North Dakota Preps

 Here's one I'm putting in Legends, because some great gyms were in schools that have closed. 

My favorite all-time was Tolley ND.  closed about 1986 or so.  It was in a quonset, tile floor, you had to sit behind the baskets because on one side was the wall, other was the concessions and players chairs.  You didn't dare shower there, I'm not sure if they even worked.   It always seemed cold, I'm not sure if they even heated it.  I played lots of games there, great memories.  The cheerleaders had to reach down to like 6th grade to field a team. 

Also Kenmare at boys districts, as I stated in another post, that was BIG TIME!!

I would say Fargo North's or Williston's. 

Emerado!!

:D

botno and rugby both have good gyms. its always a good atmosphere during district tournaments at these places.

Trinitys gym is by far the most expensive....yet best floor to play on in the state

 

Ming01 wrote:I would say Fargo North's or Williston's.

I was at the DL/North game earlier this year.  I don't mean to pick on Fargo North, but the gym is nice, but not much bigger than my old class B school.  At least the students stood through the whole game, that was good.  The one thing I didn't see was the passion from the fans and students that I was used to in class B.  I mean this was a huge game and people didn't say a peep.  Now To me, the passion of the fans and players are as much a part of the gym, as the floor and bleachers. 

the Old Valley City High School Auditorium was a cellar of a joint. but the place rocked and the actually won games in there:shock: as opposed to their new gym which hasn't seen a HS BB home team victory...yet....

I would have to vote Rhame or Kulm, have to be the best places for a "home court advantage"!!!

point/center wrote:the Old Valley City High School Auditorium was a cellar of a joint. but the place rocked and the actually won games in there:shock: as opposed to their new gym which hasn't seen a HS BB home team victory...yet....

The high school auditorium, yeah that was quite the place. I swear there wasn't even out of bounds lines, simply bleachers. Don't they play their games at "the bubble"?

 I liked Richardton's gym, it was a fun atmosphere to play in.  The Taylor gym is also a good one!

NDSportsFan wrote:
I was at the DL/North game earlier this year.  I don't mean to pick on Fargo North, but the gym is nice, but not much bigger than my old class B school. 

Fargo North and Fargo South are identical gyms, they both hold about 2000 fans, if your old Class B gym holds that many then you had a great Class B gym!!

I remember playing in the old GF Central gym, what a pit, but fun to play in, they would have students up in the old balcony right behind the baskets, we would sometimes get spit on and of course sworn at... but put their loud band in their and a few hundred fans and the place was rocking!!

We practiced at Fargo North in 2000 during the State B and there was something about that place that made you want to play a game in there. But my favorite place to play was always the sports center in Devils Lake. We would usually play anywhere from 6-10 games a year there and it just felt like our homecourt everytime we were there. During regional tournaments that place was packed, standing room only and LOUD.

i agree with NATURAL TALENT. DL has the best atmospgere of any gym i have have been to this year. Night after night, fans pack the gym, and the student section is one of the biggest and loudest if seen. Even on the road they sometimes have more fans than the home team.

I played my whole highschool career in the Rhame "Coliseum".  It was always funny to watch teams come in there who have never played there before.  They always looked twice to see if the place would get any bigger.  During the 1995 and 2000 seasons when the Pirates were tough and the place was packed, it was the best for atmosphere.

Any gym has to be a great one.  Seriously, I live in Colorado, and they have huge gyms that could seat thousands.  How many people show up.  Maybe 100.  I like the small gyms that are packed with 200 people and loud as can be.  Pretty much all ND gyms.

Anyone old enough to remember the Crary gym or Warwick's old quonset they played in?  There was people stacked on top of each other, it was hot as heck and the crowds during a game like Warwick vs. 4 winds were absolutely nuts.  Crary used to be another crazy place when they were coop'ed with the school for the deaf, they had Kevin Aaronson and Russell Hoover and the little barn they played in was always packed.  I agree that the small gyms are fun to watch a game but as for the players its not so fun when the 3 point line is the out of bounds line also.

Class 'A' fans have nothing on class 'B' fans, I like the blue collar pride that most class 'B' schools bring to the table, they have a lot of rowdy fans and it makes for exciting and explosive games.

The Natural

4 Winds Indians Hoops Fan wrote:Class 'A' fans have nothing on class 'B' fans, I like the blue collar pride that most class 'B' schools bring to the table, they have a lot of rowdy fans and it makes for exciting and explosive games.

Absolute, 100% truth!

I played in the north gym this past year and i personally didnt like it because it changes from hot in one area to cold in another put thats my opinion

 

hey ndsportsfan, I also played in the tolley gym , what a riot. I dont remember if we showered there but i do remember there being salamanders lol. and no room on the sidelines. and another gym , that might still be used is the one in granville, that was a riot too. I played against a good granville team back in about 1980 with winkler ,irey, hiller, harmon, and they were really tough in there own gym.

 

 With all the consolidations and school closings in the small communities, gyms like that are a dying breed.  Thats' why I wanted this Legends catagory, so we could bring up some cool stories from the past.

Midkota Gym is a barn, Warwick "was" a barn. How can you forget that, We were ranked 2nd in state goin into both and it was just packed, loud as ever. I remember a guy on our team going for a layup in Warwick and getting fouled into the concession stand where 4 or 5 ppl were standing, thats how compact that place was. Minnewaukans gym is still tile. In 2001 when Cando was #1 in the state all year with Evan Lindahl, Shey-Minn gave them a run for the money, a shot at the buzzer to win, missed. That place was PACKED, standing room only, I am YET to see a place that packed! Small town ND, gotta love it!

so we've covered the barns. anyone play in a hole?

Edgeley for years played games in a hole. seating was about 20' above the court. no out of bounds except a wall.

Fingal a combination hole/barn.

Valley City does not play at the Bubble anymore. That whole deal started when Boschee was in High school. After he left and Went to KU, the fans still wanted the games at the Bubble. So the big games like Jamestown/VC and West Fargo/VC were played there and the other games were at the Audi. Now both teams play at the new gym (open for close to 2 years) up at the High School.

point/center wrote:so we've covered the barns. anyone play in a hole?

Edgeley for years played games in a hole. seating was about 20' above the court. no out of bounds except a wall.

Fingal a combination hole/barn.

Ha,Ha!  That paints a pretty funny visual in my head. 

bismarck century has the nicest gym. i saw 2 games tehre this year. it got remodeled last year and is brilliant