Steve Foley, who has come back to be the head boys’ basketball coach at New Ulm High School, was asked how much the game has changed overall over the past years.

“I think that the game itself has changed tremendously,” Foley said. “And I think that you look to the Golden State Warriors. They have a had a big effect on the game from high school to college. The game has now become more of a perimeter game — everybody wants to shoot the 3-pointers. It is either the 3-pointer or the layups. There is not an emphasis put on the post player anymore like there has been in the past. That is probably the biggest difference.”

Shane Heiderscheidt, the head coach of the Sleepy Eye High boys’ basketball team, agreed that the game is more of a guard-oriented offense.

“More of an NBA style,” Heiderscheidt said. “It is that guard-driven offense, but it would not hurt my feelings to have a 6-foot-8 post player.”

Heiderscheidt agreed that the true post player in high school basketball has gone the way of the dinosaur.

“Around our area, you do not see it too often (post player),” he said. “You are seeing more guards. Everybody wants to take a taste of the three-point line — even little kids. I do think that hitting the mid-range jump shot is also a lost art. And you do not see that size for a post player anymore.”

Craig Morgan, the head boys’ basketball coach at Minnesota Valley Lutheran, also acknowledges that the high school game has gone to a 3-point shooting philosophy.

“Kids are shooting the 3-pointer more,” Morgan said. “I guess that it is there to stay.”

“I think that kids like to sit outside when they shoot those 3’s.” he said. “Players like to shoot the 3-pointer, but they do not work on their inside game as much in posting up or the turn-around jumper, or drop-step. It is a lot easier to stand behind the arc and shoot it up.”

Morgan said the post player of today cannot be like he was 15 years ago.

“Then, all he did was post-up and sit in the middle of a 2-3 zone,” he said. “Now he has to be more athletic and go out and guard because other big guys are going out and shooting on the perimeter or take the 15-footer.”

FOLEY NEARS 1,000 CAREER POINTS: New Ulm High School senior Connor Foley enters his senior season at 860 career points. He averaged 19 points per game last year for the Eagles.

SECTION 2A TOUGHEST IN YEARS: Section 2A boy’s basketball may well be the toughest it has been in years.

Take the Minnesota Breakdown State Class 1A pre-season rankings. Springfield is No. 1, Mayer Lutheran is third, Cleveland is fourth, Cedar Mountain/Comfrey is sixth. Add in solid teams in BOLD, New Ulm Cathedral and others, and this section looks like the toughest in the state.

New Ulm Cathedral boys’ basketball coach Alan Woitas said that this year you could see an eight seed knock off the No. 1 seed and no one would be surprised.

Morgan said that there wouldn’t be any upsets this year in the section playoffs.

“Our section is the toughest I have ever seen,” Morgan said. “From top to bottom, it is strong. Any team can win it — even our sub-section. It is pretty amazing how strong it is. You have Springfield, you bring in Mountain Lake. There are not going to be upsets in the section playoffs.”

BREAKDOWN RANKINGS: Breakdown ranks the top boys’ players in the state and has listed local players. Listed are seniors Gavin Bates of Sibley East and Tanner Vogel of Springfield. Juniors listed are Isaac Fink of Springfield and Jake Kettner of Minnesota Valley Lutheran. Sophomores are Decker Scheffler of Springfield and Jon Zinniel of New Ulm Cathedral.

In the Breakdown Girls, the top local seniors are Madi Heiderscheidt and Sarah Ibarra of Sleepy Eye High School. The top junior listed is Joey Batt of New Ulm High School.

Breakdown also ranks Sleepy Eye 14th in the state in Class A. The Indians are also the pick in Section 2A with Cedar Mountain/Comfrey coming in fourth. In Section 2AAA, New Ulm is ranked third behind Waseca and Hutchinson.

In hockey, Luverne is ranked pre-season 10th in Class A with Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato 14th. In Section 3A, Luverne is the top ranked team followed by Litchfield, New Ulm, Marshall and Redwood Valley. New Ulm goalie Jack Raymond is the top-ranked goalie in the section.