North Dakota Class B Burning Questions
Basketball season is right around the corner. Teams are firing up practice this week and games will be starting in less than two weeks. With that in mind, here are some things I’m curious about heading into the season: Will…
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Continue ReadingBasketball season is right around the corner. Teams are firing up practice this week and games will be starting in less than two weeks. With that in mind, here are some things I’m curious about heading into the season:
Will Kindred be even better in 2019-20 than it was in 2018-19?
Kindred was one of the three or four best teams in Class B throughout last year’s regular season. Then the Vikings went on a tear and crushed the competition in the postseason on their way to a state title. The scary thing is that four starters are back for that team. Abby Duchscherer might be the best player in Class B despite being just a sophomore and dominates on both ends of the floor in ways few others in the state are capable. The Vikings relied on a lot of underclassmen last season and with those players, in theory, getting better with age, Kindred is going to be incredibly tough for anyone to beat this winter.
How much state tournament turnover will there be?
This is an interesting question pretty much every year and after last year’s state tournament saw five new teams reach the B, it doesn’t look like there should be quite as much turnover this year. Kindred and Thompson will be favorites in Regions 1 and 2 again.
Kidder County came out of Region 3 and while the Wolverines will have stiff competition (from Carrington in particular), they return a great core led by all state guard Madelyn Schmidt.
Langdon-Edmore-Munich returns everybody after reaching the state tournament out of Region 4. Callie Ronningen is one of the best all-around players in the state.
Shiloh Christian came out of Region 5 but graduated five seniors. The Skyhawks figure to be in contention again in that region, but it appears to be one of the more wide-open ones.
Rugby reached the state tournament again last year but graduates a huge core of the team. Velva looks like the favorite going into the season from Region 6.
Hettinger-Scranton is one of the best teams in Class B and returns two all-state players. That makes the Night Hawks an easy favorite from Region 7.
Trenton went 25-2 last year to get to state out of Region 8 and the Tigers should be the favorite again in 2019-20.
Which team/player will surprise?
This one is always what makes the season enjoyable as there are always teams that seemingly come out of nowhere to become state tournament or title contenders, or even just really solid teams after years of struggle. Kidder County went 15-7 two years ago and won 24 games last year while reaching the state tournament. Trenton went 16-7 two years ago and won 24 games last year while reaching the state tournament. Teams can make that kind of jump and do every year. Which teams can make that jump this year?