Region 2 Scores, Discussion

[d_fense]

I watched the NB and HCV. NB was the way better team. HCV forgot to play defense. They would be all over the rebounder and then get over half court and get caught watching the ball and not closing out on shooters.... The Point guard just kept going right and nobody got in his way and 33 was open all night long... The Buros are better than that and I will call it an off night.
Also NB coach... why leave your starters in basically the whole game? Pushing up the score? The push at the end by HCV could get one of your players hurt. He was not subbing until after the 1:26 or something and he saw HCV had all his subs in... then he called another timeout and put in his subs....
Also does NB basically just play 6 players?

I have no idea what the score was in this game. I have seen these teams A and B squads play other teams. To possibly justify the coach not pulling his starters earlier. I would guess the HCV B squanders probably doubled up the Eagles B squad. I could see them taking 10 points off a lead in 90 seconds. As a varsity coach, I’d be cautious too.

[BasketballMind]

Schedule tonight (2.18.21)

Larimore @ Cavalier
FSHP @ Barnes County North
North Border @ Hillsboro/Central Valley
Grafton @ Midway/Minto
Thompson @ Park River/Fordville-Lankin

Cavalier 77, Larimore 51
Barnes County North 58, FSHP 37
North Border 72, Hillboro/Central Valley 47
Grafton 78, Midway-Minto 77 (William Schuster scored 40!)
Thompson 55, PRFL 28

No games today.

[BasketballMind]

North Border vs. HCV

The score at halftime of this game was 32-27. Looked like it was going to be a classic game down to the wire. NB came out of halftime firing on all cylinders, scored 6 points in no time, forced a Burro timeout and never looked back. I may be a prisoner of the moment right now, but I haven't seen a team pass the ball as well as North Border does in a very long time. When HCV put a press on them, the Eagles players were zipping the ball around the court quickly, efficiently, and getting something anytime they turned that into an advantage. In the halfcourt, they passed the ball around so well, were very unselfish and consistently hit the open man at the right time. I don't know if that's the best game they've played this season, but it would have to be up there.

I think North Border is the real deal and are going to be very tough to beat in the Region tournament. What set it apart for me last night was they got the ball into the paint and scored around the basket with Stainbrook, Johnson, and Lee. Short corner/High Post stuff was there. It works for them because of their passing. If NB plays like that, they can play with anyone in the state. Can't say anythign else but kudos to them for coming in, taking care of business and getting a statement victory late in the season. I think their were some that thought their win over Grafton was, I don't know if fluke is the right word, but the general consensus came off that "Well they just shot the lights out, that won't happen again". They proved last night they're much more than a three-point shooting team. They play hard, they play good defense, and they are an unselfish group.

To answer a question on here, yes it looked like only 6 guys got into the game when it mattered, and really I only saw the starting 5 play 95% of the game until the bench went in. If they have a "weakness" it might be the lack of depth, but that starting 5 is far from a one-trick pony.

[RedDirtFan]

Lack of depth isn't a huge issue for high school kids with 32 minute games. The kids have to avoid foul trouble. I'm of the opinion that if foul trouble isn't an issue during the season (no idea if it has been for NB), then it shouldn't be come tournament time.

[Bison-Vikes #1]

Lack of depth isn't a huge issue for high school kids with 32 minute games. The kids have to avoid foul trouble. I'm of the opinion that if foul trouble isn't an issue during the season (no idea if it has been for NB), then it shouldn't be come tournament time.

Disagree. Reason why deeper teams have consistently won region and state tourneys. Three nights in a row, even regionals where they get a day rest, deeper teams wear them out 90% of the time. The few times a short bench wins is generally a senior laden team. Doesn’t happen very often.

[vikingman]

and the exception to that would be North Star

[justplayalready]

Lack of depth isn't a huge issue for high school kids with 32 minute games. The kids have to avoid foul trouble. I'm of the opinion that if foul trouble isn't an issue during the season (no idea if it has been for NB), then it shouldn't be come tournament time.

Disagree. Reason why deeper teams have consistently won region and state tourneys. Three nights in a row, even regionals where they get a day rest, deeper teams wear them out 90% of the time. The few times a short bench wins is generally a senior laden team. Doesn’t happen very often.

I agree 100%...take a team like Rugby this year. They began the year with only 7 kids that could give a meaningful offensive stat line in a varsity game. For a while they were down to 4, and they are almost back to 6 as of now, and should be going into regions with 6. Where it is showing itself is their inability to defend teams that have more than 2 offensive threats. They are unable to get back into games versus good to better teams as they are so poor/sloppy defensively. This is a direct product of their lack of offensive depth, the kids they rely on to provide offense don't have the energy to defend, and the kids that have the energy to defend/rebound cant score...You can hide it through districts, but a 3 game in 4 night region exposes them

[B Historian]

Life is cyclical. MPCG went to state in basketball in 2015. At that time, their football team wasn't far off from three straight winless seasons. With that said, MPCG has not been a basketball town (co-op) in a dozen years. I do believe they have a very solid coaching staff in place and they will NOT take much if any steps backward next season. If you would have told me as the beginning of the year, they may host a playin game I wouldn't have agreed. It will take a few years, but as long as the coaches remain in place I expect a steady rise in the standings.

It’s been said already, but the majority of their top players are seniors. Their JV hasn’t had a strong season and their junior high team had to pull up 6th graders to have enough kids to play. There will naturally be a dip due to lack of experience coming back. They play hard and are in the right direction. You can’t gauge everything on wins/losses over building a culture that will last for years. It’s the old saying of taking a few steps back to take a big step forward.

I get that everything goes in cycles, but this is arguably the most successful small town basketball program in the history of the state we are talking about! A down season at MPCG has historically been .500, not three to five wins. HIllsboro right down the road went through a long state tournament drought as well prior to the HCV coop forming, but there weren't many years where the Burros struggled to compete.

I was doing some research on 50 years of the Burros/Patriots rivalry and I realized that MPCG hasn't won a game in the series since 2014. For the two programs to be so far apart is strange when considering the history there.

The impact of CV can not be understated.

Agree that the impact of CV has been huge.

My point was that prior to the coop forming, Hillsboro was still quite competitive and didn't have a big down period like MPCG is going through. The enrollment advantage between the two programs has essentially flipped from when MPCG was the bigger school for many years.

[BasketballMind]

It is the 20 year anniversary of the 2001 North Border state championship and they'll be honoring that team in their season finale next week against Cavalier. That was also a team that didn't have a deep rotation, they really only played six guys as well. Would've been cool had a website like this been around during that season. Cando thumped NB early in the season (I think they won by 27) in Walhalla. When NB made it to the state tournament they weren't looked at as a threat to win the whole thing. Fargo Oak Grove was the defending state champions, Dickinson Trinity had a very strong team, and Cando was undefeated with the best player in the state leading the charge. Cando has recently uploaded that game to their YouTube channel for anyone that hasn't seen it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2bQp9-_GD8&t=832s

[vikingman]

1:04:30 is where the game was lost for Cando. Cando scored 16 unanswered points in under 2 minutes to get within 5. NB was totally out-of-sorts, then Lindahl had a sure shot spin out and NB turned it in to a fast break bucket and Cando never recovered.

Thanks for ruining my day.

[BasketballMind]

1:04:30 is where the game was lost for Cando. Cando scored 16 unanswered points in under 2 minutes to get within 5. NB was totally out-of-sorts, then Lindahl had a sure shot spin out and NB turned it in to a fast break bucket and Cando never recovered.

Thanks for ruining my day.

You’re exactly right on that miss by Lindahl. To this day I don’t know how that didn’t go in. He was having a monster game. Might have been from the NB guards being all over him from start to finish. They had 1.5 guys on him all game and they all took turns making him work every time he touches the ball. He was gassed at the end of the game when he fouled out.

[BasketballMind]

Last night only had one game in Region 2. Grafton vs. Langdon.

Grafton 63, Langdon 59.

No games today.

[BasketballMind]

Region 2 seeding left to be determined. Unless a major upset happens, our #1 and #2 seeds will be North Border and HCV. NB has Cavalier next Friday at home and HCV hosts FSHP.

Thompson and Grafton can swap 3/4 seeds depending on Friday's outcome between the two Grafton won the first matchup 53-33 back on January 5. I would anticipate Grafton takes this one, but weirder things have happened.

Hatton-Northwood @ D-VE (2 points. Hatton has a chance at the 5 seed with a win and a M-M loss. Even if they lose, they're locked in at 6 no matter what. DVE could jump Cavalier with a win and take the 7 seed. FSHP, MPCG and DVE all have a 6-14 region record.

MPCG @ Midway-Minto (2 points) Midway Minto can secure the 5 seed with a win. MPCG is in a 3-team tie for 8th place and could secure a home play-in game with a win.

PRFL @ Larimore. (1 point game) PRFL won the first game 51-45 on January 26. I believe the loser of this game will be the bottom seed and go on the road for a play-in game.

My Predictions.
#1 North Border #2 HCV #3 Grafton #4 Thompson

#5 Midway-Minto Defeats #12 Larimore (Play-in)
#6 Hatton-Northwood Defeats #11 PRFL (Play-in)
#10 MPCG defeats #7 Cavalier (Play-in)
#8 DVE defeats #9 FSHP

First Round: (Last time they played in parentheses)

#1 NB vs. #10 MPCG (NB 63, MPCG 40)
#2 HCV vs #8 DVE (HCV 51, DVE 42)
#3 Grafton vs #6 Hatton-Northwood (Grafton 58, H-N 51)
#4 Thompson vs #5 Midway-Minto (Thompson 68, M-M 52)

[defensewinsgames]

Is a win enough to move Thompson ahead of Grafton or would they then be tied and it comes down to point differential?

[defensewinsgames]

I haven't heard it talked about much here so want to point it out. The job the coaching staff in Thompson has done is pretty impressive. I look at the teams at the top of the region and it pretty well shook out where it was predicted except Thompson has rose up a few spots past where I thought they would be. I'm not sure if Coach George will get many votes for Coach of the Year in Region 2 but he should. Would definitely be my number one pick - got the most out of what he had in my opinion. I hate that it usually goes to who finishes in first or second (you have the most talent you should finish there that doesn't mean you did the best coaching job).

[BasketballMind]

Thompson can still be #2 if they beat Grafton.

https://kmav.com/standings/boys-basketball

This is right. I forgot Thompson only had 3 points against them in Region games. Two losses to HCV and one loss to Grafton.

[packers21]

I haven't heard it talked about much here so want to point it out. The job the coaching staff in Thompson has done is pretty impressive. I look at the teams at the top of the region and it pretty well shook out where it was predicted except Thompson has rose up a few spots past where I thought they would be. I'm not sure if Coach George will get many votes for Coach of the Year in Region 2 but he should. Would definitely be my number one pick - got the most out of what he had in my opinion. I hate that it usually goes to who finishes in first or second (you have the most talent you should finish there that doesn't mean you did the best coaching job).

Thompson will always have pieces to compete. BG has and always does a good job, no way anyone should win COY in Region 2 besides Moore from NB and I don’t think it’s close.

[defensewinsgames]

Ok so I see where you're coming from but they were picked high in the region then lucked into a top level transfer to the school (unless of course we want to make the argument he was recruited...). I'm not disagreeing he did a great job - you still have to coach the talent once you have it, I get that - but couldn't disagree more it is him and it's not close. Career achievement and how Moore has turned around that program yup I agree no doubt him...but...if it is based on coaching this season and the job you did this year I don't agree that no one should win it but him then I think George is right there in the discussion. Just my two cents I know everyone will have a different take.

[packers21]

Ok so I see where you're coming from but they were picked high in the region then lucked into a top level transfer to the school (unless of course we want to make the argument he was recruited...). I'm not disagreeing he did a great job - you still have to coach the talent once you have it, I get that - but couldn't disagree more it is him and it's not close. Career achievement and how Moore has turned around that program yup I agree no doubt him...but...if it is based on coaching this season and the job you did this year I don't agree that no one should win it but him then I think George is right there in the discussion. Just my two cents I know everyone will have a different take.

No worries fun to discuss, based on your comments here I would put Robinson from MM over George from Thompson. Absolutely no-one picked MM to finish and to be as competitive as they have been. Thompson, HCV and Grafton are just about yearly locks to be in the region semi-finals. Thompson has been better this year than I picked, but everyone knows these upcoming kids that have are no joke, so there is plenty of talent.

[defensewinsgames]

That is a really good point. Robinson has a very compelling case as well!

On an unrelated note, I heard a lot at the beginning of the season how Region 2 was going to be down so much from what they have been in previous years....I don't know if I agree with that based on watching this season play out. I think it isn't nearly as top heavy as previous seasons but think it is probably deeper than other seasons. If you go look at game scores for a lot of region 2 schools outside of region play (against region 1 and 4 in particular) a lot of region 2 teams (even the bottom ones) were competitive. I guess we will see how the region 2 champion does at the state tournament to get our answer but just because region 2 doesn't go into the state tournament as the favorite this year doesn't mean the region was way down like I have heard frequently.

[leroybla]

^^^^^^^^^^^written with the benefit of hindsight.

[BasketballMind]

Does each Region have a set number of all-conference players to get? Or is it a year-by-year basis and if there are more or less based on the talent that's how they decide? This is who I could potentially see being on the list. I'll miss a few so don't hold my feet to the fire, it's all off the top of my head.

North Border (Stainbrook, Johnson, Lee)
Cavalier (Cluchie)
D/VE (Pollestad)
Grafton (Garza, Albrecht, Jiskra)
Midway-Minto (Robinson, Schuster)
Park River/Fordville-Lankin (Hagen)
Thompson (Roller)
HCV (Limke, Anderson)
Hatton-Northwood (Konschak)
MPCG (none)
FSPHP (none)
Larimore (none)

That puts the team at 15, which is a pretty reasonable number.

SPOY: Steven Garza
COY: Danny Moore

Athletic Director: Whose turn is it?

[Flip]

AD was given out last night.
R2 has a limit of 15 All-Region, no ties. I suppose if they didn't have 15 nominees they wouldn't put 15 on the list.

[defensewinsgames]

North Border (Stainbrook, Johnson, Lee)
Cavalier (Cluchie)
D/VE (Pollestad)
Grafton (Garza, Albrecht, Jiskra)
Midway-Minto (Robinson, Schuster)
Park River/Fordville-Lankin (Hagen)
Thompson (Roller)
HCV (Limke, Anderson)
Hatton-Northwood (Konschak)
MPCG (none)
FSPHP (none)
Larimore (none)

That puts the team at 15, which is a pretty reasonable number.

SPOY: Steven Garza
COY: Danny Moore

Athletic Director: Whose turn is it?

I would go Cosley not Johnson for North Border, Justin Garza not Jiskra for Grafton, and then I think Koenig from FSHP and Sletten from Larimore are probably my last two not to make it (they would be 16 and 17 on my list - Johnson from NB would be there too). Other than those few changes though I would say you are pretty close to right on! I largely agree with your list.

[defensewinsgames]

Assuming I did my math right...The play-in matchups should be as follows:

Buys: North Border - 1 seed, HCV - 2 seed, Grafton - 3 seed, Thompson - 4 seed

12 seed Park River-FL @ 5 seed Midway-Minto
11 seed Larimore @ 6 seed Hatton-Northwood
10 seed MayPort @ 7 seed Cavalier
9 seed Drayton-VE @ Finley-SHP

Winner of PRFL vs. Midway would get Thompson
Winner of Larimore vs. Hatton would get Grafton
Winner of MayPort vs. Cavalier would get HCV
Winner of DVE @ FSHP would get North Border