North Dakota Preps

Interested in thoughts on the upcoming boys BB season.

New look in the district with Medina Pingree Buchanan moving to D6 and Oakes, Carrington and Midkota Kensal joining D5.

Lamoure LM will be the favorite but could potentially be challenged by the likes of Oakes, Carrington, Edgeley Kulm and Ellendale. Could be a very competitive season in District 5. I think top to bottom this year the district boasts a lot more talent than it has in previous years.

Really good crop of senior players including, but not limited to (sorry, not very familiar with BCN or MK):

Seth Aburrea, Carrington
Brady Smith Carrington
Bryce Meehl, Oakes
Carter Zetocha, Oakes
Tristan Meier, Oakes
Jon Tyre, Oakes
Blake Hollingsworth, Oakes
Anthony Olson, LLM
Parker Stemen, LLM
Chris Miller, EKM
Tristan Haar, EKM
Adam White, Ellendale
Kelly Hinton, Ellendale
Dahltin Pahl, Ellendale

Some other really good (non senior) players in the District include:

Drew Thielges, Jr, LLM
Quin Alo, Jr, LLM
Brady Warcken, Jr, LLM
Ethan Zetocha, Jr, Oakes
Brody Bartholmew, Jr, Oakes
Connor Entzi, Jr, EKM
Tucker Knutson, Jr, EKM
Tanner Zahn, Jr, EKM
Josh Foley, Jr, EKM
Alex Dathe, Jr, Ellendale
Brennan Vance, So, Ellendale
Hunter White, So, Ellendale
Luke Wertz, So, Ellendale

First thing I noticed is that there are many guys that have a shot at Senior Player of the Year. White from Ellendale is my front runner to get the award, but Meehl, Aburrea, Olson, and Stemen are right up there IMO.

MtGbCc wrote:First thing I noticed is that there are many guys that have a shot at Senior Player of the Year. White from Ellendale is my front runner to get the award, but Meehl, Aburrea, Olson, and Stemen are right up there IMO.

All great players, if any of these fine players get it, they will be deserving. Of course, getting their team to the state tournament is what they all desire above all else.

One of the cool things this year is that each of these players will have a pretty good team around them, which will make for some great battles.

Some thoughts on the District teams that I am most familiar with:

LLM - Olson, Stemen, Alo and Thielges are going to score points and defend. Warcken and Good provide good guard play and outside shooting. A key for LLM is depth. Hirshkorn is a very good athlete who continues to improve and Neil Podoll, if healthy, could be a factor with his height and shooting abilities.

Oakes - Coming off a tremendous run in their last season in Region 1, the Tornadoes are poised to pick up where they left off. They have a great back court combo with Meehl and E. Zetocha, good shooters in C. Zetocha, Tyre, Meier and Kuypers and very good all around players in Bartholmew and Hollingsworth. This team is going to be a tough match up for everyone in the region. They aren't very big but have learned to overcome this with great help defense and pushing the ball.

Carrington - Aburrea is a one man wrecking crew at times and that is often enough for the northern Cardinals. Smith, Edland and others will factor in as well in their inaugural season in D5/R3.

EKM - An exceptional junior class(Entzi, Knutson, Zahn and Foley) will lead the Rebels this year. Miller and Haar are back for their senior years and will continue to be effective. A number of others are also poised to contribute. I would not take this team lightly as they are talented and will play hard every night.

Ellendale - An interesting mix of experience and youth for the southern Cardinals this year. The lost a number to graduation but have a solid group back that saw time last year and a number of guys who are ready to step into the mix. Hinton, Pahl and A. White will provide good leadership. Vance, Wertz and H. White are 3 sophomores who could contribute and there are a number of others battling for time. If they can pull it all together, the southern Cards could be dangerous.

I simply don't know enough about what BCN and MK have this year to postulate anything on them. I do hope some folks with knowledge of these teams will contribute some info.

Valley City should have a competitive team.

Wait......

heimer wrote:Valley City should have a competitive team.

Wait......

I can't believe after all these years you're still upset about this. Get over it............

heimer wrote:Valley City should have a competitive team.

Wait......

LOL

My view on District 5

Teams
1. Oakes
2. LLM
3. Carrington
4. Ellendale
5. EKM
6. BCN
7. MK

Top Players:
Bryce Meehl-Oakes
Ethan Zetocha-Oakes
Anthony Olson-LLM
Drew Thiegles-LLM
Adam White-Ellendale
Brennon Vance-Ellendale
Connor Enzi-EKM
Seth Aburrea-Carrington

Money wrote:My view on District 5

Teams
1. Oakes
2. LLM
3. Carrington
4. Ellendale
5. EKM
6. BCN
7. MK

Top Players:
Bryce Meehl-Oakes
Ethan Zetocha-Oakes
Anthony Olson-LLM
Drew Thiegles-LLM
Adam White-Ellendale
Brennon Vance-Ellendale
Connor Enzi-EKM
Seth Aburrea-Carrington

Great stuff Money!

Does anyone have any info on Carrington this year? I know about Aburrea and Smith, will they have any size?

Carrington is kind of a wild card this year. They will start some very athletic kids in Abaurrea, Smith and Wendel but they won't have a lot of size. They do have a 6'3" - 6'4" sophomore (Edland) who will be a good player but he has limited varsity experience. They have some kids that can shoot the ball very well but were inconsistent last year. I would say Money has them about where they should finish. They will have the athleticism to pull off an upset or 2 along the way but won't be good enough to win games if they don't play well.

Dualsportfan wrote:Carrington is kind of a wild card this year. They will start some very athletic kids in Abaurrea, Smith and Wendel but they won't have a lot of size. They do have a 6'3" - 6'4" sophomore (Edland) who will be a good player but he has limited varsity experience. They have some kids that can shoot the ball very well but were inconsistent last year. I would say Money has them about where they should finish. They will have the athleticism to pull off an upset or 2 along the way but won't be good enough to win games if they don't play well.

What grade are the Smith and Wendel kid in?

Smith is a senior; Wendel is a junior

sportsphenom wrote:

heimer wrote:Valley City should have a competitive team.

Wait......

I can't believe after all these years you're still upset about this. Get over it............

This was meant to be humorous. EHS got it. You appear to be the one still upset about it.

Practice what you preach. You're a Class B kid. You preach a lot.