Class B State Tournament Takeaways
The Class B State Tournament concluded Saturday with Langdon/Edmore/Munich capping off an undefeated season, beating Grafton 51-44. Trenton and Rugby finished third and fifth. That’ll do it for the Class B season. Before moving onto full-fledged postseason and offseason things,…
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Continue ReadingThe Class B State Tournament concluded Saturday with Langdon/Edmore/Munich capping off an undefeated season, beating Grafton 51-44. Trenton and Rugby finished third and fifth.
That’ll do it for the Class B season. Before moving onto full-fledged postseason and offseason things, here are some of my takeaways from the state tournament:
LEM came back with a vengeance
After losing in the opening round of the state tournament last year to Kindred, the Cardinals have been on a mission to get back to that spot again and come through. LEM returned all five starters including all-state guard Callie Ronningen and proceeded to completely destroy the competition pretty much from start to finish. And once they got to state this time, there was no letup.
The Cardinals struggled on the offensive end of the floor in a few of the games, but their size, athleticism and defensive versatility proved to be too much for anybody to handle. Ronningen carried the load offensively for stretches with Morgan Freije and Kaitlyn Scherr coming through in big moments, but the defensive effort was so good that the Cardinals were able to weather suboptimal stretches of offense.
Defense was the story all weekend
LEM’s defense powered it to a state championship, but the weekend, in large, was dominated by strong defense. They held teams to 39.3 points per game – other elite teams. Grafton went into the state tournament as the No. 2 seed thanks to a high-powered offense that features three guards who can fill it up and make plays. The offense was a slog at times over the course of the three days, but the Spoilers’ defense held strong against Rugby and Trenton (arguably the third and fourth best teams in the tournament).
The teams that won in this tournament did so with terrific defense. Seven of the eight teams were held to less points per game than their season averages. Which shouldn’t be a huge surprise given they are going against some of the other elite teams in the state, but it can also be a little telling in that just about everybody had a hard time establishing anything on the offensive end of the floor.
Post Play Was a Bright Spot All Around
This could correlate with the defensive excellence that was on display throughout the weekend.
The collection of post players in this tournament was fantastic. Size is obviously important in girls basketball and that importance is heightened in the postseason when the game inevitably slows down and becomes much more halfcourt-oriented.
And the interior players brought it.
Hettinger/Scranton lost all three games it played in, but Sam Oase was undoubtedly a bright spot. The 6-foot junior center averaged better than 17 points and 11 rebounds. She had two double-doubles and excelled against some of the other top forwards.
Rugby is built on a strong interior and stalwart defense and Brooke Blessum broke out of her mini slump over the previous few weeks. The junior forward averaged 19.3 points and 6.0 rebounds, producing three double-figure scoring outputs and holding her own (or better) against elite forwards.
Shiloh Christian’s junior center Jacie Hall had herself a weekend, averaging 19 points and 7.3 rebounds. At 6-foot-3, she’s an interior presence on both ends of the floor and showed she can carry an offense throughout the weekend.
Grace Kelly of Shiloh, Mykell Heidlebaugh of Rugby, Jacee Turcotte of Trenton and Decontee Smith of Central Cass all had good moments throughout the tournament as well. And all four will be back next year for their respective teams.
Perhaps the biggest breakout player from the tournament was freshman Walker Demers of Grafton. The 6-foot-3 center was a defensive force, blocking more than five shots per game. She was active on the glass, averaging nearly 14 rebounds and she contributed as a scorer on a low volume.
Looking Ahead…
Based on this field, Class B should be strong again in 2020-21. LEM will bring back three starters including Morgan Freije who will be on a lot of preseason all-state lists based on how her sophomore season went.
Grafton will bring everybody back and likely goes into next year as the No. 1 team in Class B. The Spoilers will have all-state guards Carlee Sieben and Julia Dusek, plus Demers inside who will be expected to take a jump.
Rugby returns everybody too. The Panthers will be a top-five team in the preseason next year with the Blessums, Heidlebaugh and Tesha Sobolik all having a year now of starting experience.
Trenton graduates all-state guard Kaity Hove but returns four of its top six players including the St. Pierre sisters and Turcotte. That’s a top-10 team.
Shiloh Christian will bring back four starters including one of the best frontcourt duos in the state. The Skyhawks should be even better next year than they were this year.
Hettinger/Scranton and LaMoure/Litchville-Marion both lose strong senior classes but return the leading scorers from this season.
Central Cass surged towards the end of the year and the Squirrels will return eight key players from this year. Nobody averaged double-figures for them this season, as the strength was more in numbers than star power. That bodes well for a team that relied on a lot of freshmen and sophomores.
With all of those teams looking poised to either remain competitive or improve next year, plus teams like Kindred, Velva, Thompson and Four Winds/Minnewaukan all potentially going into next year as top-10 teams in the state, the Class B 2020-2021 season is shaping up to be a wild ride.