2024 Fastbreak

CLASS B TO UND

Edgeley/Kulm-Montpelier’s

Mataeya Mathern makes the move to Grand Forks

INSIDE: Area High School Basketball Previews / Capsules

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Carrington girls hate losing

M/P-B boys hoops learning under new HC

EKM girls have to earn their Ws

E/K-M boys have high expectations

Blue Jays want a top spot

L/L-M boys relying heavily on returners

UJ’s Cordes back for his fifth year

UJ women hoops have local flair

2023-24

Class AA Boys

First Team

Page 4

Page 7

Page 8

Page 10

Page 11

Page 14

Page 15

Page 16

COVER: Mataeya Mathern officially a big leaguer

Ellendale will be very young

New coach for Oakes

Carrington boys’ looking to improve

Ellendale looking for wins

Positive numbers for Medina/PB

Experienced L/L-M girls’ hoops excited

Capsules

Page 18-20

Page 20

Page 21

Page 22

Page 23

Page 24

Page 25-26

Pages 29-34

All-State Teams Cover Art

Class B

Boys

First Team

Mason Klabo, Jr., Fargo Davies; Isiah St. Romain, Sr., Williston; Carter Zeller, Sr., Fargo North; Tommy Ahneman, Jr., West Fargo Sheyenne; Hudsen Sheldon, Jr., Mandan.

Second Team

Isaiah Schafer, Sr., Century; Logan Conklin, Sr., Minot; James Hamilton, Sr., Fargo South; Tony Leal, Sr., West Fargo; Andre Austin, Jr., Bismarck High; Parker Falcon, Jr., Legacy.

Class AA Girls

First Team

Jocelyn Schiller, Sr., Grand Forks Red River; Leelee Bell, So., Minot; Ashton Safranski, Sr., Davies; Jaiden Haile, Jr., West Fargo Horace; Maggie Fricke, So., Minot.

Second Team

Paige Breuer, Sr., Bismarck High; Jersey Berg, Sr., Bismarck High; Brenna Dick, Sr., West Fargo Sheyenne; Brooklynn Felchle, Jr., Legacy; McKenna Johnson, Jr., Mandan; Lauren Reardon, Jr., Grand Forks Central.

Class A Boys

First Team

Deng Deng, Sr., Four Winds/Minnewaukan; Carson Haerer, Sr., Bottineau; Tyson Wick, Sr., Hazen; Cole Holzer, Sr., Central Cass; Brooks Bakko, Fr., Kindred; Wylee Delorme, Sr., Devils Lake.

Second Team

Brylon Baldwin, Sr., Grafton; Trace Beauchamp, Sr., Beulah; Presley Peraza, Jr., Kindred; Atticus Wilkinson, Sr., Shiloh Christian; Braylon Fisher, Sr., Des Lacs-Burlington.

Class A Girls

First Team

Jessica Mogen, Sr., Watford City; Addison Sage, So., Thompson; Haidyn Crockett, Jr., Northern Cass; Scout Woods, Jr., Wahpeton; Kylie Simpson, Sr., Bottineau.

Second Team

Kya Hurst, So., Thompson; Kyra Beckman, Jr., Bottineau; Sydney Schwabe, Sr., Thompson; Annabel Scheeler, So., Dickinson Trinity; Tesa Olson, Sr., Valley City.

Dane Hagler, Sr., North Star; Bohden Duffield, Sr., Bowman County; Walker Braaten, Jr., WesthopeNewburg; Max Musland, Sr., LaMoure/LitchvilleMarion; Javin Friesz, Sr., Flasher.

Second Team

Bishop Duffield, Sr., Bowman County; Ramsey Walz, Jr., Bishop Ryan; Raeshaun Earl, So., Hankinson; Kai Thomas, Sr., Williston Trinity; Talan Devine, Sr., Cavalier; Jett Lundeen, Jr., Bishop Ryan; Riley Robinson, Sr., Midway-Minto.

Class B Girls

First Team

Raegen Honeyman, Jr., Bowman County; Laela Jensen, Jr., Hettinger/Scranton; Mataeya Mathern, Sr., Edgeley/Kulm-Montpelier; Rylee Satrom, Sr., May-Port-C-G; Maya Vibeto, Sr., Our Redeemer’s.

Second Team

Kennison Azure, Jr., Hatton-Northwood; Cora Badding, Sr., Langdon/AEM; Teagan Erbele, Sr., Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter; Jaci Fisher, Sr., Bowman County; Karleigh Kadoun, So., Sargent County.

Mr./Miss Basketball

2023-24 Mr. Basketball: Deng Deng, Four Winds/ Minnewaukan

2023-24 Miss Basketball: Jocelyn Schiller, Grand Forks Red River

contributed by UND Insider Mataeya Mathern, a former standout for Edgeley/KulmMontpelier, is now playing Division 1 basketball at the University of North Dakota.

Mataeya Mathern (12) of Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier was the winner of the prize after wrestling for the basketball with Olivia Frolek of Wyndmere/ Lidgerwood.

Photo

Photo by John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun

CARRINGTON GIRLS

Carrington girls expected to be competitive in Class A again

The Carrington High School girls basketball team began practices on November 18.

BY KATIE RINGER

The Jamestown Sun

CARRINGTON, N.D. — Andy Braaten didn’t know what the Carrington girls basketball team was in for when it was announced the Cardinals would be making the move from the Class B Division to the Class A Division.

He did know one thing though — his kids were going to compete.

And boy did they.

Carrington finished its inaugural year in the Class A Division one game short of the 2024 Class A State Tournament. The girls wound up dropping 62-56 to Valley City in the state qualifying game.

“Throughout the season, we competed pretty hard,” Braaten said. “We competed with the best and we look forward to that again.”

Carrington began practices on Nov. 18 and will open the season on Dec. 6 with a home game against Region 2 rival Grafton. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

“I’m excited for the competition again,” returning senior Isabel Wendel said. “It is really fun being able to play a wide variety of teams, and we will definitely have a tough schedule again this year. I am also excited to see how our team dynamic will be together and what kind of team we will become.

“We were able to elevate our game and become better players with the competition we got to face,” she said. “We had to adapt to who we were playing and their aggressiveness until we were able to establish our own. We became a much more aggressive and competitive team because of that.”

Wendel is one of five seniors coming back for Braaten. Her teammates, Edyn Hoornaert, Kenadie Pazdernik, Brynn Smith and Kaydence VanRay will be the other four players rounding out the Class of 2025.

OK TIRE

Kaydence VanRay of Carrington and Grafton’s Addison Fredericksen battle for position on this shot. Fredericksen led the Spoilers with 12 points, but it was VanRay’s Cards who would take a 57-49 victory at GHS, in the first Division A, Region 2 contest for both teams. Chelsea Wysocki / Walsh County Record

“I am so excited for my senior basketball season and I can’t wait to see what it has in store for the Carrington Cardinals,” Hoornaert said. “I think we will continue our winning tradition. We are a very well rounded team with an arsenal of talented athletes and knowledgable coaches. I think I can speak for my whole team when I say just how competitive we are. We hate losing to a team more than we love beating a team.”

The Cards will need to beat teams with a few less athletes than they have in the past.

For the first time in 25 years, Braaten is only expecting one junior, Sienna Topp, to sign up for the team. Braaten said the Cards are also expecting three sophomores and five freshmen out.

While the Cardinals’ numbers might be a smidge lower than previous years, Braaten said the 14 kids he’s expecting out will do a good job at filling in the gaps left by Madison Johnson, Kacie Rexin and Olivia Threadgold.

“Although we lost some shooters, I don’t think we will be lacking in that area,” Wendel said. “We have lots of girls with a quick fire and good confidence, but I do think our defense will stand out. Lots of us girls play with lots of hustle and heart, and I believe it will show in our defense.”

Defensively, Braaten said the girls are athletic enough to guard the perimeter pretty well but the team’s limited size is likely going to make for some more challenges when it comes to the team’s post defense.

That’s where the freshmen come in.

“Our freshmen class might make some noise,” Braaten said. “That class as a whole has some skills, has a little more size and they’ve played a lot. With our low numbers — what we lack in quantity, we have pretty good quality up and down the 14 kids.”

Quality will be needed if the Cardinals expect to compete this season.

“The middle class brings a lot more athleticism and pressure on the ball,” Braaten said. “Turnovers were kind of a bugaboo against a team like Devils Lake. They will throw 10 or 12 girls at you who are all relatively fresh and you can try and prepare for it — but they’ll turn you over.”

The pace of play isn’t the only thing the Cardinals have needed to adjust to since moving up a division.

“It’s not that far of a trip to Four Winds or Devils Lake but all of our other trips are a good two-hour bus ride,” Braaten said. “We got lucky with the weather last year. I still think that could be a bugaboo — especially for us because

Erik Gjovik / The Foster County Independent Edyn Hoornaert, left, puts up a shot as Grafton defender Savannah Blackcloud con-tests it. Hoornaert scored 10 points in the Cards' 59-23 victory over the Spoilers.

we are kind of on an island a little bit.”

Carrington is one of the only Class A Region 2 schools that is not located near I-29 or I-94.

“We put on miles and we’re going to continue to put on miles,” Braaten said.

“That’s one of the wrinkles with the three-class system but we will still compete hard and hopefully we’ll get better for the end of the year.”

kringer@jamestownsun.com @KaitlynRinger on Twitter

Carrington • Devils Lake • Michigan • Hampden

MEDINA/PINGREE-BUCHANAN BOYS

Young Medina/Pingree-Buchanan boys hoops squad looking to surprise and grow

BY MAX O’NEILL

The Jamestown Sun

MEDINA, N.D. — The Medina/Pingree-Buchanan boys basketball team head into the season as one of the youngest teams in the region.

The Thunder have a new head coach and return four seniors with only one of them averaging over 3.0 points per game last season.

This past summer, Jeremy Weinmeister was hired as the Thunder’s new head coach, replacing Bob Young. As of Nov. 11, Weinmeister said he had not hired an assistant coach.

Weinmeister, who was born in Medina, said he and his wife decided to make the move from Broadview, Montana, to the area and start farming.

“This opportunity popped up to be able to coach over there and I absolutely just thought it would be very intriguing for myself to go coach at a place where I was born at,” Weinmeister said. “So it just brought the idea of coming out and being able to take this team and maybe do something with a little bit of a culture change but also an ability to strive beyond what they (the players) can imagine for themselves and believe in who they are and what they can do inside a basketball game. I think basketball can teach us a lot in life.”

Weinmeister said he has a run-andgun-type system. Weinmeister said one of the things he focuses on with his team is being positive and encouraging your teammates.

“I want our team to be scrappy, tough and scrappy,” Weinmeister said. “Scrappy is that we’re getting on the floor, we’re going after the ball, we’re playing tough-minded defense along the way and the other things that involved into that, off that. ... It allows us to have sometimes an intimidation on other people because they’re just not used to that aggressive style that happens right at the beginning. With the run and gun, we get the ball up and down the court moving. For me and my coaching style is that, that’s the kind of style I just love to see going, people are getting up and down the court, moving the ball, having a lot of process through those

types of things. I call it a controlled run and gun, but in the essence, it’s a very exciting basketball and through that scrappy style they will be able to get the ball up and down the court but also play

tough-minded defense evolved into it.”

While the Loboes did not start practicing until Dec. 2, the players spent time during the summer and fall working out in open gyms. Weinmeister said the first few weeks of practice will be about he and his players learning about each other.

“I think we’re just mainly gonna focus on intensity and being scrappy, that’s his main game plan for us, is just scrappy, from what he’s told us,” Thunder senior Roper Foerderer said.

Weinmeister said he expects the team to be able to fly under the radar and surprise teams.

“I feel for myself coming from where I was that this team has an opportunity to surprise a lot of people just with their athletic gifts and talents that they do have and with the possibility of a deep bench,” Weinmeister said.

MPB BBB: Page 27

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun Junior Chase Ova is expected to play more minutes for Medina/PingreeBuchanan.

EDGELEY/KM GIRLS

Edgeley/KM’s ‘brutal’ schedule will test 2024 State runners-up

The

Edgeley/KulmMontpelier

girls basketball team has been dominant the past two seasons.

BY KATIE RINGER

The Jamestown Sun

EDGELEY, N.D. — Edgeley/ Kulm-Montpelier head girls basketball coach, Rory Entzi, had some conversations with Alan Olsen in the offseason.

“Coach Olsen for the boys team — we were talking and every chance I had to pick someone up I asked him — ‘should I do it?’ Every time he said, ‘just do it, it will make you better.’”

If that is the case, the Rebels are going to be the cream of the crop by the end of the year.

“Our schedule is brutal,” Entzi said. “We try to play a hard schedule every year because I think it prepares you for the end. The process is to put the kids in as many uncomfortable situations as you can before the end of the season so when you get to the end it doesn’t seem as daunting.”

The 2024 State runners-up began practices on Nov. 18 and will kick off the season with a tilt against Langdon/ AEM on Dec. 6. The squad is set to face off against 2024 State Tournament teams, Bowman County, Maple River, Sargent County and Kenmare/Bowbells. The team is also set to have their hands full with District rivals LaMoure/Litchville-Marion, Oakes and Linton/HMB.

Entzi also scheduled the team to play Class A squad’s Central Cass and Carrington.

While Edgeley/KM has been a major threat for the past two seasons, this year’s team is a whole different squad.

The Rebels lost 2024 All-Stater Mataeya Mathern to graduation. Mathern is now playing hoops at the University of North Dakota. Entzi also lost Abby Mathern, Grace Irey and Lexie Dallman.

good competition over the years which makes us better in the end and everyone who is involved in the program cares about the sport so we don’t have to worry about anybody not putting in enough effort to help our team out,” she said.

It will be interesting to see if the team’s effort will hold up against the returning talent in the squad’s district.

“There’s some really good teams this year,” Entzi said. “LaMoure returns darn near everybody I think and Maple River — they might be in the state title game. We will just be looking to get better every day and see where we get to at the end of the year. We’ll see. We’ll have to bring our best effort a lot.”

kringer@jamestownsun.com @KaitlynRinger on Twitter

“We’ve lost a lot of good seniors in our last two tournament runs,” Entzi said. “We’ve got a few kids back but we are relatively young. We might have 15 or 16 girls out but I would venture to guess that half of them are freshmen.”

Libby Mathern will be one of the seniors returning for the Rebels. Olivia Brummund will also be representing the class of 2025. Juniors Elli Lloyd and Jaelyn Bertsch will be back in the mix as well as second-year team member Betsy Huber.

Libby Mathern has been playing basketball for as long as she can remember.

“Basketball was always super fun to me and I like competing so the physicality of the sport is something I’ve always enjoyed,” Mathern said. “The reason I love (playing for EKM) so much is because we have a great program our coaches are great always pushing us to be the best versions of ourselves. Our goals are always high so practices are always competitive and intense.

“We also have been playing a lot of

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun Betsy Huber of Edgeley-KulmMontpelier played varsity level basketball as a ninth grader last year.

EDGELEY/KM BOYS

E/K-M boys’ hoops hoping duo of Kramlich, Kinzler leads to big things

BY MAX O’NEILL

The Jamestown Sun

EDGELEY, N.D. — The Edgeley/ Kulm-Montpelier boys’ basketball team is in the same boat as many of their rivals around the district as they have to replace multiple productive players from last year’s squad. However, they have two kids who are committed to playing spots in college to help them do that.

The Rebels will have to replace Austin Strobel, Jacob Nitschke and Zeke Barnick, who have graduated. The trio combined to score 564 of the team’s 1,041 points.

“That’s gonna be a big adjustment because we’re not gonna have the size that we had in the past with those guys,” Rebels head coach Kevin Strobel said. “So rebounding is gonna be something that we’re gonna emphasize and as guards they’re gonna have to make an effort to rebound, regardless of who we’re playing and that’s gonna be huge because … we did lose a lot of our inside players and we do got some coming back but we’re not gonna have the size that we had in the past. So I think rebounding and we gotta hopefully shoot the ball from the perimeter a little bit better. I think our scoring is gonna come obviously guard-oriented. So then we’ll see how that happens. We have Drew Nitschke, who is gonna be looked at to fill a lot of those shoes with rebounding, coming back.”

Air Force Academy football commit Joe Kramlich and University of Jamestown track-and-field commit Brad Kinzler are expected to carry a big scoring load. Kramlich and Kinzler averaged 7.4 and 13.8 points per game, respectively.

“Me and Joe have been playing for a long time, long as I can remember,” Kinzler said. “So we should be pretty good together, ... and also some of the younger guys like Brogan Young and all that are going to step up. It should be pretty fun.”

Strobel said he is looking for big seasons out of Kinzler, Kramlich, Brogan Young, Drew Nitschke, Connor Strobel, Kade Nitschke, Luke Nitschke, Brady Hanson, Drew Entzi and Ross Fredenburg.

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun

E/K-M’s Brad Kinzler (4) and Joe Kramlich (3) are the team’s best returners this season.

“We’re gonna have some depth and some options,” Strobel said. “It just depends on how each kid reacts to stepping up and playing on that varsity level.”

Strobel said one of his team’s strengths this season will be the play of the guards.

Kinzler said the team should be quick and he has high expectations for the season. He said it will be hard to replace Barnick, Strobel and Nitschke but the team’s speed will help tremendously.

Kinzler said he is looking at Young as a potential breakout candidate after he had an offseason of tremendous improvement.

Strobel said his roster, which is expected to include 15 underclassmen, will learn about themselves in the two weeks of practice before they open the season. Strobel said the team started practice on Dec. 2 and will play at Barnes County North on Dec. 17.

Last year, Kinzler was second on the team for points per game with 13.8 while adding 2.9 rebounds per game and 52 total assists.

Kinzler said he wants the team to improve on their defense and court chemistry.

“You just gotta continually work in practice and work in the offseason. Team chemistry is everything personally,” Kinzler said. “If you got that, I think our team can make a huge run when we get that.”

Strobel said he expects the team to continue to contend.

“I think like any season expectations are pretty high,” Strobel said. “We got some pretty good kids that came back off of last year’s team, got some pretty

good young kids coming up. So I think our depth will be fairly strong. I think the kids are looking to win a fair share of ballgames, and maybe get a chance to advance to the state tournament again.”

During the 2023-24 season, the Rebels shot 36% from three and 47% from the field. Strobel said the team’s shooting improvements should have come during the summer.

“We can practice it and we’ll run some stuff. We might have to run maybe a couple different sets or something to get some of these guys open for threes but … hopefully, share the basketball, make that extra pass to create an open look,” Strobel said. “The kids gotta be willing to pass up a good shot for a great shot and if they do that I think we’ll be just be fine.”

Last year, the Rebels went 22-7 and finished eighth at the state tournament.

“We were a little disappointed,” Kinzler said. “We were happy that we made it to state but the state tournament we had was rough. It’s not how we wanted it to go but it’s just how it goes. Definitely want to make it back there and hopefully make a bigger run. It was a little heartbreaking having that bad of a state tournament but a lot of teams weren’t able to make it there and we did, hoping we can make it back.”

Strobel said he expects Linton/ Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock, Hankinson, LaMoure/Litchville-Marion and Oakes to all be contenders in Region I.

“Our region graduated a lot of good seniors last year,” Strobel said. “So every team’s got a lot of question marks to answer.”

moneill@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8461 Follow him on Twitter @MaxONeill16

JAMESTOWN HIGH SCHOOL

Blue Jays ready to learn and compete in West Region play

The Jamestown High School basketball teams began practices on Nov. 25 and will open the season the first week of December.

BY KATIE RINGER

The Jamestown Sun

JAMESTOWN — The Hoopster has the Jamestown High School girls basketball team finishing the year at the No. 7 spot in the West Region.

From what JHS head coach Andy Skunberg is saying, that seems a little low.

“This year, we’re in a much stronger position because we have the entire team returning,” Skunberg said. “These girls have been playing together for years, which has strengthened their chemistry and understanding of each other’s playing styles. With each player more experienced and confident, we’re ready to compete at a higher level and leverage that strong team foundation built last season.

“We know it’s going to be a very competitive season, and with our current seventh seed preseason ranking in the WDA, we have some work to do to show everyone what we’re capable of,” he said.

Practices for the Jays began on Nov. 25. The girls will open with a non-conference tilt against Moorhead High School on Dec. 6.

JHS: Page 12

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun

Leah Trumbauer drives the ball past a Saint Mary’s defender last season at Jerry Meyer Arena.

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun

Mea Ulland had plenty of game time last year as a sophomore.

JHS

From Page 11

Skunberg and the Blue Jays won six total games in the 2023-24 season and ended their conference schedule at 2-14. The head coach said since the 2024 season ended the team worked hard over the summer, attending camps and participating in a shot contest that kept them engaged and focused on individual improvement.

“The girls have become more versatile, stronger, and smarter on the court,” Skunberg said. “They’ve developed in both individual skills, like shooting accuracy and defensive agility, and in their ability to play together as a cohesive unit.”

The Blue Jays are anticipating around 20 high school girls to be on the team, which gives the Jays more depth and competitive edge than they had last season.

Skunberg said seniors Leah Trumbauer and Emily Ellingson have been instrumental in guiding the team’s younger players and setting the tone for the team in skill and leadership.

Mea Ulland and Adisyn Yunck are also expected to make their return to the hardwood. Ulland, a junior for the Jays, adopted the shooting guard duties, coming within one of the team’s 3-pointerin-a-game record. Yunck, a sophomore, played a huge part in the Jays’ ball-handling efforts.

“This group is committed and talented, which creates a strong lineup,” Skunberg said. “Our chemistry on the court is our biggest weapon; the girls move well together, and they’re excellent at reading each other’s moves.”

Offensively, Skunberg said the Jays have a lot of shooting talent, which

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun Landon Lech was a guard last year as a junior.

allows the team to spread the floor and keep opponents guessing. Defensively, the team’s cohesion allows them to communicate effectively and disrupt opponents’ strategies.

“We’re looking forward to an exciting and competitive season,” Skunberg said. “With our experienced lineup, the hard work the girls have put in, and our drive to improve in the WDA, we’re ready to compete, grow and make the most of every game. This group is truly a joy to coach, and we’re ready to bring energy and excitement to every game.”

Blue Jay boys have ‘new-old’ coach, numbers looking strong

While chemistry is a strength of the Blue Jay girls squad, the boys are having to adjust to their third head coach in three years.

Luke Anderson was hired as the head coach of the Blue Jay boys basketball team in May 2024. He previously coached the Blue Jays from 2014 to 2017 and has been a part of the Blue Jay basketball program since 2004.

“I am excited,” Anderson said. “This would be year eight away so I am sure there have been a lot of changes but a lot of things like the expectation to be competitive have probably stayed the same.”

The boys began practices on Nov. 25 and will be on the road at Fargo South on Dec. 10 for the season opener.

“It’s still a lot of learning each other right now,” Anderson said. “I had some of these boys’ siblings play for me and I’ve known a lot of these kids through elementary school but not necessarily through basketball. It’s going to be a feeling-out process for all of us, myself included. As long as we are in it together we are going to be all right.”

JHS: Page 13

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun

Adisyn Yunck played on the Blue Jays varsity squad as a freshman last year.

From Page 12

The Blue Jays lost Dalton Lamp, Ryan Larson, Jack Van Berkom, James Horgan and Jackson Rose to graduation but still have the likes of Thomas Newman and Noah Meissner on the roster.

“Noah and Thomas have been seeing minutes for years,” Anderson said. “They are definitely the savvy vets when it comes to most played significant minutes. We’re not heavy on minutes returning but we have a lot of guys returning.”

The head coach proceeded to go down the line.

“Jaxon Kolpin is coming off a knee surgery — I think he’s a kid that could be a big help, Max Rittenbach is coming off a great football season so hopefully that transfers over, Liam Frey saw a lot of minutes last year and the end of the year,” Anderson said.

“Gradin Thorlakson is a junior who is showing great potential,” he said. “Edison Walters and Madden Skunberg are young guys who have put in a ton of time. Braxton Perkins has been in the gym nightly, I really like what Jace Dillman offers in leadership qualities and the little things he does I think will be big for us.”

Anderson said based on his expected roster, the Jays will likely have a core of consistent scorers and a few others who will put up bigger numbers on a nightly basis. The head coach also said his team’s natural athleticism has the potential to make life difficult for opponents.

“I think you have to make other teams try and adjust to what you do,” Anderson said. “We’re not a big, physical team with guys who are 6-foot-5 or 6-foot-6 to physically beat you up, but I think we have a group of really athletic kids that we can push the pace with.

“Getting up and down the court and forcing teams to make adjustments — it’s an exciting brand of basketball to play,” he said.

It’ll be fun to see where this new — or old — brand takes the Jays this year.

“The first half of the season will be figuring out who we are and the second half will be us putting things together for the home stretch,” Anderson said. “Numbers are in a promising place it’s just a matter of putting all the pieces together now. I am excited to see where we will end up at after a year of hard work.”

kringer@jamestownsun.com @KaitlynRinger on Twitter

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun

Noah Meissner was a key player for the Blue Jays last year.

LAMOURE/LITCHVILLE-MARION BOYS

LaMoure/Litchville-Marion boys’ hoops working to extend football success into hoops season

BY MAX O’NEILL

The Jamestown Sun

LAMOURE, N.D. — The LaMoure/ Litchville-Marion boys’ basketball team heads into the 2024-25 season with a young team that made the state tournament last year.

“I think program wise our expectations remain the same,” said Tyler Thielges, Loboes head coach. “We expect to compete and figure it out and get better as the season goes on, compete for a championship at the end of the season.”

This year, the Loboes lost multiple players from last year’s roster that went 17-12 overall and finished in seventh place in the 2024 NDHSAA Class B State Basketball Tournament.

Last season, the Loboes ended the year with a 59-55 win over Edgeley/ Kulm-Montpelier in the seventh-place game of the state tournament.

“I think we’re all really excited,” Loboes senior Brayan Karlgaard said. “I think it was a good opportunity, obviously a lot of people didn’t expect us to make it that far and I’m sure a lot of people in the state think that’s not gonna happen again. I think it gives us a little chip on our shoulder, obviously, we’re really excited and ready to go for basketball when that gets started again. I think everybody’s really excited to show what we can do.”

One of the most impactful players who graduated from the Loboes is Max Musland, who led the team with 25.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.3 steals per game.

Thielges said he expects Karlgaard to step up and play a big role this season after being the team’s second-leading scorer during his junior year.

“I’ve talked to Tyler a little bit and he’s told me that I might need to take over a little bit more of the load,” Karlgaard said. “But I’m hoping we can spread it around and I know we have some good players who can facilitate on the offensive end and do a good job too. So it’ll be a team effort from everybody to be able to pick up where Max left off.”

Thielges said he is also counting on Gunner Thielges, Colby Thielges, Avery Kramer, Treyce McGaughy, Preston Arndt and Mason Warcken to have big seasons. He said that he expects Colby Thielges to have a breakout season.

The Loboes’ Blase Isaacson (13) is expected to be a big part of the

this year.

Thielges said his team will be fast, athletic and play tight defense this season.

Outside of Musland, the Loboes will be without senior Owen Lesko, who is recovering from a shoulder injury.

“Owen’s a special athlete … he has a contagious energy about him that elevates the play of his teammates, just a great, great student-athlete and representative of LaMoure High School,” Thielges said. “We’re gonna miss him a lot but we also know that with sports comes the risk of injury and sadly it’s part of the deal. He’s been very unlucky in that regard but there’s way more to life than sports, there’s way more to life

than basketball and we’re gonna miss him on the court but he’s gonna be just fine.”

This year’s Loboes basketball team has eight players who were also on the school’s football team.

“That’s something we value in our program, guys that are multi-sport athletes that compete at a high level,” Thielges said. “We think competing in football transfers to competing in basketball and transfers to competing in baseball and track and all the other sports.”

LLM BBB: Page 27

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun

team

UNIVERSITY OF JAMESTOWN MEN

Jimmies men’s hoop’s Will Cordes returns for fifth season

BY MAX O’NEILL

The Jamestown Sun

JAMESTOWN — The 2024-25 University of Jamestown men’s basketball team has three fifth-year seniors, but only Will Cordes has been a Jimmie since he was a freshman.

“Will has been around for a while now, Jimmie fans are very familiar with him,” Jimmies head coach Casey Bruggeman said. “ ... His impact on our program, I don’t think you can really put it into words and we’re thrilled to have him back for another season.”

Cordes said his decision to come back was contingent on many different factors.

“Silas (Bennion) and Jimmy (Llinas) decided they wanted to come back too so that definitely played a part in it to get to play with them another year,” Cordes said. “Coach Bruggeman coming in too. I hadn’t been coached by him before but I heard a lot of great things about him and got to meet him before he was hired. So I thought that was pretty cool as well. I thought that’d be a good opportunity for me to come back.”

Cordes said his decision was based more on whether he wanted to continue to play rather than who the Jimmies hired to be the new head coach.

In his five years, Cordes has appeared in 127 games, starting in 119 of them and averaging 11.2 points per game on 42.2% shooting. He also has 301 assists, 234 rebounds and 68 steals. He scored 1,426 total points as of Nov. 18, which is good for 15th on the all-time career scoring list.

“I’d say I have grown a lot as a player and a person,” Cordes said. “It’s been a long experience and it’s weird looking back. It’s been a long time here but I’m thankful to be here and still have an opportunity to play.”

After he was hired to be the head coach on March 11, 2024, Bruggeman said Cordes helped him get adjusted and learn about his teammates.

UJ MEN: Page 17

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun

of Jamestown’s Will Cordes is back for his fifth season this year.

UNIVERSITY OF JAMESTOWN WOMEN

Jimmies’ Busek, Hagel, Martinson representing North Dakota

BY MAX O’NEILL

The Jamestown Sun

JAMESTOWN — When some high school seniors are making their decisions on where to go to college, they decide to go far from home while others decide to stay close to home. This year’s University of Jamestown women’s basketball team has three players who decided to take the latter option four years ago.

This year’s Jimmies squad has four seniors with three of them being from North Dakota. Jailyn Martinson is from Devils Lake, Kate Busek is from Fargo, and Hannah Hagel is from Carrington.

“It’s awesome. I know that our fans enjoy having players that they’ve seen in high school and followed through North Dakota high school basketball and seeing them during their high school playoffs and knowing who they are and then coming to our team and joining us and being integral parts for four years,” Jimmies head coach Thad Sankey said. “... It helps the connection to our local communities. It helps our connection as we recruit North Dakota high school players that those high school girls can see the generation of North Dakota high school players in front of them be successful as college players for us. So that’s an exciting thing … a lot of satisfaction involved from their side and also their families get to stay connected.”

The Jimmies have two other players from North Dakota on the team — freshman Jayden Wiest from Mandan and sophomore Halle Crockett from Reile’s Acres.

“I think it’s super cool,” Busek said. “... It’s cool to see all the people that I’ve known my whole life or from different communities like Hagel’s and Jailyn’s just being able to pull together and see us all play together. So I think it’s really cool that the three of us are here and we can represent our cities all together.”

As of Nov. 18, the Jimmies were 3-1. In the first four games of the season, the Jimmies outscored their opponents 295-253.

“I think coming in with a new group and losing two key players last year was hard but I think we really have big key players now that make an impact,” Martinson said.

As one of four seniors, Hagel said she does not feel as much pressure to lead as she would if it was just her.

“I don’t feel pressure at all. Having a team like this where everyone contributes and works hard every day and puts in the effort and everyone can rely on each other is very helpful,” Martinson said.

As of Nov. 18, Hagel led the group of three North Dakotans with 6.0 points per game followed by Busek’s 5.3 and Martinson’s 2.0. Busek led the team with 6.0 rebounds per game just ahead of Hagel’s 5.5. Busek also led the team with 3.0 assists per game.

“They’ve made quite an impact and obviously we think of on-the-court impact and contributing and helping us win games,” Sankey said. “But I think the impact culturally that our seniors have made is pretty incredible and

UJ WOMEN: Page 17

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun University of Jamestown’s Jailyn Martinson is one of three seniors from North Dakota on this year’s team.

UJ MEN

From Page 11

“You always rely on those that have been around and know the lay of the land, specifically Will knowing our locker room and our players within the locker room and just those relationships,” Bruggeman said. “It was great to have his insight on the program and how we could improve when I first came in as the head coach.”

Early in his tenure, Bruggeman said he met with all of his players so he could get to know them.

“For a guy like Will Cordes who had an option to come back for a fifth season or he could have graduated and gone to physical therapy school, the discussion was trying to see, ‘Hey, where are you at with the process? Do you want to come back for another season,’” Bruggeman said. “From there it was just me sharing my opinion on, ‘Hey, I think you could have a really fun last season with us here,’ and that’s an idea that, kudos to him, he really bought into and I think he feels good about his decision.”

This season, Cordes averaged 5.2

UJ WOMEN

From Page 11

how our team competes and how we build relationships and the value that we have on each other is a great thing. Those women definitely play a big part in that.”

Sankey said the trio’s roles will need to be figured out before they can increase their scoring averages.

“Some of it is just getting a little bit more comfortable in their offensive roles and understanding where they can fill needs,” Sankey said. “Our offense is a little bit different this year and we made some adjustments and added a little bit more movement, cutting, screening and off-the-ball movement. So every time that happens it takes players just a little bit of time to adjust and understand where are their options to attack and be aggressive and also every team’s scoring balance is unique. So what’s the opportunity that our team needs them to fill.”

Despite leading in multiple statistical categories, Busek said her biggest contributions to the team don’t show up in a box score.

“I think I provide a lot of leadership to

points, 3.2 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game through the team’s first five games of the season.

Bruggeman said Cordes has done a good job of getting all of the players working together. He said he sees Cordes leading his teammates by example.

“It’s awesome to be able to put the ball in his hands,” Bruggeman said. “He knows how to run the show. He’s done it at this level for a long time. He’s done it at a high level here and for me as a coach to have a guard like that in your rotation, it gives me a lot of confidence and it gives our team a lot of confidence.”

As a player who has stayed in the program for all five years, Bruggeman said he knows it means a lot to the Jimmie fans to have watched Cordes.

“He’s an easy guy to cheer for,” Bruggeman said. “He plays the right way on both ends of the floor, very unselfish, very high IQ, very tough player and our fans love cheering for those kinds of people. So to have Will back for another season is awesome for our fans.”

During his career, the Minnesotan has played for three different head coaches — Danny Neville, Greg Ulland and Bruggeman.

“It’s been chaotic to say the least,”

John M. Steiner / The

Kate Busek is one of three North Dakotan seniors on this year’s team.

the team just being out there and being vocal and helping new players as they step into new roles,” Busek said. “I think that’s something that we always need and I’m happy to do it.”

All three players said they want to get back to the NAIA Tournament after making it to the Sweet 16 last year.

moneill@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8461 | Follow him on Twitter @MaxONeill16

Cordes said. “I mean having three coaches in I don’t even know, a number of months, but it was a lot of fun getting to know a lot of different people. Obviously all three of them have different personalities and having the same coach for the last four years it was definitely a transition and something to get used to and it’s kind of about getting to know new people, learning about how they operate as a coach. Ulland was awesome for us, it was so much fun having him as a coach and now we got Bruggeman here and he’s been great too and we’re still learning new stuff about each other as the season goes on. But it’s been really fun and he’s done a great job so far.”

Cordes said he wants to continue to work on being a leader for his team for the rest of the season.

“I’d say just keep getting better being a point guard and a leader and growing in that role, always room for improvement,” Cordes said. “As a team, just work on staying together throughout the course of the season. It’s gonna be a lot of ups and downs and the more we can stay connected, the more success we’ll have.”

moneill@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8461 Follow him on Twitter @MaxONeill16

Jamestown Sun

MATAEYA MATHERN

Mataeya Mathern credits Class B ball for Division 1 scholarship

Mataeya Mathern, a former Edgeley/KulmMontpelier standout, is now playing basketball at the University of North Dakota.

BY KATIE RINGER

The Jamestown Sun GRAND FORKS — For the last five years, Mataeya Mathern has wreaked havoc on her Class B basketball opponents.

This year, they finally get a break from her.

Mathern, a former all-stater out of Edgeley/Kulm-Montpelier’s program, is now in her inaugural season with the University of North Dakota women’s basketball team.

“My life pretty much is basketball,” Mathern said. “I usually get up between 4:45 and 5:30 a.m. every day for practice. We have a morning slot, so we practice between 6 and 10 a.m. Between lifting, practice, film and other workouts, basketball keeps me pretty busy.”

Mathern first began playing basketball in first grade when she would go to her brother Paxton’s 3-on-3 practices and try to dribble the ball in the corner of the gym.

“I started playing on a 3-on-3 team in second grade with my cousin Abby where we would play up a division with boys until we were able to make our own girls 3-on-3 team,” Mathern said. “I will always remember our Sunday evening practices that my aunt Heidi (Mathern) put on for our traveling team, they were the best.”

As her game continued to improve, Mathern quickly rose through the ranks at EKM. Mathern was on the varsity roster for EKM for five straight seasons.

“EKM basketball will always hold a special place in my heart,” Mathern said. “I’m so blessed that I was able to be a part of our two runs at the state tournament and it was an experience that was like no other.”

Edgeley/Kulm-Montpelier has been to the state tournament for the past two seasons. In 2022-23 the Rebels wound

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun

Mataeya Mathern of Edgeley-KulmMontpelier was on her way to scoring a career milestone of 1,500 points on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, during the District 2 tournament at the Jamestown Civic Center.

Contributed / UND Insider

Mataeya Mathern, a former standout for Edgeley/Kulm-Montpelier, is now playing Division 1 basketball at the University of North Dakota.

BUFFALO CITY DIESEL

up placing fifth while last winter, Mathern helped lead the team to a spot in the state championship. EKM wound up dropping 55-41 to May-Port-C-G in the title game.

“Making a run at a state title was a goal I set way back when I was in sixth grade and to see that come into reality felt like I was living a dream,” Mathern said. “Although we fell short in the state championship, I would not trade that experience for anything in the world.”

Mathern is the current Edgeley/ KM career record holder with 1,629 points, 494 steals and 287 assists. The former Class B standout set the single-season record with 509 points, 148 steals, 118 assists and 251 rebounds.

The 2024 Miss Basketball finalist broke Edgeley’s single-game scoring mark with 31 points. She was a four-time All-Conference and All-District honoree.

“EKM basketball has helped me get to the next level by growing my love for the game of basketball,” Mathern said. “I’ve always been a competitive person but what EKM basketball showed me was that there is way more to the game than just winning and losing.

“Although my competitive side would tell you that losing is not an option, our team showed what it truly meant to buy in to a goal,” she said. “Our team was more than just a basketball team, we were a true family. I love every single player, coach and manager that was on our team and will forever have a cherished relationship with them.”

In her final year with the Rebels, Mathern was named to the First-Team All-State roster. She was also named the District and Region Senior Athlete of the Year. She was named to the All-State Tournament Team in 2023 and 2024. She was named the Rebels’ MVP four times. Prep Girls Hoops named Mathern as the Top Small-Town Player in North Dakota.

She credits her success in the sport to her town, community and team.

“I would not have wanted to grow up any other way because the support that our small-town communities brought to our games meant so much,” Math ern said. “It was pretty amazing to look around the (Jamestown) Civic Center on the state championship night and see all the black and yellow packed to the top. I will forever be grateful to have grown up in Edgeley and will always be a Rebel at heart.”

Contributed / Mataeya Mathern Mataeya Mathern was considering offers from several different colleges before she signed with the University of North Dakota in April 2024.

always had in my mind that I wanted to play college basketball but everything I did in the off-season was more focused on wanting to achieve the goal of making a run at state with my high school team,” Mathern said. “Throughout the process of working towards that, I was blessed to receive opportunities to play at the next level and it all fell into place with God by my side.”

Mathern received offers from some smaller colleges within the Midwest but was also in contact with Drake, Grand Canyon University and Furman. The final three schools that she was considering were UND, the University of Jamestown and Concordia College.

She received an offer to join the team at UND on her visit to Grand Forks in February of 2024.

“I was very excited and knew right away that that was where I was going to

call my new home,” Mathern said. Mathern officially signed with the Fighting Hawks in April.

“Being up at UND has shown me lots of new things,” Mathern said. “Being away from family and friends has been an adjustment, but I have been able to create lots of great relationships with people and I really enjoy the community and support that UND brings.”

UND officially kicked off its season on Nov. 8 with a 66-63 win against Eastern Illinois. Mathern did not see time in the Fighting Hawks’ season opener but the freshman saw the floor in the team’s second game against Dickinson State. Mathern was credited with a block against the Blue Hawks.

“UND will continue to grow my game,” Mathern said. “Every day we show up to practice and compete with each other and it is just a great environment to make yourself and the team better. A big adjustment that I have faced is just the speed of the game now. Constantly being pushed every day has been good and has helped me to improve.

“I think our team has a lot of potential this season and we have big goals,” she said. “Whatever my role happens to be on this team, I’m going to put my all into it.”

She might be in the big leagues now, but Mathern is still a Class B kid at heart offering advice and well wishes to those still competing in North Dakota’s rural communities.

“I just want to wish everyone the best of luck this season and to remember that you need to cherish these moments because they will fly by,” she said. “Especially my home team EKM, I can’t wait to see what this season has in store for you guys, and I will always be supporting you guys from afar.”

kringer@jamestownsun.com

@KaitlynRinger on Twitter

Mathern’s commitment to the EKM program was what gave her options to play at the next level.

“From as long as I can remember I

BOYS

Young Ellendale boys’ hoops will be figuring it out as they go

BY MAX O’NEILL

The Jamestown Sun

ELLENDALE, N.D. — The path back to contention will be a tough one for head coach Brian Vance and his team to navigate.

“We’re kind of in a, I hate to say rebuilding year or whatever, but we lost a lot of seniors last year that contributed heavily,” Vance said. “So this year, we’re gonna have a new identity. At the beginning of the year, we’ll take our lumps but hopefully at the end of the year, our expectation is to get in that region tournament again.”

The Cardinals lost four key contributors from last year’s team — Kade Schimke, Anton Geller, Mason Molan and Jack Bommersbach. That group combined to score 1,162 of the team’s 1,307 points last season.

“There’s four guys that are tough. It’s gonna be by committee,” Vance said. “They’re all just gonna have to do their little thing. We’re in open gym right now and we’ve been telling them, don’t think that anybody is gonna be a 10-, 15-point scorer. If we could have eight guys that all score eight points that’s 64 points. But everybody’s gotta do a little bit and hopefully accept their roles and do their roles very well.”

Vance said most of the teams around the region will have to replace statistical leaders. When he looks around the region he said Linton/Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock, Edgeley/Kulm-Montpelier, Medina/Pingree-Buchanan, LaMoure/ Litchville-Marion, Oakes and Hankinson will all be tough to beat.

Last season, the Cardinals went 15-10 and saw their season come to an end with a loss in the third-place game of the Region 1 tournament.

“It’s a totally different dynamic this year,” Vance said. “Those guys from last year, played a heck of a lot. They contributed probably 90% of our everything, offensively, defensively and stuff like that. This group is totally different so what happened to us last year I don’t think is gonna affect these guys that much.”

This year, the team returns only two seniors — Evan Wagner and Aiden Miller. Over the last four years, Wagner said the veterans have taught him that communication is incredibly important.

“I hope to provide a good leadership role and hold the others accountable and get them all playing together,” Wagner said. “I plan on asking people where they were if they don’t show up to practices or things like that. I want to be able to hold them accountable.”

Wagner said having a young team presents a challenge in getting the team to all pull in the same direction.

“Having people show up is probably the biggest challenge and having it where everyone’s on the same page since we haven’t necessarily all been playing throughout high school together,” Wagner said.

ELLENDALE BOYS: Page 27

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun Ellendale’s Evan Wagner is looking to have a breakouts season for the Cardinals.

OAKES GIRLS

Experienced Oakes team welcomes in first year head coach

The 2024 Oakes High School girls basketball team has quite a few seniors on its roster.

BY KATIE RINGER

The Jamestown Sun

OAKES, N.D. — If all goes according to plan, Shaun Kourajian is in for a great year with the Oakes girls basketball team.

Kourajian is a first-year head coach for the Tornadoes. He previously served as an assistant under former head coach Judy Hansen. Kourajian also coached at Valley City and for the junior high boys basketball team at Oakes. Before joining the Oakes girls program, he was helping to coach the Tornadoes’ boys team.

“Judy did such a good job of building this program and it has left me in a good position to take it over,” Kourajian said. “We’re pretty senior heavy this year and all of them are more than able to contribute. We are not one-sung heroes where one person scores 30 points. We are a pretty balanced group.”

They may be balanced but one name in particular was standing out to Kourajian before the season began.

“Isabelle Friedt — I am pretty excited to see her grow,” Kourajian said. “She was kind of injury plagued her first couple of years so last year was her first full year back. She is able to score from multiple levels on the floor. She can shoot from the outside but she also has really good footwork inside the paint.

“I am hoping her ability to do that will open up other opportunities for the team as well,” he said. “I am excited for her to step into that role that Lily (Thorpe) had and give us a scoring upside.”

Kourajian added, “Molly Sitzler, she’s the glue of our team. “She runs our offense and I know from the start if we are going to have a good night if she is being aggressive on offense.

“Brianna Schmitz has a great knack for the basketball,” he said. “She always seems to be in the right spot at the right time whether it’s on defense or getting a rebound. She will probably get six to eight points just by being in the right spot.”

Contributed / Jacey Skoglund-Hansen Molly Sitzler of Oakes brings the ball up the floor during a game against Enderlin.

Kourajian said Kassidy Jackson is the Tornadoes’ best defender and a capable scorer at all three levels. Haylie Dethlefsen and Savannah Sundby will also be in the mix offensively. Jocelyn Quandt, another senior for the Tornadoes will be a major contributor as a post defender and rebounder. Kourajian said Quandt runs the floor well offensively and is a great facilitator.

“We will definitely find out who we are really quickly because we play Linton in the other district and EKM in our third game,” Kourajian said. “We face some tough competition right away but it should give us a good mark to see where we are at as a team.”

The Tornadoes began practices on Nov. 18 just a couple of days after the volleyball season ended. Kourajian said the biggest hurdle facing the team right off the bat was getting into basketball shape.

Contributed / Jacey Skoglund-Hansen Isabelle Friedt lets go of a shot during an Oakes basketball game last season.

“We are going to try and play pretty fast this year and rely on the athleticism of our athletes and I think that will help us have success on the court,” Kourajian said. “If we buy into what I am talking about I think we will have a successful year.”

kringer@jamestownsun.com @KaitlynRinger on Twitter

CLINIC

Carrington boys’ hoops hoping to have bounce-back season CARRINGTON BOYS

BY MAX O’NEILL

The Jamestown Sun

CARRINGTON, N.D. — The Carrington High School boys’ basketball team heads into the 2024-25 season with the expectation that a second season at the Class A level will see their experience turn into better results.

“I think we’ll be improved from last season,” Cardinals head coach Jason Otto said. “We’re gonna have some more scorers, an ability to put a few more points on the board. I think that’ll help and we had a lot of younger guys last year and I think everybody’s a little more mature, a little stronger. So we’re just hoping everyone will be able to contribute a little bit more.”

When the North Dakota High School Activity Association’s three-class system was introduced last year, Carrington moved up from Class B to Class A. In the first season at the new level, the Cardinals went 2-20.

“I think it was just a big change for us going from Class B to Class A and playing against way more physical teams and teams that really got after it,” Cardinals senior Josh Bickett said. “I would say we had a lot of guys that put in work this offseason so I think it’ll be a big step up for us this year.”

Bickett said his team’s experience of playing at the higher level last season will help them this year.

“We’ve never played against teams that are that big, that physical, that fast,” Bickett said. “So having that experience, knowing what our competition is gonna be and how good we need to be to be able to compete with those teams is huge for us going forward this year.”

Despite the struggles, the team had some bright spots with Bickett leading the charge. During his junior season, Bickett averaged 13.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while adding 20 total steals and 42 total assists.

While Otto said he expects Bickett to contribute significantly, he is looking for multiple players to step up and play big roles.

CARRINGTON BBB: Page 28

SCOREWITH THEHOME TEAM.

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun

The Cardinals will be heavily relying on senior Josh Bickett this year.

ELLENDALE GIRLS

Coach hopes Ellendale’s culture leads to fun year on the court

Ellendale has experienced a building year for basketball the past few seasons.

BY KATIE RINGER

The Jamestown Sun

ELLENDALE, N.D. — Ever since Brennan Hack landed back in Ellendale, he’s been trying to do more than win basketball games.

“In the past, we’ve struggled a little bit but we’ve talked a lot about changing our culture and changing our expectations,” Hack said. “A lot of our focus has been about bringing joy back into the game.

“The girls would probably roll their eyes at me but I have told them about a thousand times that our whole goal is to have fun,” he said. “Sometimes that gets lost but they are here to have fun and enjoy themselves.”

Of course, winning is never a bad thing.

“I think we are excited for the year,” Hack said. “Last year was kind of a building year for us.”

The Cardinals finished the 2023-24 season at 10-11 and lost in the regional qualifier to Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter. The team is returning most of its starters save Kali Norton and Siera Bollinger, who graduated last May.

The Cardinals like every other Class B team, began practices on Nov. 18. Ellendale is set to open the season with a home game against Enderlin on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.

Ariel Hagen is expected to hit the hardwoods for one final season with the Cardinals. Hagen is the team’s one senior but Ellendale has got some skill coming back in the younger classes.

Junior Mya Glynn is still recovering from an off-season injury but is expected to come back for the second half of the season. Riley Goehring and Macy Norton are also a part of the Class of 2026 who have produced bigtime minutes for the Cards.

ELLENDALE GBB: Page 27

Contributed / Brennan Hack

The Ellendale High School girls varsity team is welcoming back most of its players from the 2023-24 season.

MEDINA/PINGREE-BUCHANAN GIRLS

Numbers are strong for Medina/ Pingree-Buchanan girls hoops

The Medina/PingreeBuchanan High School girls basketball team began practices on November 18.

BY KATIE RINGER

The Jamestown Sun

MEDINA, N.D. — When looking at preseason rankings, you probably won’t find Medina/Pingree-Buchanan’’s girl squad at the top.

Head coach Cory Mack knows that.

“We’re not flashy, that’s for certain,” Mack said with a chuckle. “I don’t even know where we are ranked — probably near the bottom.”

But Mack knows something else too — it’s a long season and damage is done at the end — not the beginning.

“I would rather be flashy late in the season rather than right away,” Mack said. “Throughout the long term of the season, I think we’ll see some good things.”

Mack and the Thunder began practices on Nov. 18. As of Nov. 15, the Thunder’s first game is scheduled for Dec. 7 at Oakes. The squad is coming off a .500 season that ended in the Region 1 Tournament qualifier.

Part of Medina’s strength will be in their numbers.

“We have a big group of kids coming back,” Mack said. “We don’t have a whole lot of scoring coming back but I’d rather have eight kids who can all score me five or six points a game rather than one who scores 20 and I have to figure out things from there.

“We have five or six seniors coming back,” he said. “This group of kids has seen some success with volleyball already this season and they have a drive to be successful.”

In total, Mack and his coaching staff will be welcoming back between 17 and 18 kids to the boards.

Maddie Gefroh and Abigail Ryun will be filling the Thunder’s need for size while the team’s speed will be anchored by the likes of Samantha and Savannah Reister.

Contributed / Cory Mack Medina/Pingree-Buchanan's Maddie Gefroh (20) and Cierra Mack (24) will be back competing for the Thunder this winter.

“I hope I can get us to the middle of the pack throughout the year and then come tournament time, anything can happen,” Mack said. “Edgeley is going to be very good again — LaMoure has a lot of returning girls, Kidder County will be decent again and Linton will definitely be right there. It’s kind of the same crew who has seen success for many years. I would love to battle one of those top four spots that is for sure.”

Cierra Mack and Brynn Sorenson will likely be floored as ball handlers for the Thunder. Violet Bohl’s speed and athletic ability will also put her in the mix of varsity athletes.

“They all had a lot of playing time last year because we had injuries and we had to figure out who was going to be out there,” Mack said. “If that could carry over into some success for this year, that

would be great.”

Mack said the Thunder’s strengths will stem from team members’ speed. On the defensive end of the ball, Mack will be coaching his team to cause some problems with ball pressure — without falling into foul trouble.

The biggest question for the Thunder will be who is going to step up and score the big numbers with Allison Thomas gone. Thomas, an all-region selection for the Thunder, is now playing hoops at the University of Jamestown.

Mack doesn’t have an answer to every question just yet — but in time — the head coach is optimistic about the answers.

“These girls — they’ve got good attitudes and they’ll work for you,” Mack said. “As long as they’ll work for you, you have an opportunity to do good things.” kringer@jamestownsun.com @KaitlynRinger on Twitter

LAMOURE/LITCHVILLE-MARION GIRLS

BY MAX O’NEILL

The Jamestown Sun

LAMOURE, N.D. — The LaMoure/ Litchville-Marion girls’ basketball team is hoping the time growing and developing over recent years is ready to pay off this season.

The Loboes have one senior and three juniors this year.

“We have finally kind of a veteran group,” Loboes head coach Ben Holen said. “We’ve been young for a while. We’re gonna have a handful of girls that have finally been around for a few years. We’re projected to have just one senior, Georgia Lettenmaier; she leads in a lot of ways, her work ethic is usually pretty consistent and she has a chance to become even more of a leader this year. Then going down in age, each group has a pretty strong leader within it. So collectively, we’ve got girls that have played together and played varsity for a couple years now. So honestly, our leadership role is kind of up in the air to an extent but we have a lot of good candidates.”

This campaign will also be Holen’s third as the head coach.

“The goal is to improve each year with it,” Holen said. “You certainly look back on both those years and think, what was I doing, mistakes you make or things you wish you would’ve done differently or adjustments. So like anything, experience brings wisdom and knowledge. So hopefully I can be better and we can be better as a staff this year so we can put the girls in a position to take advantage of their hard work.”

Holen said he expects his team to improve every day.

“The old cliche, get better every day and improve throughout the course of the year,” Holen said. “If they practice the right way and go about it the right way, I like to believe they’ll earn a fun end to the regular season and postseason. But it’s about going about your business the correct way each day in practice. So that’s the goal, keep it that simple, have a good first week of practice and go from there.”

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun

The Loboes' Julia DelaBarre will be a big part of the teams this year on both sides of the ball.

From Page 25

Holen said he expects his team’s region, Region I, to be difficult to navigate.

“It’s loaded. We have great teams and they’re coached by very intelligent people,” Holen said. “I mean there’s the three that obviously went to the state tournament, you’ve got Linton (Linton/Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock), you’ve got M/P-B (Medina/Pingree-Buchanan), you’ve got Oakes … I’m sure I’ll leave somebody out. It’s loaded, somewhere you gotta lump us in there but that’s how you would want it. You want to play good teams so that you are pushed to improve as much as possible. But man, it ain’t easy, our region is loaded, it’s fun basketball … but there are some tough teams.”

Holen said his team has to play a physical brand of basketball this season.

“We have to make sure we play that style and we have to play to some strengths,” Holen said. “We gotta find some ways to generate some offense and play to our strengths and continue to improve on the defensive end and hopefully it can be a mix that competes in multiple ways. In the playoffs you have to be able to win different ways … because you’re gonna run into five great teams, four great teams, great coaches that do different things. It’s about being able to adjust, play different styles and find something that works for us.”

The Loboes only have to replace one senior from last year’s team, Tessa Rasmusson. Holen said Rasmusson gave the team the same level of performances every night.

“She was consistent, she could shoot it, she was a great passer, underrated honestly when she chose to pass,” Holen said. “But we’ll miss her, we’ll miss her defensively too, she rebounded well. We’ll miss her in every facet, we really will. She was that kind of a player. Thankfully, we have all season to figure out how to fill her role, it won’t just be one girl filling that, it’ll be multiple girls chipping in.”

As one of two seniors on this year’s squad, Lettenmaier said she expects

to continue operating in a leadership role.

“We haven’t had a whole lot of older kids the last few years so even last year it was kind of a leadership role that I had to take on. So there is still some pressure but I’m kind of used to it,” Lettenmaier said.

Lettenmaier said she is looking for junior Norah DelaBarre and sophomore Onika Lesko to have breakout seasons.

Holen said he is excited about his team’s potential heading into this season.

“I think we’re gonna be able to guard, we’ll be good defensively,” Holen said. “We’re gonna try to get after you on that end and hopefully turn the ball over a little bit or rebound and run. But in terms of who we pride ourselves in being, it’s a defensive team so hopefully that’s the end of the floor that we take the most pride in.”

Last season, the Loboes went 15-10 and finished fourth in the region tournament.

“I feel like we’re more motivated than ever. I know that everyone’s been putting in lots of work on the court, even in the offseason,” Lettenmaier said. “So I feel like everyone is very motivated.”

During her junior season, Lettenmaier averaged 4.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

“Just work hard in practice and make sure our team comes together and has good chemistry and work well together and play really good defense and put up points when they need me to,” Lettenmaier said about how she can have a big season.

This fall, Lettenmaier swam for the Jamestown High School swimming and diving team. Lettenmaier said the transition from the pool to the hardwood is not difficult.

“It’s not normally too bad being swimming is a very aerobic sport so I’m usually pretty good with the running. It just takes a minute to get back the handling of a ball, which normally isn’t that bad,” Lettenmaier said.

While the two sports seem at first glance to be very different, Lettenmaier said there are some skills that transfer over from one to the other.

“You definitely work all the muscles in your body and make them strong, good shoulders and movement,” Lettenmaier said. “So that helps as a post to be physical and strong. Even though I may be smaller than the person I’m guarding, I can still be stronger and more physical than them.”

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Page 14

The Loboes football team finished the season 11-1 after losing the state title game.

“It’s excellent for our program,” Thielges said. “It keeps our guys involved and focused and they’re being coached up all the way until the middle of November. They’re experiencing success, they’re playing in big games. They’re experiencing a lot of valuable things that go into winning in sports and competition. Obviously, there’s gonna be skill development stuff and getting into basketball-type stuff that we’re gonna have to adjust when official basketball practice starts. But that’s not something other teams aren’t doing as well even if their football season ends early.”

Thielges said he views Hankinson, Linton/Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock, Edgeley/Kulm-Montpelier and Oakes as the most difficult teams they will face in the region.

Karlgaard said he found a way during football season to practice basketball. Karlgaard said when he is working out by himself he is working on improving his weaknesses.

“Obviously, I shot the ball, I thought decently well last year, and now that Max is gone, he did a lot of the ball handling and obviously defense is important and rebounding, everything that I can do to try to make myself better and fill in that spot for Max,” Karlgaard said.

The Loboes open their season at home on Monday, Dec. 16, against Sargent County.

Thielges said preparing for Sargent County is difficult because it is the season opener and the Bulldogs lost multiple key contributors to graduation.

“I think they got a lot of athleticism and depth,” Thielges said. “I think Coach (Ryan) Weber does a good job mixing up defenses and always seems to have a plan offensively that fits their personnel. We’re not gonna be overly familiar with who they’re gonna start and play heavy minutes with just because they lost a huge senior class. So we’ll go into that game blind scout wise, but once again, when you got a team as talented as they had last year sometimes there’s guys chomping at the bit for their opportunity to be varsity starters and bench players and key players on a varsity team.”

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ELLENDALE GBB

From Page 23

Still — it’s a freshman who’s got Hack’s attention.

“Kinsey Middlestead — last year as an eighth grader she got a little bit of experience but she’s one that we expect to acclimate quickly to the varsity pace,” Hack said. “She’s a quick kid that moves up and down the court really well.

“She’s not the biggest girl in the world but she plays hard,” he said. “She’s one of those players who is always in the right spot — she’s got that basketball sense where she just knows where to be at.”

Athleticism will be the Cardinals’ greatest strength.

“Offensively and defensively we’ll look to get up and down the court quickly and try to create some mismatches as we go,” Hack said.

Hack has been coaching at Ellendale for three years. Prior to that, he coached at Oakes.

“My dad was a coach in Ellendale for 40 years so I’ve kind of always been around that world,” Hack said. “I love preparing. You pick up little things in the offseason that you think might work and try to mold those for the kids that are on your roster. We have some good ideas and we’re excited to throw some new things at them this year.”

Even if things don’t go according to plan — it’s going to be a good year for the Cardinals.

“They are such a good group of girls and they make it fun to go to practice every day,” Hack said. “Our team GPA last year was 3.9 and the girls are in everything here. The basketball girls are the volleyball girls and they are the student council girls.

“We are really lucky to have such a good group here,” he said. “It makes practice fun, it makes the games fun and it makes the season fun. We’re excited to get them in for basketball and to just be around them. They are good people.”

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ELLENDALE BOYS

From Page 20

“So that’ll be something that we’ll have to grow through and become closer as the season goes on.”

During open gyms, Vance said Wagner has played well alongside his brother, Eli, and Sam Reis and Landon Schmidt. Vance said he expects breakout seasons from a lot of the team’s sophomores, including Eli Wagner, Reis and Schmidt, and juniors DJ Waldo and Laken Geller.

Vance said he expects to be able to utilize the team’s depth.

“We have a lot of guys at the same level,” Vance said. “So we’ll be able to sub in and out, in and out, a lot. I don’t think we should get as tired. We’re not gonna be very tall. So we may have to pick the pace up a little bit, do more pressing than we have in the past. But, beginning of the year, this is a whole new group for us. So we’re gonna see what we can get accomplished and where things are gonna go as the season goes on.”

During his junior season, Wagner averaged 1.8 points and 1.5 rebounds per game while dishing out nine total assists and eight steals.

In order to have a big season, Wagner said it will be important to hold himself and his teammates accountable.

While they are a young team, the Cardinals have a lot of players who learned from their older brothers with Evan and Eli Wagner’s brother, Scott, previously being on the team alongside Sam Reis’ brother, Levi.

“We’ve got a lot of young ones that have been in the gym a lot just watching their older brothers and that helps,” Vance said. “Anytime that you’re watching basketball I feel you’re learning basketball too. So I think that’s a big thing.”

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MPB BBB

From Page 7

“So I think that this year not many people think they can do much but I really believe that they are going to surprise a lot of people just by the talent that they do have out there and the camaraderie that the team has.”

The Thunder returns Foerderer, who averaged 3.4 points and 2.2 rebounds per game during his junior year.

“We’re somewhat of an undersized team so we’re gonna have to be scrappy, play hard and just out work everybody we play,” Foerderer said. “We’re gonna be very active defensively and we’re gonna have to get boards, crashing the glass on both ends of the court, just overall having an intensity to our game.”

Weinmeister said he expects big seasons from Foerderer, Drew Hoffman and Kameron Bodvig. He said he expects to have plenty of depth this year with the ability to go eight deep on his bench.

“The interesting part with my style of play, it’s not necessarily one (player) that really scores. If I can have three people scoring 10 a game and then I have another five after that that are scoring between five and seven points a game, that really adds up pretty quick for us,” Weinmeister said. “That’s how I look at scoring and a little bit different than probably some people look at it. But we need to get our rebounds … the stats that I look at is rebounds, steals, defensive hustle plays, blocks those are the kinds of stats, assists, that I really, really focus on because if we’re leading in those stats that means the points are going to come off those abilities to be able to move that ball around.”

Last year the Thunder went 12-10 and lost in the district tournament.

“I’m very excited after how last season ended, we’re hungry and we want it this year so we’re pretty excited to get back into the game,” Foerderer said.

Foerderer said he expects the toughest teams in Region 1 to be Linton/ Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock, LaMoure/ Litchville-Marion and Sargent County.

Rylen or Gage, but we’re switching our game up to be more based on our smaller players with speed and shooting,” Foerderer said. “But it’s tough to replace Rylen but we’re gonna be more focused on the team as a whole rather than two sole players.”

Weinmeister said two of his team’s best skills this year will be their ability to find the open looks and cut to the basket. He said his goal heading into the season is to make it to the state tournament.

Weinmeister said he does not want his players to just have success on the floor but also off of it.

“When we walk in there, this is what we want to do, we want to ultimately go out, play our best basketball but go win and shock the world and that’s part of the process,” Weinmeister said. “But involved into that I also want these boys to walk out to be young men that are going to be of value to society and value to themselves. Some of them as they leave and go to college and eventually get married down the road and have kids, I want them to be able to have stuff in their life of things that could be something that propels them to the next spot of where they want to go in life.”

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The Thunder will have to replace the production of Gage Magstadt and Rylen Wick after they graduated. Weinmeister said he is looking for Terek Kinzell, Gage Hoffman and Drew Hoffman to be able to fill the gap left behind by Magstadt and Wick.

“We’re basically switching up our game, we used to base it around, say,

CARRINGTON BBB

From Page 22

“We expect big things out of Josh. We have a couple other kids that started to emerge last year like Taylen Mehring, Maddox McIlonie, Tate Wolsky, Alec Threadgold,” Otto said. “We got one kid that didn’t get in on a lot of varsity minutes last year but Grady Idland, we’re expecting him to step up. He’s a senior, he’s been with the program for a few years … I think he’s ready to play this year and we’re looking for him to make a big impact for us. We have some size in Drew Matt and Alec Threadgold and Cody Otto and we’re hoping we can rotate those guys in to help on the inside a little bit.”

Heading into his senior year, Bickett said he wants to increase his averages and make the All-Region team. Bickett said he also wants to get his teammates more involved.

“There will probably be quite a bit of attention towards me at the beginning of the season just because a lot of our guys are younger, just giving them confidence to shoot the ball when they’re open and then obviously making plays for the team,” Bickett said. “Whether it’s scoring, rebounding, passing, whatever.”

Bickett is one of two seniors on an inexperienced roster that includes five juniors and four sophomores. The Cardinals will have to replace the four players that they lost from last year’s roster.

Otto said he is hoping this year’s team improves offensively compared to last year.

“Last year we struggled to put points on the board,” Otto said. “ ... You’re not gonna win many games at 30 to 40 points no matter how good a defense you play so we have to improve at both ends.”

Otto said he expects his team’s toughest competition to be Devils Lake, Grafton,

Thompson, Four Winds/Minnewaukan and Hillsboro/Central Valley.

Otto and the Cardinals open their season against St. John before taking on Shiloh Christian.

After the Cardinals football season ended, the basketball players have been holding open gyms and practicing for the season.

“We have open gyms every Sunday as a team and I shoot after school and go lift after school every day,” Bickett said. “A couple other guys have been in now with me. So it’s been going good so far.”

The second-year head coach said his

comfort level is greater heading in this year than it was at the same time last year.

“I think we’re super excited, I think as a coaching staff and we’re looking forward to it,” Otto said. “I think just having been new last year to the kids, I think the comfort level to the kids and us is going to be better. So I think we’re gonna start the season out on a lot better note than we did last year because we’ve been going to team camps this summer and a lot of kids put in a lot of time this summer. It just seems like everybody is more prepared than last year, maybe as a team.” moneill@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8461 | Follow him on Twitter @MaxONeill16

2024-2025 TEAM CAPSULES

BLUE JAYS JHS Boys

Coach: Luke Anderson

Last season: 7-16

Key returners: Noah Meissner, Sr., 6-0 (14 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 10 steals, 19 assists, 2 blocks, 33 treys); Thomas Newman, Sr., 6-4 (16.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 21 steals, 31 assists, 4 blocks, 7 treys); Caleb Schiele, 5-10, Sr., (2.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 13 steals, 22 assists, 12 treys); Jaxon Kolpin, Sr., 6-4 (3.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 6 steals, 13 assists, 4 treys).

Season schedule

(As of Nov. 22)

Dec. 10: at Fargo South, TBD

Dec. 13: at West Fargo, TBD

Dec. 17: vs. Bismarck Century, 7:45 p.m.

Dec. 20: at Mandan, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 3: at St. Mary’s, TBD

Jan. 7: vs. Minot, 7 p.m.

Jan. 10: vs. Bismarck High, 7:45 p.m.

Jan. 14: vs. Legacy, 7:45 p.m.

Jan. 17: at Williston, 7:45 p.m.

Jan. 21: at Minot North, 7:45 p.m.

Jan. 24: vs. Dickinson, 7:45 p.m.

Jan. 25: at Moorhead, 2 p.m.

Jan. 28: at Century, 7:45 p.m.

Jan. 30: vs. Mandan, 7:45 p.m.

Feb. 4: at St. Mary’s, 7:45 p.m.

Feb. 7: at Legacy, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 11: at Minot, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 14: at Bismarck High, 7:45 p.m.

Feb. 18: vs. Minot North, 7 p.m.

Feb. 21: at Williston, 7:45 p.m.

Feb. 25: at Dickinson, 8:30 p.m.

Mar. 6-8: WDA Tournament at Bismarck Events Center.

Mar. 13-15: Class AA State Tournament at Sanford Health Athletic Complex.

JHS Girls

Coach: Andy Skunberg

Last season: 6-18

Key returners: Leah Trumbauer, Sr., 5-10 (10 ppg, 5 rpg, 30 steals, 33 assists, 6 blocks, 26 treys); Mea Ulland, Jr., 5-3 (9 ppg, 1 rpg, 10 steals, 19 assists, 56 treys); Haley Attelson, Jr., 5-9 (7 ppg, 4 rpg, 26 steals, 44 assists, 5 blocks, 28 treys); Adisyn Yunck, So., 5-3 (11 ppg, 2 rpg, 19 steals, 64 assists, 1 block, 35 treys).

Season schedule

(As of Nov. 22)

Dec. 6: at Moorhead, 7 p.m.

Dec. 10: vs. Fargo South, 7 p.m.

Dec. 13: vs. West Fargo, 7 p.m.

Dec. 17: vs. Century, 5:45 p.m.

Dec. 20: at Mandan, 5:45 p.m.

Jan. 3: at St. Mary’s, 6 p.m.

Jan. 7: at Minot, 6 p.m.

Jan. 10: vs. Bismarck High, 5:40 p.m.

Jan. 14: vs. Legacy, 5:45 p.m.

Jan. 17: at Williston, 6 p.m.

Jan. 21: vs. Minot North, 6 p.m.

Jan. 24: vs. Dickinson, 5:45 p.m.

Jan. 28: at Century, 6 p.m.

Jan. 30: vs. Mandan, 5:45 p.m.

Feb. 4: vs. St. Mary’s, 5:45 p.m.

Feb. 7: at Legacy, 6 p.m.

Feb. 11: vs. Minot, 6 p.m.

Feb. 14: at Bismarck High, 6 p.m.

Feb. 18: at Minot North, 5:30 p.m.

Feb. 21: vs. Williston, 5:45 p.m.

Feb. 25: at Dickinson, 6:45 p.m.

Mar. 6-8: WDA Tournament at Bismarck Events Center.

Mar. 13-15: Class A State Tournament at Sanford Health Athletic Complex, Scheels Center. CLASS A BOYS

Region 1

Valley City Hi-Liners

Coach: Jim McDaniel

Last season: N/A

Key returners: Bryson Heck, Sr., 6-3 (12.5 ppg, 4 rpg, 28 steals, 62 assists, 11 blocks, 64 treys); Jack Dieterle, Jr., 6-7 (6.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 15 steals, 24 assists, 12 blocks, 2 treys); Teagan Zaun, Sr., 6-0; Miken Mattson, Jr., 6-0.

Wahpeton Huskies

Coach: Jeff Ralph

Last season: 9-13

Key returners: Treyton Mauch, Sr., 5-10 (10 ppg, 6 rpg); Bjorn Kubela, Sr., 6-3 (6 ppg, 5 rpg); Joseph Gomez, Sr., 5-9 (7 ppg, 2 rpg); Jackson DeVries, Sr., 6-3 (1 ppg, 1 rpg); Brayden Steffens, Jr., 5-11 (15 ppg, 4 rpg).

Region 2

Carrington Cardinals

Coach: Jason Otto

Last season: 2-20

Key returners: Josh Bickett, Sr., 6-2, (13.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 20 steals, 42 assists, 35 treys); Grady Idland, Sr., 5-11, (2.1 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 7 steals, 6 assists, 12 treys); Taylen Mehring, So., 6-2 (5.4 ppg, 4 rpg, 6 steals, 8 assists, 30 treys).

Hillsboro/Central Valley Burros

Coach: Elliot Rotvold

Last season: 10-12

Key returners: Keithan Muller, Sr., 6-5 (2.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 5 steals, 11 assists, 3 blocks, 4 treys); Ben McRitchie, Sr., 6-4 (2.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 3 steals, 7 assists, 1 block); Chase Haffely (3.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 19 steals, 52 assists, 4 blocks, 9 treys).

Thompson Tommies

Coach: Brady Schwab

Last season: 13-12

Key returners: Braden Tyce, Sr., 6-2 (5 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 21 steals, 44 assists, 8 blocks, 2 treys); Karter Peterson, Sr., 6-4 (13.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 29 steals, 37 assists, 22 blocks, 4 treys); Gavin Krogstad, Sr., 6-4 (8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 16 steals, 38 assists, 8 blocks,

9 treys).

Devils Lake

Coach: Dustin Brodina

Last season: 25-2

Key returners: Parker Brodina, Sr., 6-4 (14.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 43 steals, 76 assists, 7 blocks, 31 treys); Joel Nelson, Sr., 6-6 (9.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 42 steals, 61 assists, 16 blocks, 7 treys); Mason Palmer, Jr., 5-11 (6.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 20 steals, 41 assists, 22 treys)=

Region 3

Turtle Mountain Braves

Coach: DJ McGillis

Last season: 7-14

Key returners: Wyatt Belgarde, Sr.; Dylan Lebeau, Sr.; Kael Davis, Sr.; Landon Decoteau, Sr.; Asher Trottier, Jr.; William Breland, Jr.

Des Lacs-Burlington Lakers

Coach: Chris Brown

Last season: 21-6

Key returners: Colton Feller, Sr., 5-10 (8.6 ppg, 3 rpg, 24 steals, 34 assists, 1 block, 21 treys); Levon Duchaine, Sr., 5-11 (4.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 19 steals, 29 assists, 1 block, 15 treys); Jake Schaefer, Sr., 6-1 (8.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 23 steals, 40 assists, 4 blocks, 33 treys).

Region 4

Watford City Wolves

Coach: David Gumke

Last season: 2-20

Key returners: Landon Vetter, Sr., 6-4 (4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 22 steals, 47 assists, 4 blocks, 14 treys); Thaydan Arnold, Jr., 6-3 (6.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 5 steals, 24 assists, 3 blocks, 2 treys).

Dickinson Trinity Titans

Coach: Gregg Grinsteinner

Last season: 14-8

Key returners: Camden Kubas, Sr., 6-0 (3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 14 steals, 41 assists); Nick Sobolik, Sr., 6-3 (6 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 15 steals, 17 assists); Emerson Simnioniw (6.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 22 steals, 33 assists).

Killdeer Cowboys

Coach: Greg Pruitt

Last season: 17-11

Key returners: Owen Schleppenbach, Sr., 6-4 (10.8 ppg, 2.3 assists); Cooper Bang, Sr., 6-2 (9.1 ppg, 3 rpg, 1.4 steals, 2 assists, 25 treys).

CLASS B BOYS

Region 1, District 1

Oakes Tornadoes

Coach: Jeremy Skoglund

Last season: 11-11

Key returners: Eddie Garza, Sr., 6-3 (12 ppg, 8 rpg); Roddek Schmit, Sr., 6-2 (9 ppg, 8 rpg, 2 steals); Beau Thorpe, So., 6-1 (10 ppg, 6 rpg, 2 steals, 3 assists, 50 treys).

Barnes County North Bison

Coach: Dawson Schmidt

Last season: 14-9

Key returners: Parker Amann, Sr., 6-5 (2.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 8 steals, 9 assists, 11 blocks); Jayson Schlenker, Jr., 5-10 (3 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 17 steals, 27 assists, 6 treys).

Region 1, District 2

LaMoure/Litchville-Marion Loboes

Coach: Tyler Thielges

Last season: 17-12

Key returners: Brayan Karlgaard, Sr., 6-3 (9.9 ppg, 4 rpg, 37 steals, 56 assists, 59 treys); Owen Lesko, Sr., 6-1 (5.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 30 steals, 45 assists); Gunner Thielges, Jr., 6-1 (4.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 35 steals, 68 assists).

Ellendale Cardinals

Coach: Brian Vance

Last season: 15-10

Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter Imperials

Coach: Logan Klitzke

Last season: 6-15

Key returners: Eli Ketterling, Sr., 6-1 (2.9 ppg, 19 treys); Tristan Schaffner, Sr., 6-2 (9.9 ppg, 5 treys); Hunter Grenz, Sr., 6-0.

South Border Mustangs

Coach: Curtis Kessler

Last season: 9-13

Key returners: Levi Buchholz, Sr., 6-0; Parker Salwei, Sr., 6-1; Treyton Ruenz, Sr., 6-0; Berkeley Frantz, Jr., 6-2. Medina/Pingree-Buchanan Thunder

Coach: Jeremy Weinmeister

Last season: 12-10

CLASS A GIRLS Region 2

Carrington Cardinals

Coach: Andy Braaten

Last season: 17-8

Key returners: Isabel Wendel, Sr., 5-7 (4.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 64 steals, 105 assists, 8 treys); Edyn Hoornaert, Sr., 5-9 (10.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 44 steals, 47 assists, 28 treys); Kenadie Pazdernik, Sr., 5-6 (3.8 ppg, 18 treys).

Grafton Spoilers

Coach: Wade Haugen

Last season: 6-16

Key returners: Roper Foerderer, Sr., 5-8 (3.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 7 steals, 23 assists); Terek Kinzell, Jr., 5-11 (9.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 9 steals, 56 assists, 2 blocks); Chase Ova, Jr., 5-9 (8.8 ppg, 3 rpg, 33 steals, 61 assists, 1 block).

Strasburg/Zeeland Clippers

Coach: Brent Kleinsasser

Last season: 3-17

Key returners: Lawson Nieuwsma, Sr., 6-1; Troy Temes, Sr., 5-6; Jacob Vander Vorste, Sr., 6-0; Conner Rohrich, Sr., 6-0.

Key returners: Evan Wagner, Sr., 6-0 (1.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 8 steals, 9 assists); Braxton Hokana, Jr., 5-10 (3.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 13 steals, 16 assists); DJ Waldo, Jr., (.5 ppg, .4 rpg, 1 steal, 3 assists).

Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier Rebels

Coach: Kevin Strobel

Last season: 22-7

Key returners: Joe Kramlich, Sr., 6-1 (7.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 45 steals, 61 assists, 26 treys); Braden Kinzler, Sr., 6-2 (11.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 29 steals, 86 assists, 3 blocks, 62 treys); Drew Nitschke, Sr., 6-3 (3 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 9 steals, 24 assists, 4 blocks).

Linton/HMB Lions

Coach: Alex Jangula

Last season: 18-5

Key returners: Kashton Mosser, Sr., 6-3 (10.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 27 steals, 37 assists, 8 blocks, 20 treys); Gentry Richter, Sr., 6-3 (11.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 33 steals, 58 assists, 21 blocks, 12 treys); Brady Schick, Sr., 6-2 (2.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 8 steals, 6 assists, 4 blocks, 5 treys).

Kidder County Wolves

Coach: Austin Schmidt

Last season: 2-20

Key returners: Blake Binder, Jr., 5-8 (2 ppg, 2,1 rpg, 23 steals, 19 assists, 5 treys); Bryce Larson, Jr., 6-3 (5 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 10 steals, 38 assists, 15 blocks); Preston Fischer, Jr., 5-9 (8.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 24 steals, 32 assists, 3 blocks, 11 treys).

Key returners: Paityn Ziegelmann, Sr., 5-5 (2.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 15 steals, 52 assists, 10 treys); Kate LeClerc, Sr., 5-9 (11.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 28 steals, 23 assists, 4 blocks, 51 treys); Savannah Blackcloud, Sr., 5-10 (8.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 12 steals, 33 assists, 8 blocks, 11 treys).

Thompson Tommies

Coach: Jason Brend

Last season: 24-1

Key returners: Kya Hurst, Jr., 5-6 (14.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 58 steals, 70 assists, 20 blocks, 41 treys); Addison Sage, Jr., 5-5 (19.3 ppg, 3 rpg, 42 steals, 71 assists, 3 blocks, 96 treys); Jordyn Tozer, Sr., 5-8 (6.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 31 steals, 83 assists, 7 blocks, 19 treys).

Region 3

Bottineau Stars

Coach: Michael Vandal

Last season: 24-3

Key returners: Kyra Beckman, Sr., 6-0 (17.9 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 69 steals, 83 assists, 35 blocks, 23 treys); Erin Guariglia, Sr., 5-7 (4.6 ppg, 1 rpg, 32 steals, 55 assists, 2 blocks, 28 treys); Josie Wintermute, Sr., 6-3 (2.4 ppg, 1 rpg, 18 steals, 34 assists, 18 blocks).

Turtle Mountain Bravettes

Coach: David Gourneau Jr.

Last season: 10-14

Key returners: Quinn Laducer. Sr., 6-1 (10.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg); Emberlyn Poitra, Jr., 6-0 (10.3 ppg, 10.7 rpg); Akealyes Azure (10.5 ppg, 6 rpg).

Region 4

Watford City Wolves

Coach: Thomas Dwyer

Last season: 19-9

Key returners: Adi Schaff, Sr., 5-9 (8.6 ppg, 7 rpg, 42 steals, 36 assists, 11 blocks, 34 treys); Bailey Mattson, Jr., 5-9 (10.6 ppg, 5 rpg, 62 steals, 60 assists, 15 blocks, 18 treys).

CLASS B GIRLS

Region 1, District 1

Oakes Tornadoes

Coach: Shaun Kourajian

Last season: 15-8

Key returners: Kassidy Jackson, Sr., 5-6 (7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 52 steals, 52 assists, 24% treys); Brianna Schmitz, Sr., 5-5 (11 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 30 steals, 33 assists, 22% treys); Molly Sitzler, Sr., 5-5 (7.9 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 39 steals, 39 assists, 34% treys).

Maple River Raiders

Coach: Nathan Hoots

Last season: 21-8

Key returners: BriElle Killoran, Sr., 5-10 (9.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 45 steals, 65 assists, 34 blocks, 7 treys); Adyson Hannig, Sr., 6-0 (13.6 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 27 steals, 16 assists, 32 blocks, 5 treys); Violet Richman, Fr., 5-7 (16.1 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 78 steals, 68 assists, 13 blocks, 47 treys).

Sargent County Bulldogs

Coach: Randy Syrstad

Last season: 24-4

Key returners: Emma Bixby, Sr., 5-3 (5.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 113 steals, 170 assists, 6 blocks, 5 treys); Karleigh Kadoun, Jr., 5-10 (18.5 ppg, 5 rpg, 86 steals, 53 assists, 12 blocks, 34 treys); Sadie Neustel, Sr., 5-8 (4.6 ppg, 3 rpg, 36 steals, 73 assists, 4 treys).

Region 1, District 2

LaMoure/Litchville-Marion Loboes

Coach: Ben Holen

Last season: 15-10

Key returners: Georgia Lettenmaier, Sr., 5-10 (4 ppg, 4 rpg); Nora DelaBarre, Jr., 5-9 (13 ppg, 8 rpg); Mia Van Eeden, Jr., 5-2 (5 ppg, 2 rpg).

Ellendale Cardinals

Coach: Brennan Hack

Last season: 11-12

Key returners: Ariel Hagen, Sr., 6-0 (8.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 23 steals, 67 assists, 38 blocks, 7 treys); Mya Glynn, Jr., 5-8 (5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 18 steals, 36 assists, 2 blocks, 17 treys); Macy Norton, Jr., 5-5 (4.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 24 steals, 40 assists, 2 blocks, 4 treys); Riley Goehring, Jr., 5-9 (3.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 16 steals, 24 assists, 7 blocks, 7 treys).

Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier Rebels

Coach: Rory Entzi

Last season: 23-6

Key returners: Libby Mathern, Sr., 6-0 (10 ppg, 6 rpg, 65 steals, 59 assists, 6 blocks, 26 treys); Jaelyn Bertsch, Jr., 5-5 (5 ppg, 2 rpg, 21 steals, 22 assists, 7 treys); Betsy Huber, So., 5-10 (6 ppg, 5 rpg, 59 steals, 28 assists, 6 blocks, 3 treys).

Linton/HMB Lions

Coach: Michael Schirado

Last season: 16-7

Key returners: Jersey Voegel, Sr., 5-8 (13 ppg, 4 rpg, 51 steals, 49 assists, 8 blocks, 26 treys); Amber McCrory, Sr., 5-5 (4 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 32 steals, 35 assists, 26 treys); Brooklyn Schumacher, Jr., 5-10 (4.5 ppg, 4 rpg, 30 steals, 37 assists, 44 blocks, 12 treys).

Kidder County Wolves

Coach: Tyson Bodvig

Last season: 12-10

Key returners: Taylor Zimmerman, Jr., 5-7 (10.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 71 steals, 53 assists, 24 treys); Breanah Pfaff, Jr., 5-6 (8 ppg, 4 rpg, 41 steals, 37 assists, 33 treys); Ella Witt, So., 5-8 (5 ppg, 5 rpg, 36 steals, 7 blocks); Ava Schmidt, So., 5-8 (4 ppg, 4 rpg, 17 steals, 27 assists, 4 blocks).

Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter Imperials

Coach: Paul Erbele

Last season: 8-15

Key returners: Ali Gross, Sr., 5-8 (6.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 4 steals, 16 assists, 4 blocks); Jada Schwartzenberger. Sr., 5-5 (7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 37 steals, 103 assists, 6 blocks, 15 treys); Aliyah Schwartzenberger, So., 5-4 (2.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 22 steals, 53 assists, 4 blocks, 7 treys).

Medina/Pingree-Buchanan Thunder

Coach: Cory Mack

Last season: 5-17

Key returners: Maddie Gefroh, Sr., 5-10 (7 ppg, 7 rpg); Brynn Sorenson, Sr., 5-6 (5 ppg, 2 rpg); Cierra Mack, Sr., 5-5 (1 ppg, 2 rpg); Abby Ryun, Sr., 6-11 (2 ppg, 2 rpg).

Strasburg/Zeeland Clippers

Coach: King Steifel

Last season: 6-14

Key returners: Bobbi Janczewski, Fr., 6-0 (10.1 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 42 steals, 22 assists, 11 blocks, 1 trey); Jozlyn Volk, So., 5-6 (1.3 ppg, .9 rpg, 12 steals, 4 treys); Laura Haak, Fr., 5-7 (.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 29 teals, 2 assists, 4 blocks).

South Border Mustangs

Coach: Jamie Bittner

Last season: 2-18

Key returners: Macy Monson, Sr., 5-8 (16.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 59 steals, 28 assists, 23 blocks, 3 treys); Eva Meyer, Sr., 5-7 (4.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 44 steals, 23 assists, 4 blocks, 13 treys).

Region 2, District 4

Griggs-Midkota Titans

Coach: Mike Monson

Last season: 7-15

Key returners: Vanessa Vollmer, Sr., 5-6 (6.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 34 steals, 40 assists, 2 blocks, 6 treys); Kennedy Reidman, Sr., 5-7 (4.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 13 steals, 3 assists, 7 blocks); Kelsey Johnson, Jr., 5-7 (8.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 48 steals, 35 assists, 7 blocks, 8 treys); Jessa Spickle, So., 5-6 (9.4 ppg, 4 rpg, 60 steals, 55 assists, 8 blocks, 19 treys).

New Rockford-Sheyenne Rockets

Coach: Elliott Belquist

Last season: N/A

Key returners: Bailey Jacobson, Sr.; Addyson Fandrich, Sr.; Kaiya O’Connor, Sr.; Tillie Swart, Sr.; Ava Peterson, Jr.; Paige Knatterud, Jr.; Bailey Baumbach, Jr.

CLASS AA BOYS WEST REGION

Williston Coyotes

Coach: Quinn McGlothlin

Last season: N/A

Key returners: Bridger Johnson, Sr., 5-11; Owen Kok, Sr., 5-7; Blake Johnson, Sr., 6-0; Dennis Yeboah, Sr., 6-0; Andrew Liewellen, Sr., 6-3.

Minot Magicians

Coach: Dean Winczewski

Last season: 24-3

Key returners: Aric Winczewski, Sr., 6-2 (13.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 32 steals, 114 assists, 17 blocks, 41 treys); Payton Schell, Sr., 6-3 (13.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 13 steals, 51 assists, 32 blocks, 53 treys); Grayson Schaeffer, Sr., 6-5 (8.1 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 34 steals, 90 assists, 13 blocks, 30 treys); Landon Bedell, Sr., 6-6 (4.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 15 steals, 29 assists, 9 blocks, 2 treys).

Minot North Sentinels

Coach: Drew Hysjulien

Last season: JV schedule

Key returners: Kaiden Helm, Sr., 6-2 (Minot High Varsity: 3.6 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 9 steals, 20 assists, 12 treys); Brayden Blikre, Jr., 6-0 (JV 15.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 42 steals, 36 assists, 5 blocks, 64 treys); Josia Jaquinet, Jr., 6-1 (JV 10.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 72 steals, 83 assists, 5 blocks, 32 treys).

Dickinson Midgets

Coach: Dan Glasser

Last season: 13-11

Key returners: Nolan Weidner, Sr., 6-0 (9 ppg, 3 rpg, 17 steals, 43 assists, 2 blocks, 45 treys); Isaac Schulte, Sr., 6-1 (3 ppg, 4 rpg, 8 steals, 11 assists, 1 block); Boston Cranston, Jr., 6-0 (18 ppg, 3 rpg, 36 steals, 70 assists, 4 blocks, 65 treys); Dylan Glasser, Jr., 6-0 (8 ppg, 2 rpg, 17 steals, 48 assists, 4 blocks, 20 treys).

Mandan Braves

Coach: Brandon Schafer

Last season: 11-13

Key returners: Hudsen Sheldon, Sr., 6-2 (21.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 97 steals, 133 assists, 4 blocks, 36 treys); TJ Brownotter, Sr., 5-11 (10.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 33 steals, 21 assists, 2 blocks, 51 treys); Doug Sheldon, Sr., 6-2 (2.6 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 6 steals, 10 assists, 2 blocks, 8 treys); Brylee Bearstail, Jr., 6-2 (9.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 22 steals, 26 assists, 1 block, 48 treys).

Bismarck St. Mary’s Saints

Coach: BJ Etzold

Last season: 2-20

Key returners: Connor Schatz, Sr., 6-3 (3.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 13 steals, 45 assists, 5 blocks, 9 treys); Aeyden Price, Sr., 5-11 (3.9 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 12 steals, 40 assists, 3 blocks, 13 treys); Christian Benning, Jr., 5-11 (19.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 28 steals, 30 assists, 2 blocks, 37 treys); Jackson Barth, Jr., 6-4 (8.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 11 steals, 25 assists, 23 blocks, 2 treys).

Bismarck Legacy Sabers

Coach: Jason Horner

Last season: 12-14

Key returners: Parker Falcon, Sr., 6-5 (20 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 39 steals, 39 assists, 12 blocks, 78 treys); Jonathan Roubideaux, Jr., 6-7 (6.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 17 steals, 17 assists, 11 blocks, 18 treys); Brody Weigel, Jr., 6-0 (6.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 45 steals, 45 assists, 33 treys).

Bismarck High Demons

Coach: Jordan Wilhelm

Last season: 20-7

Key returners: Andre Austin, Sr., 6-4 (17.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 48 steals, 133 assists, 7 blocks, 30 treys); Grady Swanson, Sr., 6-1 (6.9 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 18 steals, 16 assists, 1 block, 47 treys); Ross Fischer, Sr., 5-11 (5.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 21 steals, 33 assists, 37 treys); Weston Scott, So., 6-1 (7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 37 steals, 61 assists, 8 blocks, 7 treys).

Bismarck Century Patriots

Coach: Darin Mattern

Last season: 29-8

Key returners: Drew Kempel, Sr., 6-3 (13 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 43 steals, 108 assists, 12 treys); Garrett Nissley, Jr., (7.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 29 steals, 52 assists, 45 treys); Gibson Kinnebrew, So., (7.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 34 steals, 33 assists, 20 treys).

CLASS AA GIRLS WEST REGION

Williston Coyotes

Coach: Jacob Braaten

Last season: 3-18

Key returners: Grace Johnson, Sr., (8.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2 steals, 4 assists, 8 treys); Micah Fleck, Jr., (6.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 12 steals, 20 assists, 1 block, 12 treys); Ali Wilcox, So., (5.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 21 steals, 39 assists, 2 blocks, 14 treys); Lizzy Milne, So., (7.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 17 steals, 18 assists, 4 blocks, 24 treys).

Minot Magicians

Coach: Jason Schwarz

Last season: 23-4

Key returners: Karew Lamoureux, Sr., 5-7 (7.1 ppg, 3 rpg, 30 steals, 67 assists, 6 blocks, 21 treys); Leelee Bell, Jr., 6-3 (26.1 ppg, 11 rpg, 21 steals, 63 assists, 34 blocks, 63 treys); Maggie Fricke, Jr., 5-8 (18.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 43 steals, 109 assists, 1 block, 36 treys); Eve Knutson, Jr., 5-9 (7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 12 steals, 37 assists, 10 blocks, 49 treys).

Minot North Sentinels

Coach: Justin Lauf

Last season: 0-0 (1st year of varsity)

Key returners: Cadey Shipman, Sr., 5-11; Ashlee Williamson, Sr., 5-0; Aven Kelly, Jr., 6-0; Addy Clark, Jr., 5-5.

Dickinson Midgets

Coach: Terrance Lockett

Last season: N/A

Key returners: Lauren Selle. Sr., 5-8 (4.2 ppg); Jenna Nelson, Jr., 5-11 (3.6 ppg).

Mandan Braves

Coach: Shannon Copas

Last season: 15-9

Key returners: McKenna Johnson, Sr., 6-2 (14.8 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 39 steals, 23 assists, 114 blocks, 1 trey); Ziah Greybull. Sr., 5-9 (7.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 38 steals, 70 assists, 17 blocks, 13 treys); Sarah Helderop, Jr., 5-6 (7.9 ppg, 3 rpg, 31 steals, 28 assists, 21 treys).

Bismarck St. Mary’s Saints

Coach: Ty Terry

Last season: 12-12

Key returners: Natalie Benning, Sr., 5-9 (13.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg); Journey Oukrop, Jr., 5-8 (4.2 ppg); Mataya Messer, Jr., 5-11 (15.2 ppg, 7 rpg).

Bismarck Legacy Sabers

Coach: Jim Petrik

Last season: 19-8

Key returners: Brooklyn Felchle, Sr., 6-3 (14.3 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 26 steals, 20 assists, 30 blocks); Whitney Welk, Sr., 5-7 (6.9 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 20 steals, 63 assists, 1 block, 17 treys); Marlee Falcon, So., 6-1 (5.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 22 steals, 17 assists, 14 blocks, 18 treys).

Bismarck High Demons

Coach: Bill Shetler

Last season: 19-8

Key returners: Addison Massey, Sr., 5-5 (5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 45 steals, 55 assists, 5 blocks, 10 treys); Katelyn Luther, Sr., 5-10 (5 ppg, 4 rpg, 19 steals, 30 assists, 7 blocks, 10 treys); Taya Fettig, Sr., 5-5 (2 ppg, 1 rpg, 13 steals, 8 assists); Jordyn Rood, Jr., 5-10 (4 ppg, 3 rpg, 11 steals, 17 assists, 43 blocks, 19 treys).

Bismarck Century Patriots

Coach: Nathan Welstad

Last season: 16-8

Key returners: Zoie Austin, Sr., 5-7 (14.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 42 steals, 51 assists, 5 blocks, 3 treys); Ashlyn Buchholz, Sr., 5-8 (8.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 36 steals, 22 assists, 3 blocks, 10 treys); Abby Fosland, Jr., (7.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 35 steals, 45 assists, 6 blocks, 17 treys); Olivia Kimpel, So., 5-10 (7.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 32 steals, 25 assists, 11 blocks, 12 treys).