Class B: District 6 Preview

<p><u>Linton/HMB.</u>  Listed as top five team in the QRF last year when they went 19-5 winning games by an average of a dozen points a night…Earned third place in the region after being knocked out by Oakes by three points in the district semi-finals…Won 11 straight games in the middle of the season…Won all their true road games a season ago…Graduated Jon Purintun who was a top ten player in the state last year plus Ryan Schneider has also graduated…Point guard <strong>Erik Holzer</strong> is back is the key returning player and he will get support from fellow seniors <strong>James Schmaltz </strong>who has logged a load of minutes playing next to Holzer over time.  James is a very good athletic on the wing while Erik plays hard both ways…Junior big <strong>Cole Vander Laan</strong> is 6-foot-4 and will have to hold down the post…</p><p><u>Strasburg/Zeeland.</u>  Won 18 games last season…Won the first 11 games of the season a year ago but lost three of the last four games before playoffs…Played five games against South Dakota teams a year ago and won them all…Lost two of three to Linton/HMB a year ago…<strong>Brody Nieuswma</strong> is the top uncommitted basketball player in the senior class right now and he returns to lead the team considered as district favorite.  Brody averaged 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists per game a year ago …The Clippers return five of their rotation guys including <strong>Jacob Eberle,</strong> a double double type guy who can play a lot of spots and will defend several spots, and junior <strong>Hunter Huizenga</strong> is a scoring guard that will also give them a lot…</p> <p><u>Kidder County. </u> Had the third best defense in Class B points wise giving up only 44 points per game…Won 11 games a year ago scoring just 48.7 points per contest…Lost four of their five games last season before winning eight of their last nine games of the regular season…They were a game over .500 last year and that was playing almost an exclusive senior line-up.   They do have senior <strong>Cameron Moser</strong> back as well as <strong>Brighton Fallgatter</strong> who burst into the line-up ahead of some older players…</p> <p><u>South Border. </u> Won 9 of 21 games a year ago despite losing eight of ten in the middle of the season…South Border lost a lot in the W-L column but they return their top three scorers in guard <strong>Tristan Lippert</strong>, guard <strong>Matt Rueb</strong>, and North Dakota football bound <strong>Hunter Pinke</strong> who we believe is the top second best basketball prospect in the state.  Pinke put up 21 points and ten rebounds a game last year shooting 51 percent from the floor…Lippert is a junior three point weapon who hit 46 percent of his treys a year ago…They played their five starters but after that depth was thing.  With seniors Zach Fischer and Reed Ezlinger graduating some of the freshman that played JV last year need to step in as sophomores.</p> <p><u>Medina/Pingree-Buchanan.</u>  Won just two of eight games against district competition on their way to a 10-12 season…Won five of their first six games before losing eight of their last nine contests…Junior shooter <strong>Blake Zirbes</strong> could have a huge year after playing a nice role at the arc last season.  Zirbes and fellow junior <strong>Lawton Allen</strong> played a lot together last year as sophomores and will be counted on even more this season…They bring back five guys from last year’s seven man rotation with <strong>Jeremiah Heupel </strong>being the senior leader….</p> <p><u>Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter.</u>  Scored only 44 points per game while giving up 60 a year ago….The Imperials lost their first six games and 13 of their 15 contests…Had an eye-opening win over Kidder County in the district play…Take note of the name <strong>Jamison Fettig</strong> that was hitting double figures at the end of last year as an 8th grader….<strong>Jaden Jangula</strong> was one of the most consistent talents for the Imperials and he is now a senior…The loss of Dylan Bitz will be felt early but this is a team that will improve as they only lose one key contributor and played a lot of young guys last season…</p>