PHD Playoff Central (ND): Championship Monday!
PHD Playoff Central runs through a big night of Class B basketball in North Dakota as District Championship games will be played throughout the state.
The Big Stage. There are ten District championship games this evening and we run through all of them today.
District 5. Carrington vs Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier. The best two teams in the district go head to head for the third time. Carrington won the first meetings 72-58 and 65-61. EKM senior Lane Hanson had 29 points in that game but didn’t get much from others. Carrington was led by 2020 Seth Nelson with 18 points, while seniors Garrett Bickett and Kolton Vetter each had 16 points.
District 6. Strasburg/Zeeland vs Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter. The District has one team with a winning record and that is the Imperials at 11-10. This will be the third game between the teams with each team winning one. They played twice and both games were close to the final minute. Both teams have caught a groove with the Imperials winning 7 of 9 and the Clippers winning 5 of 8.
District 7. Four Winds/Minnewaukan vs New Rockford/Sheyenne. Four Winds had found their groove hitting 11 in a row before losing four of five against some of the state’s best teams. Four Winds won the first game 64-56 and the difference maker was JaeShawn Shaw who had a game high 16 points. It’s more interesting because Shaw was at New Rockford/Sheyenne as a middle schooler.
District 8. St. John vs Dunseith. St. John has the combination of Dalton Prouty and Kyler McGillis and few in Class B can match watch they bring as veteran talents each and every night. St. John won the first game 86-71 but since then Dunseith has won 12 of 13 games and those wins include Bishop Ryan, Kenmare, Bottineau, Rugby, and others. St. John has been a dominating force though winning games by an average of 28 a contest and they are the highest scoring team in Class B. The second highest scoring team? Dunseith.
District 9. Shiloh Christian vs Standing Rock/Selfridge. Few can match the schedule the Skyhawks play and a big reason for that is to prepare this team for the stretch run and games like tonight. Shiloh Christian beat the Warriors by nine the first time but the Warriors have won 8 of 9 since then. Macauley Young is coming off a 20 point game in the semi-final helped by the four threes from Jaden Mitzel while Ghavin Willard and Rhias Archambault each had a dozen in their balanced win. Both teams have great balance and both are playing a lot of non senior guys.
District 10. TLMM vs Wilton-Wing. Can Trapper Jacobs and the Trojans beat Wilton-Wing for a third time? The first games were 65-60 and 70-57 but is the third time a charm? This is the same Trapper Jacobs who scored 50 early in the year. He may not need to score 50 to get this win but the Trojans need another solid night from their leader.
District 11. Rugby vs Velva. Rugby took out Bottineau, a team they have beaten twice this year, but now they have to figure out how to defeat Velva. The Aggies have won five of six games and in that streak is a 52-42 victory over the Panthers. In the previous game Velva was simply tougher. They forced 13 Rugby turnovers (Velva had 7), Velva won the rebound battle by ten, and they held Rugby to 30 percent shooting. Senior Ethan Schepp led Velva with 19 while Hunter Brabandt had ten boards.
District 12. Bishop Ryan vs Des Lacs-Burlington. Bishop Ryan won the previous game 76-52 and forward Anthony Vetter led the Lions with 21 points (one board short of a double-double), Mason Hedberg scored 19, and Benjamin Bohl scored 17 in the victory. Bishop Ryan held their opponents to 36 percent shooting for the game.
District 15. New Town vs Mandaree. New Town and Mandaree are the top teams in the district and they are changing a bit right now with New Town losing a couple of late season games while the Warriors have won five in a row and seven of eight. Overall these teams are similar in terms of scoring output and how well they have defended, but New Town has been able to put more games away. Will they put this game away?
District 16. Stanley vs Powers Lake. Powers Lake has been bouncing teams around for the past 5-6 weeks winning games big numbers with the exception of the Kenmare game in January which they avenged by 14 points over the weekend. Stanley received 17 from junior Seth Hetzel plus a double double from Wyatt Hanson. Powers Lake wasn’t able to to defend those two along with Kaedyn Hanson but that game was months ago and Powers Lake is playing better.