Replacing six college-bound athletes might be daunting, but the Farmington boys' basketball team has its sights set on building on the success of last season's section runner-up finish. "Pretty much our whole senior class went on to play college sports somewhere, which you don't get very often," said coach Tharen Johnson, who enters this seventh season as head coach and 19^th in the program.

"That was an historic season for us last year, most wins in school history, first section final since [2000] …Great senior class, got three guys that went on to play college basketball…another guy that went on to play Division I [FCS] football," along with a couple playing junior college baseball "just a very athletic class." The team (21-8) set the school record for points in a season and won the section academic championship.

Senior Connor Todd was one of the first off the bench last season, "Yeah, we lost a lot of good guys, but we also have a lot of good guys coming up as well. We should be right back where we want to be…I've seen these guys. They come in every day. I know what they're capable of. And I think it's going to be very well for us."

Baiden Bean, a senior, is back at point guard, "Last year we were just a really good shooting team. We moved the ball very well. And we had a pretty dominant big man…Great player to play with. [Going to] miss him."

The Class of 2022 included Zach Cochnauer (football at Central Arkansas, 6 points/9 rebounds per game for Tigers last season), Kyle Hrncir (basketball/baseball at Upper Iowa, 20 points/6 rebounds per game, 1,000-point scorer for FHS), Sam Hoffman (basketball at Hamline, 13 points per game at FHS), Brendan Ebel (basketball at Hamline, 10 points/9 rebounds for Tigers), Zach Dohrmann (baseball at North Iowa Area Community College), and Connor Weed (baseball at Iowa Western Community College).

"Brandon Hrncir, Kyle's little brother, would have played for us last year, but he was out all season with a back injury," Johnson points out. "So, we got him back and he's getting recruited by a lot of Division II, Division III schools right now based off him playing AAU this summer. He's gonna be big for us."

"We're not going to be quite as big as last year. We do still have some height. We won't necessarily be as strong down low. We're going to have to play a little more perimeter type game. But we got a lot of guys that can slash and get to the basket. And we got some guys that can shoot. We'll still play a similar style, but how we attack might be a little bit different."

Bean says the players have been working hard, "That JAQS [training] program is definitely going to do a big thing for us, keeping everybody big and strong, getting everybody in the gym. Just all the work everybody puts in. We got a really good JV team coming in, won the conference last year. It's gonna help us win games."

Todd realizes a change of approach is needed after having a big, physical team last season, "I don't know if we'll have as much of that, but we're going to focus on our pace, and speed, and shooting. We'll be a fast team for sure."

He says the team has put in the work, "Basketball every day in the summer. So, we put in the time and it's showing out there…I just like seeing our potential. People might not think we're as good a team as we were last year. I think we can prove people wrong. So, that gets me excited."

Bean confirms, "I just feel like we got a lot of grinders on this team. I just got a good feeling about this team this year when it comes to grinding…Everybody's in the gym, hours every day. Everybody. Always coming here shooting. Texting each other. Getting rides to go shoot. Whatever they can to go get some shots."

The Tigers earned the top seed in Section 1-4A last season but lost to second-seed Owatonna in the finals. Lakeville North was the third seed, but Johnson figures the Panthers will contend for the top seed, calling them "top one or two in the state…them and Park Center…Eastview…I think we can be right behind those top two [in the conference]. Our goal is to hopefully beat a lot of those teams [in the next tier] and give them good games, play our best against Eastview, Lakeville North, see what happens."

"If you ask those players, I think a return trip to the section final is our goal…Get a top three seed so we're not facing [North] until the section final, and hopefully playing our best basketball at that point and give them a game," continues Johnson.

Todd knows the season goes through Lakeville North, "They'll always be a circle [the date] matchup. I'd say probably the toughest conference in the state this year with the Lake. It's always going to be a fun matchup when we play a conference opponent." Shakopee won the South Suburban Conference title in 2021-22 at 16-2. Farmington was second at 15-3.
               
Farmington opens with preseason Minnesota Basketball News No. 16 Hopkins on Friday, December 2 at FHS after falling to the Royals in a close game last season. Johnson says, "That'll be a good test for us right away." After a road trip to section rival

Rochester Century on December 6, the Tigers go to No. 10 Bloomington Jefferson who has one of the top juniors in the state according to Johnson on December 8. A non-conference home game against No. 9 Eden Prairie takes place on December 16, followed by an early showdown with No. 2 Lakeville North on December 20 at FHS. The Tigers swept the Panthers last season.           

Todd really enjoys playing in his home gym, "Oh, it's awesome. Nicest gym in the state, in my opinion. I love everything about it. And the [gray] court." Bean comments on their home routine, "Get our pregame speech in and pray also, is one of the things we always do."
               
There's an energy that comes with playing with a new group, says Bean, "They definitely have great experience over practice with our team last year because we were looking pretty good…definitely used to winning and I hope that carries into the varsity level…Get used to playing with everybody around. Get the chemistry down. Just take my role. Be more dominant. Get more shots up. Just keep working hard."
               
He's coming off a rewarding football season, rejoining the team as a senior after passing up his junior season to focus on basketball, "All the friends I have on the field, one of the big reasons. They were needing some guys to step up. So, I took the role to help out. I thought it would be fun…Just a great connection with all the coaches we had. And I hope we can connect with everybody else coming into this next season for basketball."

Johnson says the junior varsity had a great season last winter, "They were very good. We've got some good young players coming up that can hopefully step in…They practiced against all those guys all last year…hopefully will pay off for us this year."
"I like what we have. I think we're going to be right there again. Maybe not quite at the level we were at last year, but definitely a team to be reckoned with…Culture doesn't graduate. So, we hope those guys playing against that top level last year that they know what it takes to be successful, and that mindset is going to be there when it matters."

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