to hone his skills at Prolific Prep in California. And none of them will call Williams Arena home next year. Take this winter to see some of the best Minnesota has to offer — Champlin Park’s McKinley Wright and Theo John, Cristo Rey’s Jericho Sims, Maple Grove’s Brad Davison, DeLaSalle’s Goanar Mar, Lakeville North’s Nathan Reuvers — before they leave town.

2. Next class up

The talent pipeline in Minnesota has grown large enough that there are plenty of juniors to hang your hopes on. Chances are Apple Valley’s Tre Jones, the crown jewel of the junior class, won’t stick around. But Armstrong’s Race Thompson, Orono’s Jarvis Thomas, Cretin-Derham Hall’s Daniel Oturu and DeLaSalle’s Gabe Kalscheur are worth keeping an eye on.

3. Class 4A is up for grabs; others, not so much

Champlin Park has the edge on paper, but there is no clear favorite in Class 4A. Never count out Hopkins. Maple Grove welcomes back scoring machine Tywhon Pickford from a knee injury. Lakeville North coach John Oxton has a centerpiece in Reuvers to work his magic around. A dark horse could be Cretin-Derham Hall, with a group of juniors who appear ready to make the next step. In Class 3A, DeLaSalle is once again deep and aggressive, and its defense should carry it to a sixth title in a row. Minnehaha Academy is very young but very good in Class 2A, and Minneapolis North should be able to leap over the rest of the Class 1A field.

Jim Paulsen