Is all that Falcon hype for real after six-win season in 2011-12? Many think it is, although Wayzata will be able to tell you first hand.

What you have here is your regularly tough program that gets 20 wins a year against a program that is really on the upswing. Wayzata will look a lot like it did last year while Armstrong has a nice transfer (James Morris from Maple Grove), a bunch of talented young players, and solid returning veterans including Minnesota-Crookston bound Konner Goettsche. Wayzata brings back top scorers Bradley Carlson and Zach Robertson and both teams have very good veteran coaches in Greg Miller and Phil Ward.

Konner Goettsche vs Zach Robertson: Wayzata has some bigger players than Zach that they can throw at Konner but Robertson is the best defender and he's a really tough kid. These two know each other very well after playing together in the fall and spring with the Minnesota Magic. Both can score away from the rim but can also do things around the basket.

Why Wayzata will win:

• Do the Trojans ever lose early? It doesn't seem like it. Basically every time you look in the standings and rankings in early January you see Wayzata and think, “wow, they are having a good year.” With several good seniors returning I don't see that changing.
• Wayzata has five guys back from a rotation that won 19 games in 2011-12 including two of their top three scorers. It's just simple logic to believe that a Phil Ward coached team that has been tough will remain tough with similar players.

Why Robbinsdale Armstrong will win:

• This should be a deep team that basically has some of everything at pretty much every grade level. It's a group that when discussed you keep saying “oh I forgot about him” because there are so many solid names that it's hard to remember them all. They have some size, speed, shooting, toughness, and good coaching.
• This is a group of seniors with something to prove for a lot of reasons. 1.) they won six games last year, 2.) there are good younger players pushing them for spots, and 3.) Goettsche, Morris, Mitch Biewen, and Nick O'Hara all averaged double figures last winter and return this year. Why wouldn't they be a tough beat?

Prediction: Robbinsdale Armstrong