North Dakota Preview: Grafton
Matt Bigelow
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Grafton Spoilers reached the state championship game last spring, losing to Langdon/Edmore/Munich in the state title. Expectations will be sky high next winter, as they return all five starters from that team. </span>
<strong>Go-To Player: [player_tooltip player_id="98709" first="Carlee" last="Sieben"]</strong>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Sieben was awesome last year for the Spoilers, averaging better than 19 points and five assists, leading an efficient and explosive offense all season. She can score from all over the floor, as she’s a good shooter from deep, good at getting into the paint and facilitating at a high level. Grafton has excellent balance, so Sieben won’t have to carry them on a nightly basis. But when they need to get something good, she’s the one they count on to deliver.</span>
<strong>Breakout Candidate: [player_tooltip player_id="100425" first="Walker" last="Demers"]</strong>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Demers started and nearly averaged a double-double for the Spoilers as a freshman. She was even better in the Class B State Tournament. She’s terrific defensively, and does a great job rebounding both ends of the floor. As she gets stronger and more experienced, she’ll have a chance to be a dominant force.</span>
<strong>Question: Where Can The Spoilers Improve?</strong>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">There’s a reason this Grafton team will head into next season ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in the preseason. It’s awfully complete. It has a terrific point guard in Sieben. It’s got an anchor in the middle with Demers. It has experienced difference-makers with [player_tooltip player_id="197561" first="Cassie" last="Sieben"], [player_tooltip player_id="99806" first="Reagan" last="Hanson"] and [player_tooltip player_id="98713" first="Julia" last="Dusek"]. The Spoilers have size, experience, shooting, they space the floor, they share the ball and they defend at a high level. </span>
<strong>Season Outlook</strong>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Spoilers are going into the year as one of the legitimate state title favorites. There just aren’t a lot of holes with this team. They’ve got a winning history, excellent coaching and incredible experience. After getting to the state title game last year and coming up short, expect this group to be hungry and motivated all year to get back. </span>
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