PHD Playoff Central (ND): The Madness Begins Tonight!
PHD Playoff Central. The playoffs begin this evening with ten different districts in North Dakota kicking off District play. In addition, the first round games of the WDA are also being played this evening at St. Marys and at Dickinson. Throw in a Thompson versus Grafton/St. Thomas showdown as well as a few other games that were make-up contests and it’s going to be a great night of basketball watching in North Dakota.
The Big Stage. The Minot Auditorium and Watford City High School. Both venues have four games each this evening starting with ranked Bishop Ryan facing eight seed South Prairie tipping off in an hour and New Town tipping off with Trinity Christian also in an hour.
At Watford City the host team plays Trenton at six so they will have a good crowd, you have New Town which is a good team to enjoy competing, Billy Moran and Parshall take on North Shore in a classic 4-5 game, and White Shield vs Mandaree is the 7:30 nightcap.
At the Minot Auditorium the 3pm game is Bishop Ryan whopping up on 3-win South Prairie. Want to see one of the state’s best juniors? Benjamin Bohl will likely draw some college coaches. The 4/5 match-up is Glebburn vs MLS which really should be MLS putting up a load of points on the board as Glenburn gives up more points that most. Also in Minot you can get a good look at Our Redeemer who has Tayten Mau, Cole Anderson, and Leyton Lang, and then the night’s final game is Berthold vs Des Lacs Burlington who is led by Eddie White Bear.
Player to Watch. Cole Gendreau of St. Mary’s. The senior guard is one of the most explosive players in the state and tonight the playoffs begin for him against Williston. His team is home and Cole has a chance to get his team going with a huge first game playoff performance.
Not Playoffs But… Thompson is 17-3 on the season as is Grafton/St. Thomas. The Spoilers are home and this is a positioning game for Region 2. HCV is top at 19-1 with Thompson and Grafton/St Thomas right behind them with three losses each. With Marcus Niemann, Dalton Albrecht, and others are the line-up, beating the Spoilers at home will be a tough task. Thompson will counter with Cadyn Schwabe, Tyler Hegg, and others. A big game on a big night.
Coming Up. In the days and weeks to come, PHD Playoff Central will also add “Tip of the Hat to the Career” honoring top players who had their season just end, as well as “Upset City” running down the biggest upset from the night. And as always, Playoff Central begins with the big moments of the night.
Get ready North Dakota, the playoffs are here!