The WDA Power Rankings
PHD gives you the WDA Power Rankings entering September with our thoughts on next year. See them below. Minot (1). You know how it is for the Magicians, they just reload! Will they this year with the same depth? That…
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Continue ReadingPHD gives you the WDA Power Rankings entering September with our thoughts on next year. See them below.
Minot (1). You know how it is for the Magicians, they just reload! Will they this year with the same depth? That remains to be seen but starters and key contributors KyJuan Johnson and U of Mary committed Justin Engg return along with part timer Chandler Albertson who will be a junior. They may not have the same record or be as dominant but after winning two straight titles with key guys back we can’t remove them from the top spot.
Bismarck Century (2). How much time will be needed to recover from the graduation of a group that rarely ever lost a game? Less than you think. Replacing the departed crew will have a time of struggle or two but with U of Mary committed Lucas Mayer up front, Josh Sipes ready to be a scorer, Kade Amundson a standout ready to step in at the four spot, Nate Symens capable of production, and some seniors-to-be eager to show what they can do the Patriots will still be a tough team to deal with and a favorite.
Dickinson (3). Is it time for the Midgets to make their move? We would say it’s now or never, and we can’t put them above Minot and Century until they make the move past them with a win and that will be tough with what the top teams have back. Dickinson is loaded too with the state’s best scorer in Aanen Moody and the state’s biggest player in Jordan Meidinger (to NDSU). Moody and Meidinger are rare talents that are tough to deal with, both are D1 committed (Moody to UND and Jordan to NDSU), and it should be their time. Dickinson also returns three other 2017 players that have experience in the rotation and that is Cameron Jordan, Eli Jung, and Shawn Steffan so the talent is there to make the run they have been dreaming of.
Mandan (4). The Braves used an eight man rotation last year and five of those players have graduated. Mandan returns juniors Trae and Cameron Steckler who gave the team a combined 30 points and 14 boards a night a year ago. They will be joined by former role player and now top senior Jaden Anderson who was one of the toughest workers for the club. Trae was one of the top scorers in the state last year and Cameron scored in double figures as well so the team will be solid.
Bismarck Legacy (5). Seven wins in year one with no seniors on the team isn’t too bad. Especially when you know your entire team is coming back. Austin Wolf is the main guy but this was a balanced team that also got a lot from Jason Hoekstra, Devin Beck, and Cole Svihovec. We expect them to be right in the middle of the pack and one of the first things they need to try and do is beat Bismarck or Century who hammered the new program last season.
Bismarck (6). The Demons lose five of their top six scorers including the best senior guard in the state last year Connor Hellebust. Junior-to-be Ian Schafer is the right player to build as he’s a talented lead guard with two years left to play. Solomon Gartner will give them a scorer up front but outside of Gartner and Schafer there is no other varsity experience and that scares us.
St. Mary’s (7). The seven win Saints have back one of the more interesting players and that is Cole Gendreau who seems to be poised to become one of the more deadly scorers in the WDA. He put up 15 a game as a sophomore with defenders on him and this winter returning guys like John Norberg, Steven Hutzenbiler, and Matt Guenther will be better and should be able to take some of the scoring off Cole like graduated Noah Kopp did at times. Gendreau will still score, likely 20 a night, but he should be able to do more playmaking too.
Jamestown (8). The Jays won 12 of their 21 games a year ago with a line-up that was all seniors. The only time a returning player saw the court was when they went ten deep which was rare. Brian Opsahl, a senior who player a little at times, is the only Jays returning player who saw the court during any meaningful minutes a year ago. Everybody else is coming up from the JV and ninth grade team so it’s tough to really know what to expect this winter.
Turtle Mountain (9). When you lose 16 of your last 17 there is nowhere to go but up correct! Huh? Right? Third leading scorer Lyle Radar graduated but everybody else returned. But they returned from a team that sometimes competed, sometimes looked like they were about to give up. Nate LaFountain, Seth Gillis, and Taven Azure are the top returning players so the team should win more than four games but how much of a jump can they take after the brutal end to the season they had? That’s what we are interested in seeing.
Williston (10). The Coyotes did improve to win six games last year, but the guy that put up most of the numbers has moved to Utah (DeSean Eikens). DeSean earned himself a couple all state seasons with huge numbers and is now gone. He takes with him 22 points and 11 rebounds a game, but also his 49 percent free throw shooting, 24 percent three point shooting (he took nearly a third of the team’s field goal attempts), and four turnovers a game. The Coyotes won’t have a playmaker but they do have a lot of the rotation back and DeSean’s move will give guys like Bailey Bethke and William Brown more of a chance to expand after each scoring eight points a game last season. But it’s going to be a tough year most likely.