North Dakota Preps

First Round Central Cass & Thompson rolled. But, one out of the two Semi-Finals will be close, Rugby and Central Cass. The first half should be competitive, until the second half, where the Squirrels pull away and win by 12. As for the second semifinal even though I'm a Region 5 fan, no way Garrison keeps up with Thompson, the Tommies rolled by 20+.

Well the wheels fell off the Kenmare bus... They played not to get beat.... Girls were really tight and started yelling at each other..... Big Girl from Garrison was awesome on D all night long and did not let the Kenmare Bigs get going... Garrison was having fun... because that is what Basketball is supposed to be. Feel really bad for the Honker girls... I know they really wanted to play for the Championship but it was not meant to be.

BUT saying this was the most even matched tournament... maybe but still blow out games in the end.

You have to love the parity there is in Class B basketball. We are guaranteed a 1st time Class B Champion! (Looking at the NDHSAA records since 1974). Also, it looks like participation for girls is doing better than the last few years. I have not checked all the rosters, but it sure seemed like this years tournament has more seniors than we've seen in many years. For Rugby to have 9 girls still on the team as seniors is an incredible feat. Their program should be proud.

The Bowman County girls looked like they had a good plan to handle the CCHS press, but were not prepared for the strength and speed. Here's a tip for future teams, bring in your schools 8th/9th grade boys to practice against this type of pressure. The back up girls in Class B can't give your starters the look in practice to be prepared for that type of game.

LAEM battled hard, but in the end had too many turnovers. Would have been nice to see what would have happened if they could have defended the paint better and forced Rugby to shoot more 3's.

Thompson looked like the most complete basketball team yesterday. The share the basketball and move without the ball better than any other team in the tournament.

Garrison's dreams are still alive. They held it together after Kenmare/Bowbells jumped out to that early lead. TV timeouts will give Garrison a chance. Kenmare had a bad shooting night at the worst possible time of the year, but you have to give Garrison some credit for that as well.

I don't think Kenmare/Bowbells were beating anyone yesterday, Coach was blaming a lot on the refs and they had zero to do with what the game was bringing, also he was out Coached
Garrison has a Good Coach

One thing that will remain in Class B going forward with the new system, is a team with 2-3 players having the same last name and also most teams having minimal depth on the the Roster, I think we see tonight that CC & Thompson do belong in the new Class A but I don't think we see any massive blowouts, we'll just see the ability to sub in and sub out, every year we see a Cinderella in Boys and Girls and this year its Garrison even though they only have 2 losses for the season, they've really had to manage their resources...Hence Coach

I think an upset is possible tonight also

winner-within wrote:One thing that will remain in Class B going forward with the new system, is a team with 2-3 players having the same last name

It's been pretty impressive with Central Cass having at least 3 Cotton's on varsity the last 2-3 years. I think all 4 of the Cotton sisters may have been on varsity at the same time for a year.

It's hard to imagine why Rugby just let those last few seconds run out. Even 2 made free throws would still have been a one-possession game. They could have easily had 5 seconds or more to get a shot off.

4 very tight games on Day 2

Updated

How long has the Garrison coach been coaching? It doesn't say in the program.

In the first game the Kenmare coach was on the refs the whole game. He was much better on Friday. I thought #5 had a huge attitude in both games. She never thinks she fouls.

Flip wrote:How long has the Garrison coach been coaching? It doesn't say in the program.

In the first game the Kenmare coach was on the refs the whole game. He was much better on Friday. I thought #5 had a huge attitude in both games. She never thinks she fouls.

Kenmare's #5? Coach's daughter...

Flip wrote:How long has the Garrison coach been coaching? It doesn't say in the program.

In the first game the Kenmare coach was on the refs the whole game. He was much better on Friday. I thought #5 had a huge attitude in both games. She never thinks she fouls.

At least 10 yrs in Garrison. When we played Kenmare, coach did the same thing, was on the officials.

winner-within wrote:I don't think Kenmare/Bowbells were beating anyone yesterday, Coach was blaming a lot on the refs and they had zero to do with what the game was bringing, also he was out Coached
Garrison has a Good Coach

One thing that will remain in Class B going forward with the new system, is a team with 2-3 players having the same last name and also most teams having minimal depth on the the Roster, I think we see tonight that CC & Thompson do belong in the new Class A but I don't think we see any massive blowouts, we'll just see the ability to sub in and sub out, every year we see a Cinderella in Boys and Girls and this year its Garrison even though they only have 2 losses for the season, they've really had to manage their resources...Hence Coach

I think an upset is possible tonight also

Shameful behavior to be on the officials. I am not sure if Kenmare's coach still officiates when he has time, but he used to be an official.

Who was the outstanding senior athlete? Does anyone have any stats on her?

leroybla wrote:Who was the outstanding senior athlete? Does anyone have any stats on her?

Ellie Braaten, Ellie finished her HS career with 2483 points, 1010 rebounds, 751 steals and 676 assists. I’d say she’s pretty deserving, I think her and Crockett were head and shoulders above everyone else.

I'm sorry for asking, but, from where?

leroybla wrote:I'm sorry for asking, but, from where?

Westhope

Those are extraordinary stats (rebounds) for a player that's only 5' 3" tall! Does she expect to play next year in college? How many years was she a starter at Westhope-Newburg?

leroybla wrote:Those are extraordinary stats (rebounds) for a player that's only 5' 3" tall! Does she expect to play next year in college? How many years was she a starter at Westhope-Newburg?

Valley city

Very competitive games! Fun to watch. Great example of why people often predict the team with the best player in the tournament will win. Smith was the difference maker in both the semis and finals. Central Cass seemed to get in some trouble when they didn't/wouldn't run their offense through her. Thompson handled the CC press very well especially when you consider that a few of those girls are freshman.

packers21 wrote:

leroybla wrote:Who was the outstanding senior athlete? Does anyone have any stats on her?

Ellie Braaten, Ellie finished her HS career with 2483 points, 1010 rebounds, 751 steals and 676 assists. I’d say she’s pretty deserving, I think her and Crockett were head and shoulders above everyone else.

Crockett almost surely had better stats that Decontee Smith, but I'd argue Decontee is the better player. There is no way anyone can say that Crockett is head and shoulders above her. Can't comment on Ellie as I haven't seen her play.

east sider wrote:

packers21 wrote:

leroybla wrote:Who was the outstanding senior athlete? Does anyone have any stats on her?

Ellie Braaten, Ellie finished her HS career with 2483 points, 1010 rebounds, 751 steals and 676 assists. I’d say she’s pretty deserving, I think her and Crockett were head and shoulders above everyone else.

Crockett almost surely had better stats that Decontee Smith, but I'd argue Decontee is the better player. There is no way anyone can say that Crockett is head and shoulders above her. Can't comment on Ellie as I haven't seen her play.

I was refeering about the 8 girls up for senior athlete, Crockett was senior athlete in Region 1. So consensus among the coaches there too is she’s the better player, I tend to agree. Smith is very good too.

Final Thoughts on the Tournament

Awesome championship game. The improbable banked 3 by Thompson to send it to OT, then being in control early in OT to CC grinding back in their signature style. Crowd seemed pumped the whole game and made the last B of this kind really feel special.

Very good coaching by all teams in the winners bracket. Unfortunately there were a few plays that tainted some of the high level of play: going for 2 when down 3 with no time left, twice - including the Championship - I saw teams not foul when they should have, and maybe the worst was the infamous inbounds play in the semi finals.

CC always impresses me with their defense but their tenacity on the offensive glass is just as impressive. How many second chance points did they have in each game? Smith had a special tournament. How clutch were those 2 FTs in the semis.

COY has to be between Thompson and Garrison. Thompson played wonderful team basketball and Garrison squeezed out the most of 5 players than any other team in the tournament. CC and Rugby also great but they had more horses to work with.

Excited to see some of the Fab Freshmen grow like Sage, Hurst, Schlehr to name a few.

Every year I think the the state games are too physical, this year was pretty good but thought at certain times they let a lot go.

Great tournament but it's time to move on. Excited to see the new B next year!

packers21 wrote:

east sider wrote:

packers21 wrote:

leroybla wrote:Who was the outstanding senior athlete? Does anyone have any stats on her?

Ellie Braaten, Ellie finished her HS career with 2483 points, 1010 rebounds, 751 steals and 676 assists. I’d say she’s pretty deserving, I think her and Crockett were head and shoulders above everyone else.

Crockett almost surely had better stats that Decontee Smith, but I'd argue Decontee is the better player. There is no way anyone can say that Crockett is head and shoulders above her. Can't comment on Ellie as I haven't seen her play.

I was refeering about the 8 girls up for senior athlete, Crockett was senior athlete in Region 1. So consensus among the coaches there too is she’s the better player, I tend to agree. Smith is very good too.

Oh I see. Hate to be the coaches who had to make that pick in R1. Both were very deserving.