North Dakota Preps

Who is the real deal n why. Who are the Cinderella teams to watch this year?

Rugby. I know I'm a bit of a Rugby fan, and they may have struggled this year, but after their win over North Star, we could see a 1v2 thing like last year against Four Winds again. It would be coming back from an early season loss and playing with a chip on their shoulder.

Four Winds has to be in the discussion here. Return a lot and have some kids stepping up well to fill voids left by graduation. They have the ability to defend well and put up points.

In region seven Beulah has been looking good and improving. Their marquee win of the season so far was beating Rugby. They also smashed number 10 Hazen and beat previously ranked hettinger/scranton. Elsewhere in region 7 New England had an impressive win over Trinity last week. The tigers host beulah tomorrow. And the heart river cougars are really fun to watch, well coached.

Both Four Winds n Rugby deserve respect. Is Oak Grove good or is it based off last years performance.

kingjames101 wrote:Both Four Winds n Rugby deserve respect. Is Oak Grove good or is it based off last years performance.

In my opinion, it's based off of last year, but they aren't bad. I think the decision to drop them to 5th or whatever they are now was good.

I've seen Hillsboro-CV play a couple times this year. They looked much better than I expected. Quick team that gets up and down the court with a lot of scoring threats. Not sure if they are as good as Cavalier in Region 2 but I guess we will see about that on Thursday!

Nice win for new england against beulah tonight. Could see them matching up again for region seven championship down the road.

3 ranked teams drop tonight

Linton def. #3 Central Cass 64-50
New England def. #4 Beulah 56-46
Griggs County Central def. #9 Hillsboro-CV 45-33

Two of those teams were undefeated (CC & H-CV).

Honestly, I don't think there will be a single undefeated team at the State Tourney this year.

Last ones standing are:
Solen (10-0)
Berthold (10-0)
Ellendale (10-0)
Strasburg/Zeeland (9-0)

3 ranked teams drop tonight

Linton def. #3 Central Cass 64-50
New England def. #4 Beulah 56-46
Griggs County Central def. #9 Hillsboro-CV 45-33

Two of those teams were undefeated (CC & H-CV).

Honestly, I don't think there will be a single undefeated team at the State Tourney this year.

Last ones standing are:
Solen (10-0)
Berthold (10-0)
Ellendale (10-0)
Strasburg/Zeeland (9-0)

I totally agree. Looks to be another great tournament of teams at The B. Always fun to have a Cinderella team.

kingjames101 wrote:Both Four Winds n Rugby deserve respect. Is Oak Grove good or is it based off last years performance.

They're good. Some of it is based off of last year, just like most of the teams that ended up ranked right away. They returned I'd say their two best players from last year's roster and still had some other pieces. So they're no slouch.

You better consider linton in this discussion. They havent hit the polls yet which is ridiculous cause the sportswriters have no clue. Well coached team with talent and wether you like them or not learn to love them cause they will be there!!!

brucenies@yahoo.com wrote:You better consider linton in this discussion. They havent hit the polls yet which is ridiculous cause the sportswriters have no clue. Well coached team with talent and wether you like them or not learn to love them cause they will be there!!!

Linton HMB is clearly the real deal. Strasburg Zeeland (11 and 0) is also likely to hit the poll soon.

From what I've seen and read about this year I would say there are 12+ teams in the state that are very very good.

brucenies@yahoo.com wrote:You better consider linton in this discussion. They havent hit the polls yet which is ridiculous cause the sportswriters have no clue. Well coached team with talent and wether you like them or not learn to love them cause they will be there!!!

Haven't you heard...the polls mean nothing.

Ask the 2012-13 State Champ where they were ranked?

just looking at schedule linton just beat an undefeated team in central cass and have 3 undeafted teams left on there schedule we will see how good they really are strausburg next good luck um

duh wrote:just looking at schedule linton just beat an undefeated team in central cass and have 3 undeafted teams left on there schedule we will see how good they really are strausburg next good luck um

Strasburg/Zeeland is no longer undefeated...Oakes won on a buzzer beater 25-footer tonight.

I recently read an ESPN article about whether or not it's better to go into the tournament undefeated and coasting or battle tested with one or two losses on your record. I think that it's better to have one or two losses early in the season than to coast all the way through. Just look at the state championship last year. Now I have my own feelings about the reffing, but that's beside the point. While Rugby may have been in one tough region, they didn't have the sting of losing like Oak Grove did. In the whole Berthold discussion, I'm not sure how much they've been tested. They'd be hard pressed to continue into the region tourney and play against Rugby and Our Redeemers again without losing. What do you think?

The polls do mean something, its a tool they use when seeding the top 4 teams for the state tounament. Dont be fooled! Their is no clear cut favorite in any region yet which makes it exciting! Thats one reason their is no consistency in the polls! After this weekend when linton beats strausburg they will have no choice but to put them in the polls. Rugby will beat berthold too. The cream WILL ruse to the top!

brucenies@yahoo.com wrote:The polls do mean something, its a tool they use when seeding the top 4 teams for the state tounament. Dont be fooled! Their is no clear cut favorite in any region yet which makes it exciting! Thats one reason their is no consistency in the polls! After this weekend when linton beats strausburg they will have no choice but to put them in the polls. Rugby will beat berthold too. The cream WILL ruse to the top!

They do not use the polls to help seed the state tournament. I believe I am correct that the coaches rank the teams and they average the coaches opinions out. Am I off on this?

d_fense wrote:

brucenies@yahoo.com wrote:The polls do mean something, its a tool they use when seeding the top 4 teams for the state tounament. Dont be fooled! Their is no clear cut favorite in any region yet which makes it exciting! Thats one reason their is no consistency in the polls! After this weekend when linton beats strausburg they will have no choice but to put them in the polls. Rugby will beat berthold too. The cream WILL ruse to the top!

They do not use the polls to help seed the state tournament. I believe I am correct that the coaches rank the teams and they average the coaches opinions out. Am I off on this?

d_fense is correct.

brucenies@yahoo.com wrote:The polls do mean something, its a tool they use when seeding the top 4 teams for the state tounament. Dont be fooled! Their is no clear cut favorite in any region yet which makes it exciting! Thats one reason their is no consistency in the polls! After this weekend when linton beats strausburg they will have no choice but to put them in the polls. Rugby will beat berthold too. The cream WILL ruse to the top!

No they do not use the polls when seeding the top 4 teams at state. Linton has recieved votes on the polls twice and they prob woulda been ranked in the 1st one had they not been handled at home by H-S. And whats your deal with Berthold a team that I highly doubt you have ever seen play. They are one of the more fun teams I have seen play this year and have maybe the best scorer in the state playing for them.

Berthold will FINALLY play somebody this week and then we will see. Im quite sure they will be no match for rugby. Beating up on weaklings certainly doesnt gauge how good they are. Ooo but their undefeated!!!

brucenies@yahoo.com wrote:Berthold will FINALLY play somebody this week and then we will see. Im quite sure they will be no match for rugby. Beating up on weaklings certainly doesnt gauge how good they are. Ooo but their undefeated!!!

I sense just a tiny bitterness here. Maybe it's just me?

brucenies@yahoo.com wrote:Berthold will FINALLY play somebody this week and then we will see. Im quite sure they will be no match for rugby. Beating up on weaklings certainly doesnt gauge how good they are. Ooo but their undefeated!!!

Yeah. Why so bitter. Your favorite squad must have been one of the "weaklings" you are talking about. They have been taking care of the teams they should beat. Cant blame them for that. If by chance they beat Rugby on Saturday, I spose you will say Rugby had an off nite and a bunch of other excuses. I haven't seen the two teams play yet, but I would expect a decent game. Im looking forward to watching it. This could very well be a preview of the region title game. Depends on Our Redeemers of course. They have a talented squad as well.