Familiar Faces Hope to Lead St. Michael-Albertville Boys to New Heights

The look on then-junior Michael Wiese's face from the floor of St. Cloud State's arena said it all. 

The Knights, seeded second in Class 8-4A, ran into a juggernut in Maple Grove last March, and the Crimson ended season earlier than expected. 

That bitter taste, and the return of three of its top four scorers, is fueling the Knights for a postseason run this year. 

"There is a lot of potential on this club. We're very deep at the guard position, and that's been a key to a lot of our teams," said head coach Tim Anfenson. "The guys are ready. They have to be. We have some pretty stiff competition early. We're going to find out a lot about ourselves." 

Wiese, a swingman, will be one of the team's returning leaders, along with guard Michael Mooney. Those two both averaged in double figures last season when the Knights, who struggled a bit out of the gate in 2010, found their groove in 2011.

Herbert Tapeh, a senior, figures to be the main inside presence with his athletic ability around the rim and 6-foot, 6-inch frame. Behind him is the physical Cory Rothstein, who can bang down low with some of the Mississippi 8 Conference's traditional big men.

"We lose a lot of size if Herbert isn't out there. But Wiese is 6' 4" now, and can work down there. Cory does a nice job filling in. Herb has just come a long way since freshman year and he's a guy we're looking to this season," Anfenson said.

Lost, of course, is 2011 MVP Joe Carpenter, who joined STMA's 1,000-point club in his senior year. Dain Krutzig, the team's point guard, has also graduated. Some of the players looking to step in will be Dain's younger brother, Cole, a natural leader, and senior Max Babb. 

"We have a lot of different offensive sets we can throw at people, and we'll get out and run when we have the opportunity," Anfenson said. "On defense, we'll stick with our traditional man-to-man. That's what we do." 

The team opened the 2011-2012 campaign with a huge win over Orono, the defending Class 3A champs. Last weekend brought a loss to Maple Grove on the road, but the Knights looked solid in a second half that almost made up for a sluggish start. 

"We're going to shoot from outside, and we have some guys who can do that," Anfenson said. "The thing is, the night we're off, we're going to have to drive the ball and get it inside. We can't settle for a lot of jump shots. Effort, as always, will be the key." 

The Knights' postseason run will go through Section 8-4A, which saw Maple Grove leave, but Rogers and Bemidji come in.

"It's going to be pretty wide open. We hope we're a team that improves as we go along, like last season, and we're there at the end. That's what high school ball is. You don't get two months to prepare for the season. It's two weeks and then time to go," Anfenson said. 

The Knights will host Section 8-4A opponent St. Cloud Tech at 7:15 p.m. Thursday night at St. Michael-Albertville High School.