North Dakota Playoff Central: Feb 26th
Two days of playoff action in both classes have wet the appetite for March Madness. What took place the past two days? We run you through the top moments.
North Dakota Playoff Central. Friday night went pretty much went as expected with only one seeding number upset and nothing staggering happening. There were some really good 4/5 games including Westhope/Newburg and New Town beating Drake-Anamoose and Watford City respectively but a score each.
Five-foot-11 guard Daniel (DJ) LeBeau Jr, a junior in class as well, put up 27 points leading New Town to that first round win. LeBeau has had a fantastic year and this was the icing on the cake for his season (ending the Watford City year). Senior guard Terrence Steele contributed another 21.
Four EDC and WDA were played Saturday and went as planned. Some of the games were quite close but Fargo South, Shanley, Fargo North, and St. Mary’s all moved on.
Performing on the Big Stage. Flasher won their 4/5 game Friday defeating New Salem-Almont 50-33. Senior Connor Marion had a memorable night with 21…. Another player that had 21 in a playoff win was Jordan Cunningham of Oakes. Jordan is a 5-foot-10 senior who got his team past LLM on Friday by ten before a loss to Carrington on Saturday….
One of the most explosive games on Friday came from Lane Hanson, a 6-foot-4 junior forward that grabbed the attention of many. Hanson had 30 points for Edgeley-Kulm-Montpelier in a 20 point win….Senior Logan Klitzke scored 25 for Power Lake in a dominating win over Divide County whole Wyatt Hanson, a Stanley junior, scored 27 in a 93-65 victory…Trinity Christian out of Williston senior Austin Smith had 26 on Friday night…
Saturday night Shiloh Christian picked up a 76-41 win over Standing Rock with four players scoring in double figures. Junior big Macauley Young had 16 points and 10 boards, Bartholomew Ogbu made all nine of his foul shots for 15 points, Nick Pfaff hit three treys for his 13, and Jonas Mitzel scored 11 points including two treys.
Sophomore Trapper Jacobs had another big game scoring 23. The standout TLMM sophomore led his team to a 63-39 win over Underwood. One of Saturday’s top individual performances was Washburn High junior Nolan Teigen scoring 27 led by 11-13 free throw shooting. Finally, Parshall beat New Town 77-52 and Parshall senior Deyondre Simpson scored 30 including four three-point makes.
Names to Watch. Montel Carlow and Brayden Uses Arrow have been fantastic as of late. Solen still has just the one loss after a 59-40 win over Flasher Saturday. Uses Arrow scored 18 while Carlow had 14. Uses Arrow knocked out four treys.
Upset City!. The Friday Night upset in number was Dakota Prairie beating Warwick (before falling to Four Winds-Minnewaukan on Saturday). The Knights lost to Warwick in the previous game. Underwood’s 65-46 victory over Wilton-Wing was another 5-4 “upset”. Senior guard Zach Cottingham knocked out five triples for 24 points.
Saturday evening Westburg/New Hope knocked off top seeded Bottineau 71-70 making Bottineau the first one seed to lose this playoff season. The game put the Sioux a game over .500 for the season while Bottineau is 9-11 but they had beat all their District opponents previously.
Tip of the Hat to the Career. Valley City’s Levi Nix. The Hi-Liners fell in overtime to Fargo South on Saturday and Nix finishes up a nice season averaging 18 points and nearly 9 boards a contest.
Playoff Central continues tomorrow getting you ready for a Big Monday of District games.