North Dakota Preps

just some thoughts for rankings and how next year will round-out.

Milnor will be the Region 1 favorites but there will still be some solid teams in the Region to give them a run.

What about Region 7? I think that FW-M will come out of R4.

footballislife15 wrote:What about Region 7? I think that FW-M will come out of R5.

btw...FW-M is from Region 4

Region 7 will be up for grabs in my opinion. Trinity, Beulah, and Hazen will be the favorites in my opinion. Trinity will be young with only one role player still there but they will be good just because they are Trinity. Beulah will have Casey Walcker and Jett Hettich being their big players. Hazen will be lead by Austin Cieslak but look for Wyatt Carr to step up and start right away after averaging about 20 on jv this year. Don't know a whole lot about district 13 though.

Region 1 Milnor
Region 2 ?
Region 3 LaMoure
Region 4 Four Winds
Region 5 Shiloh
Region 6?
Region 7?
Region 8?

Fill in the blanks.

letsrap wrote:Region 1 Milnor
Region 2 ?
Region 3 LaMoure
Region 4 Four Winds
Region 5 Shiloh
Region 6?
Region 7?
Region 8?

Fill in the blanks.

I do not think Shiloh will be the favorite out of region 5 because they lose their three best players, but I do agree on the other regions.

Region 2: Cavalier is likely favorite

Region 6: 3 options -> Des Lacs-Burlington, Rugby, Berthold (in that order)

Region 7: 3 option -> Hazen, Beulah, Trinity (in that order...Hazen & Beulah are tight though)

Not sure who would be favorite in Region 5 but wouldn't be shocked to see Shiloh win it again

Region 8: 4 options- tioga, new town, pharshall, and powers lake. Not in order it will be up for grabs just who puts in the most work this summer.

Region 5 will come down to Flasher and Shiloh. Flasher will have the experience by starting 5 Seniors, but Shiloh will have some very good Sophmores and Juniors. It will come down to who can handle the pressure at tournament time.

I think some of you are forgeting about Hettinger-Scranton from region 7

Region 4 four winds will be the favorite but ST. John and Harvey well county could be there by end of the season had nice young teams in the region tournament.

Region 7 also has some nice young teams in New England and Hettinger-Scranton.

People think that DLB has the District 12 title and possibly Region 5 title wrapped up. Berthold will be just as good. DLB plays 3 people on offense thats it, the other 2 on the floor are to catch the ball and look for Holte. If a team can get Holte or Duke in foul trouble, they are done because they have no bench.

DLB will be good dont get me wrong, but to say they have it in the bag is questionable

Region 2 - Cavalier might be a small favorite to come out of R2, but I wouldn't say they are much better than some others. I'm most familiar with Grafton, and I'd say they will be in the hunt again too. But to me, R2 doesn't look to be a very strong region again next year either. I just don't see any team showing any huge potential for a state title run. Unless, I'm missing something.

old#63 wrote:Region 2 - Cavalier might be a small favorite to come out of R2, but I wouldn't say they are much better than some others. I'm most familiar with Grafton, and I'd say they will be in the hunt again too. But to me, R2 doesn't look to be a very strong region again next year either. I just don't see any team showing any huge potential for a state title run. Unless, I'm missing something.

I think that this years tournament proved that once you get down there anything can happen.

packers21 wrote:

old#63 wrote:Region 2 - Cavalier might be a small favorite to come out of R2, but I wouldn't say they are much better than some others. I'm most familiar with Grafton, and I'd say they will be in the hunt again too. But to me, R2 doesn't look to be a very strong region again next year either. I just don't see any team showing any huge potential for a state title run. Unless, I'm missing something.

I think that this years tournament proved that once you get down there anything can happen.

Oh, absolutely. Anything can happen. But I'm just looking at the R2 field and I don't see anyone that wouldn't be considered a "long shot". Consider that we are currently saying Cavalier and Grafton may be contenders for the region title, and I'm not sure either of those teams will be better next year than they were this year.

packers21 wrote:

old#63 wrote:Region 2 - Cavalier might be a small favorite to come out of R2, but I wouldn't say they are much better than some others. I'm most familiar with Grafton, and I'd say they will be in the hunt again too. But to me, R2 doesn't look to be a very strong region again next year either. I just don't see any team showing any huge potential for a state title run. Unless, I'm missing something.

I think that this years tournament proved that once you get down there anything can happen.

I agree that anything can happen, but the teams that moved forward, made it happen....with that said Region 2 gets stronger next season Cavalier especially and I think District 3 improves....even though the new co-op HCV didn't have a huge year.... they will continue to grow together

when it comes to a Cavalier or Grafton team it boils down to off season (and I dont mean how much ECI or AAU) I mean are these guys playing together at the outdoor courts, are they hangin out giving praise and confidence to the ones coming up, are the upperclassmen challenging themselves, lifting weights, workin hard to capitalize on this season.....its going to be good!!!

My observation is that the level of improvement in kids once they reach their sophomore (or certainly jr.) year is marginal nowdays. Years ago, boys used to improve dramatically from their sophomore to senior years. Now, with all the youth ball being played, there just isn't the same degree of improvement during high school. These kids develop their skills in ball handling, shooting, and court sense much earlier. That is mostly set by the time they make varsity. The major improvements they make after that are limited mostly to physical developement. Obviously there are exceptions, but generally.

old#63 wrote:My observation is that the level of improvement in kids once they reach their sophomore (or certainly jr.) year is marginal nowdays. Years ago, boys used to improve dramatically from their sophomore to senior years. Now, with all the youth ball being played, there just isn't the same degree of improvement during high school. These kids develop their skills in ball handling, shooting, and court sense much earlier. That is mostly set by the time they make varsity. The major improvements they make after that are limited mostly to physical developement. Obviously there are exceptions, but generally.

Great post. Hadn't thought of it before but a lot of truth in this observation.

old#63 wrote:My observation is that the level of improvement in kids once they reach their sophomore (or certainly jr.) year is marginal nowdays. Years ago, boys used to improve dramatically from their sophomore to senior years. Now, with all the youth ball being played, there just isn't the same degree of improvement during high school. These kids develop their skills in ball handling, shooting, and court sense much earlier. That is mostly set by the time they make varsity. The major improvements they make after that are limited mostly to physical developement. Obviously there are exceptions, but generally.

I would agree thats true with the all stars the ones where its expected....yet on the contrary you dont knock off a NS or Beulah, with out unexpected improvement from a contender in the grades talked about....from Soph to JR, it can be both growth and skill, from JR to SR its above the shoulders (if worked on).....and when it comes to the "big stage" (regions, state) its NERVES, this type of experience can not be found, it has to be played out and set in a memory bank, or you just have to have been born with it.

Jack8 wrote:Region 8: 4 options- tioga, new town, pharshall, and powers lake. Not in order it will be up for grabs just who puts in the most work this summer.

I mostly agree with this, except for I'm not sure powers lake can compete without having any guards back...you also have to include north shore in this conversation as they lose i think 2 role players and bring back one of the top players in the region in jacob edwards. Also, watford will probably have a decent team as always. As for new town parshall and tioga, for parshall-they need to continue to mature and they will be just fine, new town-seems like they played under their talent level thos year, will only get better, tioga-will need to replace thompson's scoring and intensity, but will have plenty of senior leadership and that stubbs kid seems like he can only get better.

Thompson is done? I thought he was a junior this year. Yes I forgot about north shore and watford will be losing 6 kids after this year IMO they will not be too good. And yes powers lake will struggle unless they find some guards. Pharshall only loses 1 player same with new town.

My thoughts:

Region 1: Milnor - It's always so competitive, though. If Milnor gets to state again, I'd pick them to win it again. But now they have to play every game in the regular season and every game in the postseason as giant favorites. It's a different feeling. I still think they make it.

Region 2: Cavalier - This region will improve, because I think Cavalier will improve. They've got the muscle to compete. If they continue to improve offensively, they should get back to state.

Region 3: LaMoure-L-M - Olson, Thielges, Thielges, Stemen will be good enough, even if they have to find a bench somewhere. Look out for Linton's young guns, though.

Region 4: Four Winds-Minn. - Should be heavily favored, but a young North Star team could be good, and so could St. John and Harvey-WC.

Region 5: Flasher - Toss up between them and Shiloh. As someone said previously, Flasher has the varsity experience, but Shiloh is Shiloh. Those freshmen played well at times at state. I'll say Flasher since they'll have the best player in the bunch.

Region 6: DLB - Barely edging Rugby based on star power. DLB won't have depth, but it'll have plenty of experience, which could be enough. Berthold could be in there because of a dynamic backcourt, but they won't have much for size.

Region 7: Hazen - This is a toss-up among Hazen, Trinity, Beulah and possibly Hettinger-Scranton. Hazen's had many good teams over the years not make state, and oddly enough, it could be this team in a down year in the region that may get there.

Region 8: New Town - I'm guessing they beat Powers Lake for the region title after the Ranchers catch fire. It'll take them the whole season to get those young guards used to playing against pressure. I like New Town's balance and size. Watch out for North Shore, though.

Overall, I'd say Milnor in Region 1, LLM in Region 3 and Four Winds in Region 4 might be the three strongest teams in my field of winners, assuming my field were to get to state. Overall, I'd say Class B as a whole will be down again. But it appears that when that happens, the scores at state are closer, making for more competitive basketball games. Looking forward to it.

Jack8 wrote:Thompson is done? I thought he was a junior this year. Yes I forgot about north shore and watford will be losing 6 kids after this year IMO they will not be too good. And yes powers lake will struggle unless they find some guards. Pharshall only loses 1 player same with new town.

Yep he was a senior, you are maybe thinking of longie?