Class A State Tournament Takeaways
The Class A State Tournament concluded Saturday night with Jamestown completing an undefeated season, beating Fargo Davies 66-49 in the state championship. Here are some takeaways from the state tournament: Jamestown went undefeated and was dominant the entire way The…
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Continue ReadingThe Class A State Tournament concluded Saturday night with Jamestown completing an undefeated season, beating Fargo Davies 66-49 in the state championship.
Here are some takeaways from the state tournament:
Jamestown went undefeated and was dominant the entire way
The Bluejays were a surprise entrant in the state tournament last season, winning just 10 games in the regular season before picking up a pair of upset wins in the conference tournament.
Heading into this season, Jamestown had moderately high expectations given that strong finish. Of course, having a Division I kid and an NAIA kid leading the way will set expectations up and as those guys blossomed, the Bluejays experienced more success.
Success was expected this year. But undefeated? The Bluejays were flat-out dominant all season. They played just four games that were decided by less than 10 points. They destroyed good teams just as often as bad. They beat Davies by 17. They beat Bismarck Century three times by a combined 40 points. They crushed Wahpeton and Bismarck Legacy and beat Mandan three times as well.
Mason Walters and Boden Skunberg were certainly dominant, combining to average better than 45 points and 20 rebounds but throughout the WDA tournament and the state tournament, the Bluejays showed that there is a lot to more to their team than two future college hoopers. Multiple guys stepped up during every game, seemingly turning close contests into lopsided affairs in the blink of an eye. They share the ball. They can shoot. They play elite defense – evidence of solid coaching and all around athleticism.
The foundation was a senior class that has been around for a while and experienced a lot of losing before this year. Those guys leave on a high note. And while the team was fairly senior-laden, the foundation is still solid. Skunberg is the best player in the state and there is young talent in house that should keep Jamestown up towards the top of the standings next year as well.
Fargo Davies’ redemption season was a success
Fargo Davies was the most talented team in the state to not appear in the state tournament field last year after getting upset twice in the EDC Conference Tournament. The Eagles came back this season on a mission and accomplished a number of good feats. They won the EDC. They won the EDC Conference Tournament – beating West Fargo, the only team to beat them during the regular season – and they got to the state championship.
The Eagles ran into the Jamestown buzzsaw in the title game but that doesn’t diminish anything this team accomplished.
Davies graduates a significant senior class including star guard Braeton Motschenbacher and forward Jaden Klabo but the Eagles likely won’t be dropping off much. With talented players like Cole Hage, Cam VanDam and Ty Satter set to return, plus the young talent in the school’s pipeline, this team could contend again in the EDC and beyond next year too.
Mandan had a weird and disappointing showing
Going into the state tournament, the only team that had experienced much success against Jamestown during the season was Mandan. The Braves had lost three times but played the Bluejays tough in two games in a week – holding leads far enough into those games to show that they could compete.
Then the Braves went 0-2 in the state tournament, losing to Grand Forks Red River and Bismarck Legacy. After averaging better than 75 points per game during the year, the Braves scored just 54 and 53 points. Their offense looked clunky and out of sorts throughout the loss to Red River.
A team that looked equipped to win multiple games at state ended up with zero and while that doesn’t undo a strong season, it’s a dud of an ending for a team that was talented enough to go out with a bang.
Bismarck Century’s rollercoaster year ends with another strong finish
Bismarck Century had an up and down season to say the least. The Patriots lost three games in a row at the end of December to cap a 4-4 opening month to the year. Any notion of demise was exaggerated though as the Patriots rattled off 10 wins in 11 games before dropping the last two in the regular season.
When it looked like Century was getting hot, it lost by 24 to Mandan in a game that could’ve vaulted it up the WDA standings. Then it lost back-to-back games to Minot to end the regular season and start the WDA tournament.
But with their backs against the proverbial wall, the Patriots beat Dickinson and Bismarck to get to state and once there, they looked like the second best team in the field. They blew out West Fargo in the opening round and took Jamestown to the brink before losing late. They beat Grand Forks Red River to secure a third-place finish.
Bismarck Century didn’t have dominant talent this year like it has in past years. But the Patriots did have a terrific point guard in Treyton Mattern, a strong foundation of defense and fundamentals and a tough-minded approach.
Mattern graduates along with a big senior class. Those other things will remain though. Which is why Century will probably keep winning.
After something of a rebuilding season, the EDC should be really strong in 2019-20
After graduating a really good collective group of seniors, the Eastern Dakota Conference went into the 2018-19 season with a lot of uncertainty. Fargo Davies was viewed as the one sure thing as the Eagles returned practically every key guy from the year before.
But West Fargo, West Fargo Sheyenne, Fargo Shanley, Grand Forks Red River and a lot of the rest of the teams in the league were turning over and as a result, teams were going to be much younger and less experienced.
If the state tournament was any indication, there’s a lot to look forward to in the coming years for some of these teams.
Grand Forks Red River upset Mandan and hung tough against Bismarck Century before finishing fourth in the state tournament. The guy who seemingly burst onto the scene was sophomore swingman Will Obioha. At 6-foot-5, Obioha has an intriguing blend of size, skill and athleticism. He’ll be back for two more years and should continue to grow into a force for the Roughriders. Red River should be extremely strong next year, given the Riders graduate just one starter and return six of their top seven guys.
West Fargo will lose star big man Luke Lennon but the Packers should be better overall next year. Hunter Lyman will be one of the best returning big men in the state while Matt Miller should be one of the best returning guards. The breakout candidate for the Packers will be freshman wing Carson Hegerle. Hegerle could be one of the best players in the 2022 class of North Dakota. And the West Fargo coaching staff has proven it can produce and develop talent no matter who is graduating.
Davies graduates a number of quality seniors but the Eagles have reached a point similar to West Fargo where you can always count on them having talented players. Hage, VanDam and Satter are key guys back and players like Grayson Haman, Justice Noel and Nate Hensel will bring valuable experience from this season into next.
Throw in West Fargo Sheyenne – arguably the best non-state tournament team – which will return four of its top six players, Devils Lake which returns perhaps the best individual player – Grant Nelson – and Fargo North which return arguably the best backcourt and the EDC should be balanced and strong next season.