Friday’s Best: Previewing & Predicting the Night’s Top Games
Big Games? North Dakota has them tonight. And we run you through the key contests before they tip-off.
West Fargo Sheyenne vs West Fargo. This game is very interesting. Both teams have two losses (one to Fargo South each) and of course West Fargo won the first game by nine while Sheyenne is the only team that has beaten Davies. You also have Joe Pistorius and Zach Westphal, the two top guards in Class A going at it. Westphal likely comes into this game with a bigger chip on the shoulder. Westphal scored 19 but didn’t quite have the game he wanted in the first one while Christian Kuntz had a game high 28. The Mustangs didn’t get enough from the rest of the team while the Packers had four in double figures and seven with multiple scores. Watch that Lennon/Hajric match-up in the paint.
Mandan at Minot. The Magicians were momentarily an afterthought. That was until they beat Bismarck. Minot has won nine of ten and the last game with Mandan was a one score contest. Mandan also recently beat Bismarck only they squashed them. Mandan needs a good performance heading into the playoffs and this would propel them. Cam Steckler led Mandan with 24 points making two-thirds of his dozen attempts to lead Mandan while Peyton Lamoureux made half of his 14 shots scoring 19. The Magicians are the home team and may not have the names they’ve had in the past but they are balanced like they usually are. Minot is putting it together when they usually do, they get the W.
Rugby at Dunseith. The Panthers had a tough start to the year but have since won 9 of 11. Wins over Bottineau and Four Winds recently have Rugby believing and Dunseith is next up. The Dragons also started a bit slow before winning nine straight. Dunseith beat Rugby in the holiday event 69-55 and they are the home team. The names of Dunseith are familiar: Azure (Koby and Treagan), Peltier (Lawrence and Taylor), Poitra (Drayton). Taylor Peltier and Hunter Gladue are names to watch while Rugby has Landen Foster and Trace Goven, two players were are really high on at PHD. Home team wins? Yes but this won will be closer than the last game.
Stanley at Our Redeemer. The long and impressive schedule of the Knights has produced a 16-2 record, pretty good. And Our Redeemer is the home team! Will the Knights catch a Stanley team that seemed invincible but has recently lost two games and is inspired to get back on track? Or is Stanley slipping at the worst possible time? There are a lot of good senior pairs in Class B with Wyatt and Kaedyn Hanson being at the top of the list. Tayten Mau and Leyton Lang want to prove they are pretty good too. Stanley wins but this will be good.