North Dakota Preps

awesome video...lots of excitement...but that is a traveling violation in my book. Nice shot, but the Ref missed that one.

In the championship game, when it counted one of Ryans top players seemed to fall victim to the pressure..........it was a fantastic game , very physical, which I think helped Ryan..............If Ryan is to get a 3rd chance against Our Redeemers, they have to go thru Rugby then Drake-Anamoose, will be a super tough go for them if they have to expend to much energy just to get there.......Our Redeemers on the other hand has Bottineau, then Berthold or Sawyer, considerably easier bracket..........Our Redeemers seems to have it all, top notch point guard, talented height , and good 3 pt shooters.

packers21 wrote:

thefourwinds wrote:Here's the highlight from John Reiten's buzzer beater for ORCS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhyZEG4VSHk&feature=youtu.be

Pretty Awesome, why didn't the official grant the TO is my question.

We don't know. #31 (Demme) told me that ORCS did still have a timeout (which was why he was trying to call it, and, if you notice, #33 (Steede) even signaled for a timeout right after the miss). None of us knows whether the ref just didn't hear him because of the crowd, or perhaps the ref was so focused on Reiten going up the court that he was focused on all those aspects (would he get fouled? would he get the shot off before the buzzer? etc.), that it just didn't register that one of the players was trying to call time out.

In hindsight, it worked out really well for ORCS that the timeout was not granted.

UNDSiouxfan wrote:awesome video...lots of excitement...but that is a traveling violation in my book. Nice shot, but the Ref missed that one.

I wondered the same, but it was so close, and to gather himself for that kind of long-distance shot, I think a ref would have had to have been the Grinch incarnate to call traveling on that play.

There have been several posts in the Region Tournaments thread about who will win the Region 6 crown. I would like to move that conversation to the Region 6 thread. I have posted the bracket here also.

REGION 6
@ MSU Dome
March 7th, 8th & 10th

Monday, March 7th
G1: D11-1 Drake-Anamoose (20-2) vs. D12-4 Des Lacs-Burlington (12-10)
G2: D12-2 Bishop Ryan (18-4) vs. D11-3 Rugby (15-7)
G3: D12-1 Our Redeemer's (21-1) vs. D11-4 Bottineau (8-14)
G4: D11-2 Sawyer (12-10) vs. D12-3 L&C-Berthold (15-7)

Tuesday, March 8th
G5: Winner G1 vs. Winner G2
G6: Winner G3 vs. Winner G4

Thursday, March 10th
3rd Place: Loser G6 vs. Loser G5
Championship: Winner G5 vs. Winner G6

Before getting into who I think will win the whole thing - I would like to comment on the first round games.
1. D-A vs. DLB: I pick D-A. This is one of those games that could be an upset. It really depends on who shows up for DLB. When they run well, defend well and shoot well they are tough. Drake has size and outside shooting and that has worked well for them this year. I think they will be too big for DLB.

2. Ryan vs. Rugby: I pick Ryan. I think Ryan is having a great year and they seem to be getting better as the season rolls along. Other than a lopsided loss to Dunseith early in the season, their only losses have been to #2 ORCS and #3 Shiloh. I honestly don't know why they haven't been ranked in the top 10. Most likely because they haven't gotten a win against a top 10 team. Anyhow, Ryan was playing well in the District Tournament and should have beaten ORCS - that is both good and bad for them. They didn't close out that game. They have beaten Rugby head to head earlier this year. Rugby has lost 4 of their last 6 games - including the shocking loss to Sawyer. They are capable of playing well - pushed 4 Winds to the wire - but they are not playing well recently.

3. ORCS vs. Bottineau: I pick ORCS. This should not really be a competitive game. ORCS beat Botno handily this year. ORCS looked great in their district win over Berthold, then looked terrible in their game against Ryan. Either way though, I don't think Botno has the size or talent to pull an upset.

4. Sawyer vs. Berthold: I pick Berthold. Sawyer pulled the upset over Rugby and that makes them unpredictable. Berthold is very dependent on how well they are shooting the 3 and that makes them unpredictable. I give this one to Berthold based on overall performance this season, and Regional experience of the coaching staff.

What do other Region 6 fans think of my assessment?

The difficulty with picking this region is the lack of common quality opponents through the season. DA has a great record, but they were crushed by Rugby twice, and who else have they really played? Rugby can clearly beat DA, but they have not played well lately (don't know what's going on with them). Sawyer pulled off a big upset, but could they run the table? I'm skeptical.

On the D12 side, DLB and Berthold are both decent teams, but each would need a lot of help and good fortune to win the tournament. Ryan has played well, is a good team, and is well coached, but I agree, they just haven't been able to pull off the big win this year against any of the best teams.

ORCS still has to be the favorite. They have beaten Ryan twice so far, and I think the other night was Ryan's chance, but they couldn't close out. ORCS's only loss on the season is to Shiloh, and they have also beaten these other very good teams: Parshall, Beulah, and Dickinson Trinity.

As for your first-round predictions, I agree that is probably the way it will go. I think the biggest toss-up is Ryan-Rugby. Which Rugby team will show up?

Does ORCS have what it takes to beat Ryan for the 3rd time this year, or does Ryan come out on top? What's your opinions?

I'm going with Bishop Ryan 65 / ORCS 61.

Sticks11 wrote:Does ORCS have what it takes to beat Ryan for the 3rd time this year, or does Ryan come out on top? What's your opinions?

I'm going with Bishop Ryan 65 / ORCS 61.

As much as I enjoy pulling for the underdogs I am going to predict ORCS wins this one. They are playing better ball in this tournament. In the second round, ORCS and Ryan played very similar opponents in Berthold and DLB. Ryan escaped with their lives by one point, ORCS crushed Berthold by 40. I don't see Ryan scoring 65 points against ORCS when they haven't scored over 50 in their first two Region games. Going player by player through the lineups of both teams, I pick the ORCS kid in almost all situations. I think ORCS has a better and deeper bench. There is a difference in the experience of the coaches and that does favor Ryan. During the season, ORCS has shown themselves able to win tight games against tough opponents (coming from behind to beat Trinity and Ryan). Ryan has lost their close games against tough opponents (Shiloh and ORCS).

All that to say that I think ORCS wins tonight by 10.