PHD Playoff Central: Monday (ND)
PHD Playoff Central. So it was Bismarck Century’s title to lose? Lets back that up. After two close losses to Century, Minot earned an 82-69 win on Saturday winning the WDA title and earning the top spot in the Class A rankings (released tomorrow) heading into the state tournament. KyJuan Johnson led the team with 24 points while Justin Engg and Jesse Roberts each had 15 in the win. Minot earned themselves a top seed with the win and Century is on the other side of the bracket.
As for Class B, there are 32 games this evening starting in about a half at eight different venues (Scheels’ Arena, Grand Forks HS, Jamestown Civic Center, Devils Lake HS, Legacy HS, Minot State Dome, Dickinson Trinity HS, and Williston). Each will have four different rounds of games. Games will be played Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday as the Class B state tournament gets set-up for next week through all these regional contests.
Ticket Punched.
A: Minot, Fargo Davies, GFRR, Bismarck Century, West Fargo, Bismarck, Devils Lake, Dickinson.
The Big Stage. Tough to beat what is going on at the Jamestown Civic Center with some of the best names and teams in state. Edgeley/K/M, Linton/HMB, LLM, Strasburg/Zeeland, and Ellendale have all been ranked this year and many are still ranked. With Hunter Pinke (South Border), Brody Nieuswma (Strasburg/Zeeland), Connor Entzi (Edgeley-Kulm), Drew Thielges (LLM), and Brennan Vance (Ellendale) are some of the most exciting players to watch.
Upset City. There were two on Friday when GF Red River knocked off top seeded West Fargo and when Fargo South beat Fargo North 65-61 in overtime. Brent Hovden knocked out six treys in a memorable win for South to remember. The Rough Riders beat the top EDC team led by a late score by Austin Slaughter who had 26 points in one of his biggest games ever.
What did the GFRR win over West Fargo mean to the state tournament? It means two of the top three teams in state (Century and West Fargo) play each other in round one. Best team not in the state tournament? Has to be Shanley. State looks like this when it starts Friday:
Minot (W1) v. Devils Lake (E4)
Grand Forks Red River (E2) v. Bismarck (W3)
Fargo Davies (E1) v. Dickinson (W4)
Bismarck Century (W2) v. West Fargo (E3)
Player To Watch. Hunter Sand of Dakota Prairie. The sophomore needs to have a big night if his 14-8 team is to get the upset over explosive Dunseith (16-5). After a bad start to the year the Dragons have won 14 of their last 16 so Sand will have to lead his team with a big night.
Hat Tip to the Career. Noah Wanzek. Noah had an extraordinary season with countless double-doubles for Jamestown. Wanzek had his team at 13-9 after a Thursday win over Dickinson but they lost back to back games to Century and Bismarck ending the year. Noah averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds a game this season.