Things to Watch in the CNDC Tournament
***Photo Credit: Minot Daily News***
The CNDC Tournament is this week, starting Thursday in Rugby. It is among the best early-season tournaments in North Dakota and the field figures to be strong again this year.
Teams to Watch: Rugby, Dunseith, St. John
There may not be a team currently ranked in the top-10 in the field but Dunseith, St. John and Rugby all have that kind of potential. St. John was a state tournament team a year ago and while there’s quite a bit of roster turnover for the Woodchucks, they’ve got enough history to suggest they won’t fall off much. Bradley Defender is one of the best juniors in the state.
Dunseith returns a number of key pieces from last year’s team including a very good guard duo in Hunter Gladue and Lawrence Peltier Jr.
Rugby’s got a terrific duo in Trace Goven and Jaden Hamilton. Throw in Devan Michels and the Panthers have the type of talent it takes to win the tournament.
Matchups to Watch
Potential second round matchups featuring New Rockford and Rugby could be very good as both teams should be better this year than last year and can put quite a bit of perimeter talent on the floor at a time. New Rockford beat Carrington to open the season, so don’t sleep on them.
St. John potentially playing Dunseith could be good as well. Those two teams met in the tournament final last season.
Players To Watch
Rugby: Trace Goven and Jaden Hamilton
Dunseith: Hunter Gladue and Lawrence Peltier Jr.
Harvey/Wells County – Parker Granger
St. John – Bradley Defender
Rolla – Cody Schlenvogt
New Rockford/Sheyenne- Teddy Allmaras and Bo Belquist
Tournament Schedule: