Postseason Report: WDA 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.
Bismarck Was The Biggest Surprise In the State
Heading into the season, it was impossible to know what to make of Bismarck. The Demons were graduating everybody from the season prior and while the team was okay the year before, the fact that there weren’t any sophomores or juniors good enough to crack the rotation gave a feeling that a rebuild was coming down the pipe.
It took one game for that notion to go out the window. The Demons unleashed fury on opponents all year, utilizing depth and pace that no other team could play with and piling up high-volume numbers.
The strength truly was in numbers. There were some standouts – Gunner Swanson emerged as an all-league player on the wing and Treysen Eaglestaff was a microwave scorer as a sophomore – but the real weapon for this team was that it could throw bodies at people on both ends of the floor.
The Demons won the WDA Tournament Championship and reached the state semifinals with a legitimate shot at winning a state title. They’ll go into next year ranked no lower than No. 2 in Class A.
Jamestown’s Junior Class Was Even Better Than Expected
This can’t be understated: Jamestown was never going to be ‘Boden Skuberg and friends’ this season. The Bluejays were always going to be good this year because the junior class coming up was highly-touted. Carson Lamp and Jacob Hilgemann were both rotation players as sophomores and played on the top ECI 16U team over the summer.
There was hype for that group and a big reason why the Bluejays – when at full strength – were the favorite to win the state championship.
They were better than expected. They were a top-four team in the state without Skunberg. They reached the WDA championship game and lost in overtime to Bismarck without Skunberg. They could’ve won a state championship without him. That is because of that junior class.
Lamp took a big sophomore-to-junior leap. Brooks Carroll was an all-league player and arguably the best shooter in the WDA. Keith Levin emerged as a rock-solid interior piece. Shea Carroll and Hilgemann were excellent playmakers and role players.
Jamestown will be the No. 1 team in Class A at the beginning of next year because of that class.
Dickinson’s Seniors Delivered
Dickinson was viewed as a darkhorse plucky bunch heading into this year. After winning just eight and seven games the previous two years, the Midgets had the potential to make a jump. And they did it, winning 15 games and reaching the state tournament.
The main reason was an excellent group of seniors. Jaiden Wright and Kobe Krenz combined to average 45 points per game, forming the best duo in the state. And Tallon Klatt was a defensive anchor, averaging nearly nine points and nine rebounds.
The league had seven teams that could legitimately duke it out for a playoff spot and this group stepped up its play in big moments, helping realize that potential.
The League is Losing Some Excellent Seniors
North Dakota as a whole, is losing a lot in the 2020 class.
The EDC is getting ravaged by graduation. Class B as a whole is as well.
The WDA is set up to be good next year with a lot of talented sophomores and juniors, but there’s no way to shake it other than that the league is going to be losing some incredible players.
Skuberg’s been the best player in the league each of the last two years.
Minot loses a three-year starter in Jaxon Gunville plus an excellent group of seniors including Easton Larson, Derry Lentz and Tucker Olson.
Mandan’s been one of the best teams in the state for a long time and two guys who have been at the center of the Braves’ success the last three years are Elijah Klein and Jaxton Wiest. The Braves will be good again at some point, but replacing arguably the best point guard-big man duo in the state isn’t going to be easy.
Bismarck Century graduates Cade Feeney, who was one of the best two-way players in the state and the catalyst for the Patriots the last two years. A team that has grown used to having more talent than just about anybody, Feeney was the only truly reliable player this past year for the Patriots and losing him creates a massive void.
Jaxon Wiseman from Bismarck St. Mary’s was better than his numbers. Wil Olson from Williston was a stud. Rhett Clements was a force for a Bismarck Legacy team that was better than expected.
There are some awesome players returning next year, and good players always emerge – but the 2020 class as a whole was awesome.