North Dakota Preview: Langdon/Edmore/Munich
The Langdon/Edmore/Munich Cardinals went into last year with state title hopes and left little doubt that they were the best team in the state, going undefeated on their way to a state championship. The Cardinals graduate two multi-year starters including…
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Continue ReadingThe Langdon/Edmore/Munich Cardinals went into last year with state title hopes and left little doubt that they were the best team in the state, going undefeated on their way to a state championship. The Cardinals graduate two multi-year starters including the Player-of-the-Year in Class B, Callie Ronningen Callie Ronningen 5'11" | PF Langdon/Edmore | 2020 State ND . Despite those losses, LEM will head into next year likely ranked in the top-five.
Go-To Girl: Morgan Freije Morgan Freije 5'10" | SF Langdon/Edmore/Munich | 2022 State ND
Freije averaged better than 12 points and five rebounds per game as a sophomore and emerged as a legitimate second go-to scorer as the team advanced through to winning a state title. She’s got excellent length, strength, athleticism and skill and she’s capable of scoring in a multitude of ways. With two double-figure scorers gone to graduation, Freije will be expected to take her game to another level as an upperclassman. And she’s good enough to be a 20 point-per-game scorer.
Breakout Candidate: Jaya Henderson
Henderson cracked the rotation for the Cardinals as an eighth grader, as the top scorer off the bench, averaging better than four points and two rebounds. She’ll have a big opportunity to step into starter minutes as a freshman and while she won’t have as much offensive responsibility as the departing seniors or the returning starters, her shooting, athleticism and defensive prowess will be needed if the team is going to keep winning. She’s long, athletic and skilled, and it wouldn’t be surprising if she’s one of the best players in the region as early as next winter.
Question: Will the Cardinals score enough?
Replacing the backcourt is going to be a challenge on a lot of levels for the Cardinals. The greatest one will be the shot-making ability that those two possessed when the game slowed down (which wasn’t all that often). Who fills that void? Freije figures to take on a bigger role all around. Kaylee Lowery and Lexi Olson should as well.
The defense is going to be good enough for this team to win a lot of games even if the offense never gets to what it was last year. But in order to beat some of the upper-echelon teams on their schedule, they’ll have to find a little more offensive juice.
Outlook
Despite graduating two terrific players, LEM is going to be one of the elite teams in Class B. They’ve got an excellent core back with Freije, Olson, Lowery and Henderson plus Marlee Hetletved. Count on an elite level defensive team and even if there are some offensive hiccups, there’s enough talent and experience to rack up wins and contend for a region title.