North Dakota Catchup: Region 2
The season is approaching its end. With less than a month left in the regular season, teams all across the state are hoping to be rounding into form and playing their best ball. With two months worth of interesting development…
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Continue ReadingThe season is approaching its end. With less than a month left in the regular season, teams all across the state are hoping to be rounding into form and playing their best ball. With two months worth of interesting development to this point, now is a good time to take a quick look at the landscape of hoops in North Dakota ahead of the postseason.
Here’s where things stand in the Region 2:
Hatton/Northwood the Favorite?
Going into the season, Hatton/Northwood was viewed as a potential top-10 team after a strong season a year ago and a really nice returning core. To this point, the Thunder has exceeded expectations in a big way. With just two losses to two very good teams, Hatton/Northwood looks the part of a team that can win Region 2 and make noise in a state tournament setting. This team has a terrific trio of scorers in Colton Konschak, Avery Thorsgard and Alex Wolfe, plus solid complementary pieces in Kelby Azure, Brett Foss, Carter Myron and Kyler Schwartz. The Thunder have have a handful of huge games to close the season, so we’ll know a lot more about this group in a couple weeks – but right now, they look legit.
Tommies Poised For Another Run?
The reigning state champs returned practically all the role players from last season, and while it has taken those guys some time to grow into leading parts, they seem to be doing it just at the right time. Chance Danner has been a monster inside, averaging 13 points and 14 rebounds and is one of the best defensive bigs in the state despite lacking elite height. Clay Odenbach joins him to form a strong, solid and gritty interior tandem. Jacob Dick and Pierce Cooper have come into their own as primary perimeter players and while this team doesn’t have the kind of explosiveness to win in any kind of game, they’ve been very good when they can slow the pace down and grind out games.
Can Hillsboro/Central Valley Get Right?
The Burros were the No. 1 (or No. 2 at worst) team in Class B heading into the season. For half of a year, they lived up to that, blowing out solid teams like Kindred and Richland while also beating Thompson without much issue. Since a 7-1 start, the Burros are 4-3 with double-digit losses to Four Winds/Minnewaukan (without Doug Yankton), Cavalier and Ada-Borup (a 33-point drubbing). Carson Henningsgard has been consistently solid and he’s got enough proven history that you can’t count out a team that he’s leading, but it feels like something is missing right now for the Burros. They don’t have great size, but they’ve got the athletes to compensate. Don’t count this team out, because they’ve got a lot of experience in big games, an elite talent and solid pieces. But they won’t go into the Region Tournament as the heavy favorite I thought they’d be before the season started.
Grafton/St. Thomas, North Border and Cavalier In The Mix
There are six teams with winning records in Region 2, which means there will be some awfully compelling games as early as the quarterfinal rounds. Hatton/Northwood and Hillsboro/Central Valley will likely head into the postseason with the top-two seeds. After that, it looks like we could be in for a bloodbath, as Grafton/St. Thomas, Cavalier and North Border have all been excellent at times this year.
Grafton/St. Thomas has retooled – effectively going from a team built on its size and strength in the paint, to a team that wins with terrific guard play. Junior guard Brandon Albrecht and Stevan Garza have been awesome all year. Justin Garza has been excellent as well. This team is young and they don’t have a lot of size, but this group has the talent to beat anybody in the region.
Cavalier went into the year with some hype given the Tornadoes were returning a number of solid pieces including potential all-state forward Andre Carrier. Carrier has been terrific all year, providing explosive and consistent scoring and solid defense and rebounding. Guys like Colby Thorlakson, Brodie Cluchie and Colton Ratchenski have provided steady play on the perimeter too. In a region where defense dominates, this team has the kind of firepower to make games interesting.
North Border has been a surprise team after being a middling team a year ago with 11 wins. The Eagles have taken some lopsided losses to Hatton/Northwood and Thompson, but just beat Cavalier last week. Matt Greendahl is one of the best forwards in the region and young pieces like Jaden Lee, Jaxen Johnson and TJ Cosley are playing well on the perimeter.