Postseason Report: Class B Wrap Up
Unless something unforeseen occurs, the basketball season has come and gone. There’s a lot to unpack from the last four months of hoops though and before we turn our attention to the AAU and offseason scene, let’s look back at…
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Continue ReadingUnless something unforeseen occurs, the basketball season has come and gone. There’s a lot to unpack from the last four months of hoops though and before we turn our attention to the AAU and offseason scene, let’s look back at the season that was.
Four Winds/Minnewaukan was a heavy favorite to win the whole thing
If there was going to be a Class B State Tournament, the heavy favorite to hang a state title banner was Four Winds/Minnewaukan.
The Indians checked every box. They had a go-to guy in Doug Yankton. They had a beast inside in Bronson Walter. They had lockdown defenders in JaeShaun Shaw plus Yankton. They had excellent shooters including Jayden Yankton. They had depth. They had athleticism.
The Indians passed every test, suffering just one loss all year while beating state tournament teams like Shiloh, Hillsboro, Rugby and Beulah. This team had the goods to win the whole thing after missing the state tournament the last two years.
Hillsboro/Central Valley Looked Like a Contender Again
Heading into the year, the other team considered at the top of the rankings was Hillsboro/Central Valley. The Burros were arguably the second best team in the state a year ago and returned all-state point guard Carson Henningsgard plus an excellent group of complementary players.
The Burros started the year on fire, blowing out teams like Kindred and Richland, but went through a weird midseason swoon that saw them fall out of the rankings. That created a bit of an underdog situation for Hillsboro and they crushed the competition in the Region 2 Tournament. Their defense was elite as they shut down Grafton and Hatton/Northwood on their way to the tournament.
They had a ton of positive energy heading into the tournament, they were peaking at the right time and they have the equity to be considered one of the contenders. Henningsgard has proven he can carry a team offensively and guys like Oscar Benson, Patrick Limke and Landen Reed showed they can impact the game on both ends of the floor. A potential semifinal matchup between them and Four Winds would’ve been highly anticipated.
The Bracket Broke For Richland – and the Colts Could’ve Made Noise
The Colts, similar to Hillsboro, didn’t have the stress-free regular season a team ranked in the top-five might expect to have. They took losses to region foes like Kindred and Enderlin plus Hillsboro, but reached the state tournament in part because the bracket broke right for them in the form of Enderlin getting upset in the first round and Kindred getting upset in the semifinal.
The Colts didn’t have to run the gauntlet in the Region 1 Tournament, but they were going to be a scary opponent in the first round of the state tournament – they would’ve played Four Winds/Minnewaukan in what could’ve been an awfully intriguing Thursday game.
Cole Myers turned in an all-state season and was on the list for Mr. Basketball. Carter Lingen was a steady presence at the point for the Colts and Gavin Reiland turned his game up in the region tournament.
High-Quality Seniors Ended Careers On Top
This has been mentioned before but the 2020 senior class was quite good across the entire state. The EDC and WDA are both going to be hit hard by graduation.
So is Class B.
The seniors that are graduating, get to leave their schools with a win in their last game – securing a region championship and a berth in the state tournament.
That ecstasy likely won’t ever be replicated (in a sporting arena) and it’s something those guys get to have as their last moment.
Jaden Mitzel carried the Shiloh Skyhawks to the state tournament. The 6-foot-2 senior forward averaged 25 points and 11 rebounds and was on the Mr. Basketball list. He’s going to Bismarck State, so he’s not done playing, but he went supernova all year.
The Richland core was all seniors and gave that team two awesome state-tournament seasons.
Doug Yankton was the engine for the Indians and while Four Winds will be good again next year (maybe the favorites), he was terrific over the course of his career.
Hillsboro’s gone through something of a golden era of hoops in recent years, with multiple state titles and incredible success. This senior class, led by Henningsgard, represented a potential fitting closing to that era as they were good enough to win a title or at least multiple games. While that likely won’t be realized, they won another region title.
Rugby went into the year with a ‘state tournament or bust’ mindset and the Panthers saw that through. With all-state caliber players in Jaden Hamilton and Trace Goven, they had a real shot at reaching a state title and winning the whole thing.
There were some great seniors who didn’t quite get to see a state tournament dream realized, but were otherwise amazing too.
Tyler Loe from Dakota Prairie.
Alex Wolfe and Avery Thorsgaard from Hatton/Northwood.
Chance Danner, Pierce Cooper and Clay Odenbach from Thompson.
The senior group at St. John with Bradley Defender, Tyreece Gunville and Zach Anderson.
Dawson Schaffer and Andrew Freier at Kindred.
The list goes on with so many high-quality players that are leaving their programs after making a big impact.
Some of these guys aren’t done playing basketball, but a lot are, and this is a heck of way to exit the stage.
Looking Ahead…
There will be deeper dives on this later, but out of this state tournament field, it feels like there’s a good chance that at least half of this group is turned over next year.
Enderlin was upset in the first round of the Region 1 Tournament, but will go into next year ranked in the top-five.
Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier waited nearly 30 years to get into the state tournament mix, but should be one of the favorites in Region 3 with Alex Huber plus several rotation pieces back in the mix.
Four Winds/Minnewaukan could be the top team in Class B again next year as Bronson Walter, Jayden Yankton and JaeShaun Shaw are all back in the fold.
Beulah was a top-five team in Class B and while the Miners graduate Jonah Larson inside, they return all-state guard Trey Brandt plus really solid pieces like Dawson Zuroff and Alex Battest.
Region 2 could be up for grabs with Hatton/Northwood and Grafton being the two favorites at this point.
Region 5 could be open for the first time in a while depending on what happens with Shiloh’s roster.
Rugby was senior heavy and while the Panthers return three excellent pieces, there will be more competition for them than this year.
Region 8 looks up for grabs with White Shield, Powers Lake and New Town all figuring to be strong.