North Dakota Preps

Hello all,

I just would like to be the first to mention that I believe Four Winds Boys Basketball deserves a #1 ranking going into Districts, they are the only remaining undefeated powerhous team besides PBK and they have depth, speed, shooting accuracy, defensive pressure and 2 of the best guards in the state averaging 20 ppg (Tony Ironheart) and 16 ppg (Kellen Littlewind) along with 3 other players averaging over 9 ppg.

It will be hard to stop the savvy, seasoned 4 Winds squad of who I have observed over the past 4 years and who have developed into a top notch team.

Make a run at the title boys.  Work hard and play how you know how.  Good luck. 

PBK is undefeated as well.

PBK will be #1.  Ashley is also undefeated. 

Is it PBK that dunks quite a bit? A friend of mine was telling me about them I believe, sounds like an exciting team. I remember our kids playing that 4 Winds team in Bismarck about 3 or 4 years ago, they had a very nice team back then. I'll alway remember the little guy that was maybe 5 or so at the time. He ran the warm up drills right there with the big kids and he made most of his shots also in his custom little uniform! And after we won the coach was very coplimentary of our little team as well. Seemed like a well coached group of kids that I thought had a very bright future.

Four Winds definetely has a good team. They should get a few votes for first going into the last poll of the year. However, come tournament time in District 7 and Region 4 a ranking doesnt matter because its a whole new season. Four Winds has also played a couple of close games in the district this year and who knows what Langdon in District 8 could throw at them. Justin Flink is as pure of a shooter you will find. Even with Four Winds being undefeated, I would still say that the top 4  teams in the district are very well balanced, it just depends on which team shows up to play. It will be an interesting next couple weeks, thats for sure.

I agree, Four Winds is a very good team.  They can shoot well.  They beat Belcourt I believe.

PBK is undefeated and I believe they will go #1

The only thing that 4 Winds lacks is the size.  I've seen them play and a big team will beat them.  You can't run the ball with out controling the boards.  PBK and their man-to-man full court pressure is going to be very tough to beat with a small team.  Teams just don't get the good outside shot against them.  It's going to take an inside team to beat them.  That's why in Region3 I don't think Ashley can match up with them.  The Florhaug kid is 6-4 and an unbelievable shooter from out.  Stick a small quick kid on him to try and stay with, him he posts him up and they can't stop him.  Going to be fun to watch them if they make it to state.  They have got three kids that can jam the ball.  I don't really know who deserves #1 but PBK has a good enough team to put 3 good games together and win state if they make it through Regionals.  Don't really see a complete powerhouse in the whole state.

I disagree, You are correct on teams need to control the board, but these kids are a threat from the outside and inside, They may lack height, but they do not lack strength.  Teams have tried to go man on man with this team but had to switch back to a zone, cause they were eaten up.  So I would invite P-B-K to play them man to man.  With the mechanics the Riley Smith and Quentin Lovejoy have down low, I don't think they will have a problem with getting some boards.  I have also watched Quentin Lovejoy play and he has taken on guys twice his height.  He is just a smooth player, and when the have to guard him, they will pass outside for a three pointer.  everyone on that team can shoot the three, and when they are on, they are devestating.   I don't think that P-B-K can play an up-tempo type of game these kids are used to, they play t his style on a daily basis. 

Ive seen four winds play a few times this year and as for an inside presence, they dont have one. That is where they will get beat. Smith is an okay player, get inside his head the first 2 minutes of the game and he gets nervous. Lovejoy is a garbage player, he cleans up anything in the middle. Against a taller team, their wont be anything to clean up. Four winds has exellent guard play, but they need a post presence if they want to win state.

Totally agree.  They will get eaten up by a team with size.  But they do have a very good team on the other hand.

I really have no knowledge to input on this situation as I haven't seen any of the teams mentioned above, however, if a big team can beat them, it leaves me wondering if such a team exists?

Yes it does.

If Averaging 14 points and 6 boards a game isn't an inside presents then I don't know what is, and the kid can shoot the three.  This will draw any post player out of the box and once that happens his ground game will dominate.