North Dakota Class A State Tournament Day 1: Davies crushes Legacy, Roughriders upset Mandan
One state semifinal for Friday is set as Fargo Davies and Grand Forks Red River will meet for the third time this season and with a trip to the championship on the line in the Class A semifinals. Fargo Davies…
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Continue ReadingOne state semifinal for Friday is set as Fargo Davies and Grand Forks Red River will meet for the third time this season and with a trip to the championship on the line in the Class A semifinals.
Fargo Davies beat Bismarck Legacy 91-61 in the opening game of the day while Grand Forks Red River used stingy defense and got a game-winning tip-in from Cole Benson to upset Mandan 54-52.
Here are some takeaways from the first two games:
Game One: Fargo Daves 91, Bismarck Legacy 61
The Eagles offensive depth were on full display
Bismarck Legacy came out and started the game by trying to Box-and-One Fargo Davies, applying a single defender to Braeton Motschenbacher. That didn’t work for a lot of reasons. Motschenbacher finished the game with 20 points anyways, but it also didn’t work because Fargo Davies has so many guys that can do damage. Cam VanDam finished with 16 points. Cole Hage and Ty Satter added double figures in points. And in total, eight Eagles notched points in a 53-point first half. Davies knocked down 11 3-points in the game and saw eight guys score at least six points.
Fargo Davies’ size was a huge factor
The Eagles dominated the Sabers on the glass and the result was a blowout from the start. Th Eagles’ ability to create extra shot opportunities via the offensive glass is something that makes them so tough to stop. Not only does Davies have an imposing frontcourt with length and strength, the Eagles have big, long guards who can really disrupt things defensively. Harrison Thom, Satter, Grayson Haman, and Motschenbacher are all active defensively and VanDam and Jaden Klabo can both make life miserable for bigs and smalls alike.
Game Two: Grand Forks Red River 56, Mandan 54
Red River turned up the defense
Few teams in the state had the kind of offensive success Mandan enjoyed during the season. The Braves average better than 75 points per game and knock down nearly 40 percent of their 3-point attempts.
On the flip side, the Roughriders’ defense hasn’t been particularly stingy during the season either. They are okay on that end. But not elite by any stretch.
They were Thursday though, holding Mandan more than 20 points below its season average while frustrating every Brave not named Elijah Klein. They completely took the Wiest brothers out of the game and while Keshawn LaFramboise missed a few open shots, he was stymied by Rider defenders for a good chunk of the game as well.
Nothing Mandan did from the perimeter worked. Red River defenders were terrific not allowing dribble penetration and because of that, nothing was available at the 3-point line. Some of that was the Mandan offense being really stagnant. Some of that was its ineffectiveness setting screens (on the few that were set with any purpose). But a lot of it was the Roughrider defense just working hard, being disciplined and maintaining good position. They forced the Braves into countless turnovers including key ones late in the game which resulted in transition opportunities.
Red River was balanced offensively
The Roughriders weren’t particularly good offensively – only scoring 56 points while not shooting it all that well – but they were able to pull out a win thanks in large part to a number of guys stepping up. Brady Dvorak had a down game offensively, scoring just five points. But five scored at least seven including Will Obioha’s 13 (the only Rider in double figures) which helped offset Dvorak’s off day. The Riders showed they can win games without their star guard going off and while they’ll need him to play better on that end to win another game in this tournament, guys like Bryce Enerson, Benson and Kobe Springer stepping up and hitting timely shots gives them a greater margin for error.