The Rotation: West Fargo Sheyenne
West Fargo Sheyenne went 22-5 last year won the EDC and finished second in state overall. What do they have ready for an encore?
Must Be Replaced: Zach Westphal, Kemal Hajric, Keaton Ballestad, Elijah Charles
Zach Westphal scored 20 points a game and was an all-state honored player. Kemal Hajric led the EDC in rebounds at a wild 11.8 per game moving whomever he needed to collect the ball. Ballestad and Charles didn’t get the headlines their senior teammates did but they were both very important pieces on the wing. The Mustangs could count on Keaton and Elijah to give them a combined 7-8 buckets a night in an efficient way.
Returning Starters: Christian Kuntz
Kuntz put up 17 points and 4.5 assists a game as a key playmaker. Christian took about a dozen shots a game and made half of them, he made more than 40 percent of his threes, and nearly three-fourths of his foul shots. Christian then went ahead and played a valuable role for ECI this summer. Kuntz will enter the year as a preseason all-state player.
Stepping into Bigger Roles: Blake Berg, Tyler Terhark, Chuck Dubois
Some of these guys did start for the Mustangs at times but we wanted to keep them together to specify how important all three were to last year, and how important they are to the future. Berg, Terhark, and Dubois were dependable young players on a team that became the best in the conference and the second best team in the state at Class AA. Terhark is a guard that battled for five boards a night plus 3-4 scores and now he will be a backcourt tandem with Kuntz. Berg will be the third backcourt threat while Dubois may not have got the time that his fellow sophomores did, his size at 6-foot-3 will be needed in a big way.
Future. Jonah Williams, Zion Dettmann, Nathan Goldade, Jacksen Moni
Williams will help up front at 6-foot-3 while Dettman will provide guard depth. The Mustangs are not afraid to play young guys and Jacksen Moni is a good young player who will be a sophomore. Another sophomore to watch will be Ben Manson as well as Barika Kpeenu.