North Dakota Preps

How's this one play out? It should be a good game. Heard last night that Zach Miller is out for a few weeks because of an appendectomy. These two teams always seem like they play each other tough.

Sticks11 wrote:How's this one play out? It should be a good game. Heard last night that Zach Miller is out for a few weeks because of an appendectomy. These two teams always seem like they play each other tough.

I went to Rugby's game last night against WN and yes Miller is out for awhile. It should kind of balance out as Weston isn't due back until about tournament time from what I've heard. Maybe someone else has more info on that. I don't make predictions but have seen both teams and hopefully it will be a good game. Rugby plays a lot of kids, but it looks to me like they are struggling (defensively and in ball handling) to find replacements for the two starters that they lost from last years team. On paper at least it should be a good one.

Awesome to hear about Weston!

Before the Ramsey Co championship I would've said Rugby by 15, but North Star really gave FWM a run. I think it goes right down to the wire either way with Miller out.

Depends on how its called...interested to see if Kvilvang and Heidlebaugh match-up.

If it's loosely called I don't see Kvilvang wanting to deal with Heidlebaugh's creating space with contact...Rugby will open it up and if the shooters get the home touch, I'd say Rugby by 20-25...

If Heidlebaugh gets a few touch fouls early, Kvilvang should get space to work and it should be a closer game. NS guards are young but experienced, and Rugby's perimeter defense is suspect if Heidlebaugh is forced to stay down with Kvilvang

Rugby leads 20-18 at the half.

End of third: NS up 36-35

Rugby took Kvilvang out of the game and no one else could score. Plus, they couldn't stop Heidelbaugh.

Final: 52-41 Rugby

It was obvious that losing Weston would hurt the NS offense, but I don't think anyone foresaw that the offense would being as scoring-challenged as it has proved to be so far this year. It's been a long time since we've had a shooting percentage as poor as this. At least when Weston comes back, it will force opponents to play a completely different defense than what they can do right now, it should open things up a LOT when that happens.

Both teams have a lot of things they can look back at and know they could do a better job of after tonight's game.

I was very impressed with how well Hovland defended Kvilvang. He did get help, but I thought he really worked hard and made it difficult for Kvilvang to get any good looks.

It really would have be fun to watch these teams play at full strength. Hopefully they both have everyone back soon.

I agree with what hoops247 said, especially about Hovland guarding Kvilvang all night.

I certainly hope North Star shoots the ball better than they did last night it was horrible shooting with a lot of good looks.

I'm sure when Weston returns they are a whole different team once he gets his basketball legs under him and the rust off.

RHS played very mediocre and no matter when Miller returns, they have many things to work on, but the Team concept that has carried this program the last 2+ years, in certainly different now,as players dont look for each other and its noticable. But then, as some pointed out already, RHS really hasnt replaced the strong frontcourt play they have had the previous two seasons.
Last noteworthy thing is this, similar to in last years state Tournament, where Rugby almost"shot" themselves out of every game by taking way too many 3's and making very few?
Well last night they did it again...and when they do that they let average defense squads guard them as a team. RHS needs to penetrate, or get theball into a post, high or low, and maybe then, if there is a kickout pass to the perimeter, THEN they can take the three...otherwise Rugby forces it way to much and that is the Achilles heel of this team.
Heidelbaugh can only carry a team so far, as he did last night, but many times he ended up going one-on-one, one-on-two or one-on-three...if this doesnt improve by Regionals??

Hovland was assigned to Kvilvang but it was hardly him that guarded him the entire game. It was a complete team effort defensively something Rugby should be pretty happy with. They dared the other guys to beat them and got away with it. I have seen Sears, Komrosky and Heisler (besides the 3rd) and even Hunt play and shoot better than that. Heidelbaugh should always take anyone one-on-one anytime he gets the chance, he completely took over that game, dominated the boards and scored at will. Think he has 17 straight team points at one time.

I respect everyone's opinion, but to under-play the effort Hovland gave last night is unfortunate. NO ONE is going to hold down an all-state player on their own. Also Rugby did play some zone, which they rarely do, so obviously others were involved in keeping Kvilvang under his average.

so I mean it could actually happen that neither of these 2 teams make it to the State Class B tourn?

both being a severely tough out @ regions though??

LOL...winner...be nice...

winner-within wrote:so I mean it could actually happen that neither of these 2 teams make it to the State Class B tourn?

both being a severely tough out @ regions though??

NS is certainly going to have to improve a lot to beat FW/M.

winner-within wrote:so I mean it could actually happen that neither of these 2 teams make it to the State Class B tourn?

both being a severely tough out @ regions though??

"I'm picking up your sarcasm." "Well I should hope so, cuz I'm laying it on pretty thick."

I don't see the remark on NS having to improve a lot -- They lost to two top ten teams by an average of 11 pts, without one of the best players in the state on the floor. Having Weston would totally change our offense, defense and rebounding capabilities. When (if) he comes back, that will be worth more than 10 pts per game if he can play close to 100%.

And tonight we beat a top 10 team without having Weston. We remain a low-scoring team, but those 3 top-ten teams averaged only 53 pts against us, so we must be doing something right.

vikingman wrote:I don't see the remark on NS having to improve a lot -- They lost to two top ten teams by an average of 11 pts, without one of the best players in the state on the floor. Having Weston would totally change our offense, defense and rebounding capabilities. When (if) he comes back, that will be worth more than 10 pts per game if he can play close to 100%.

And tonight we beat a top 10 team without having Weston. We remain a low-scoring team, but those 3 top-ten teams averaged only 53 pts against us, so we must be doing something right.

Please don't take my comment as a dig at NS. I'm a NS fan, but from afar, so I don't get to see live action much. I did see the 2nd half of the Rugby game, and what I saw in the 4th quarter was not pretty. Rugby pretty much took Kvilvang out of the game, and dared the others to shoot. Heisler made them pay in the 3rd, but some of the bit players couldn't make uncontested 10-12 ft shots. That's what has to improve. Also, I made my comment assuming Weston WON'T be back. Certainly, that would change the equation. But you can only play the games with the players you have, not the ones you wished you had. Do I think the current roster can play with FW/M? Sure, they proved they could stay within 10 of them. Do I think they can beat FW/M on any given night? Not without some improvement.

I would say after watching NS in Cavalier that their biggest deal will be getting the shots to drop....many open looks that didn't fall....they would have won big had the ball fell through the hoop...shooting percentage had to be below 40% (guess)

Cavalier didn't get as many shots off I would say, yet had a few that didn't fall also...the 2 teams IMO on a night where they are both clicking later in the season would be pretty even steven .going to be a fun finish this year in Class B....and yes with Weston playing I would have to say NS would be dangerous