Beulah Miners (1-0)

The Miners played their first game of the season last night and they took down New Salem-Almont by a score of 54-36. Beulah is off now until after Christmas. Up next, the Miners play on December 27th at the Minot State Dome vs. Powers Lake-Burke Central. This will be a fun matchup as these two teams do not play each other often.   Scoring leaders last night: [player_tooltip player_id='1144977' first='Trace' last='Beauchamp'] 13 pts, [player_tooltip player_id='1355919' first='Bennett' last='Larson'] 12 pts, and [player_tooltip player_id='1186850' first='Tarren' last='Larson'] 10 pts.   The Miners are a "new look" team this year with Class B Senior Athlete of the Year Trey Brandt graduating. Beulah lost Brandt and Trapper Skalsky, those will be huge shoes to fill. Jeremy Brandt is the head coach of the Miners and you will not find a better coach in North Dakota. He is a great basketball mind and a hoops junky. This might be a "new" team but coach Brandt will have the Miners looking like a scary squad in little time.   PHD asked coach Brandt about his thoughts on last night's game and he had this to say:   "I thought we played with good energy and effort, especially on the defensive end. Offensively we did not shoot it real well, I thought we got good looks just need to get into game shape, we missed four days of practice last week as I'm sure most teams did also but that didn't help. I thought we really shared the ball well and moved it, we just need to be more aggressive and attack more consistently."   "Defensively we had a bit of foul trouble the first half as we were using our hands too much, that is something we need to clean up, the other thing is being more aggressive on offense, there were times we settled or got stagnant."   See below for more information on this Miners squad.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/Jamestown_MBB/status/1605013775886811136 </div></figure>   Miners to Watch   [player_tooltip player_id='1186850' first='Tarren' last='Larson'] (2023) |6'4 F|   He played very well last night. Tarren has a good motor, is smart, and plays hard. Tarren is a really good role player who will do a lot of little things on the court for Beulah. He broke his nose this weekend and played with a mask last night. He might have surgery and could miss some time.   [player_tooltip player_id='1186849' first='Jack' last='Koppelsloen'] (2023) |5'10" G|   He has very good quickness and is a tough on-ball defender. When Jack gets his feet set, he is a good 3pt shooter. He plays with good energy. Koppelsloen is a returning starter for Beulah.   [player_tooltip player_id='1144977' first='Trace' last='Beauchamp'] (2024) |6'2 G|   He is a smooth lefty that played really well this summer. Trace has gained a lot of confidence since last year and he scores very well going to the basket. He gets buckets pulling up from midrange and with the 3-ball. Look for Beauchamp to be a top player in Region 7 this year.   [player_tooltip player_id='1144978' first='Aiden' last='O'Brien'] (2024) |6'1 SG|   He is an athletic wing who can really get in the lane. Aiden has a very nice pull-up game and can defend a lot of positions. He missed all of last year with a knee injury and probably would have started for the Miners last year. He can do a lot of positive things on the court. Beulah is very excited to have him back.   [player_tooltip player_id='1144979' first='Champ' last='Hettich'] (2024) |6'3 SG|   He has grown about 3 inches since last year. Champ is long and he gets his hands on a lot of balls on the defensive end. Hettich is a good spot-up shooter. He has really improved his ability to put it on the floor with either hand and get to the basket.   [player_tooltip player_id='1355919' first='Bennett' last='Larson'] (2026) |6'7 PF|   When I watched him this summer Bennett was super physical and he got to the line at a high clip. Larson is the #1 ranked prospect in the 2026 class from ND. Last night, he was 6/7 from the FT-line and was at or close to double digits for rebounds. Larson is a big-bodied kid who is a tremendous rebounder and shot-blocker for his age. He plays hard, with a high motor, and takes up a lot of space. Bennett really does a good job of passing out of the post and he uses both hands around the rim. He has a boatload of potential and will be a STUD for the next 4 years at Beulah. As Dick Vitale would say, Larson, is a "Diaper Dandy"!   [player_tooltip player_id='1355920' first='Braylen' last='Schirado'] (2026) |5'10 G|   He is another youngster with a ton of potential. Braylen is a very skilled offensive player. He shoots it well from the 3pt line but also can put it on the floor and pull up from mid-range or get to the basket. He uses either hand to finish, which is an advanced skill for a 9th grader at the varsity level. Schirado is another kid with a bright future for the Miners.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/beauluahminer-2.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/beauluahminer-2.jpg?w=854" alt="" class="wp-image-1706251" width="121" height="145" /></a></figure>   Q&A with coach Jeremy Brandt   PHD: What can you tell us about last season?   Coach Brandt: "Last season ended on a disappointing note, I thought we were playing as well as we had all season but unfortunately we had a bad shooting night in the Regional Semifinal game and couldn't overcome that. Two of our seniors Trey Brandt and Trapper Skalsky had very good seasons with Trey finishing his career at Beulah as the all-time leading scorer with over 2000 points and was the Class B senior athlete of the year."   PHD: How did your off-season go?   Coach Brandt: "I thought we had a very good off-season, our core group of 9-10 guys put a lot of time in the gym working on skill development and getting better and weight training and I think you can really see those improvements at the start of our season."   PHD: What can you tell us about some of your individual players?   Coach Brandt: "We return a nice core group of juniors in [player_tooltip player_id='1144979' first='Champ' last='Hettich'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1144977' first='Trace' last='Beauchamp'], both played a lot of varsity minutes for us last year and we also get back [player_tooltip player_id='1144978' first='Aiden' last='O'Brien'] who missed last year with a knee injury. Seniors [player_tooltip player_id='1186850' first='Tarren' last='Larson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1186849' first='Jack' last='Koppelsloen'] were nice role players last year that will be asked to do more this year in certain situations as well. We also have a nice group of freshmen with two outstanding players in 6'7” [player_tooltip player_id='1355919' first='Bennett' last='Larson'] and guard [player_tooltip player_id='1355920' first='Braylen' last='Schirado'], these two kids put a lot of time in individually and play AAU basketball in the summer, they will be major contributors to our team this year."   "We will be a very skilled team at the guard position and will have a very nice post presence in [player_tooltip player_id='1355919' first='Bennett' last='Larson'] to go along with those wings, I really see us as being a very balanced team from night to night with different guys leading us in scoring throughout the year."   PHD: Who are some of the top players in Region 7?   Coach Brandt: "There are a few nice seniors in our region [player_tooltip player_id='1138817' first='Talan' last='Batke'] from Hazen, [player_tooltip player_id='1706259' first='Ben' last='Hosman'] from Glen Ullin/Hebron, and [player_tooltip player_id='1203556' first='Trey' last='Swanson'] from Beach but I believe the strength of our Region is in the junior class, Dickinson Trinity, Bowman, Beulah, Hazen and Grant County/Mott all having some good juniors."   PHD: Who will be some of the top teams in Region 7?   Coach Brandt: "I think the top teams in our region will be Hazen, Bowman, Dickinson Trinity, and Beulah mainly because of the returners that these teams have along with the successful programs that these teams have built. There are a few other teams that could be in the mix as well like Glen Ullin/Hebron, Grant County/Mott, and Beach if they can fill the loss of some starters from last year."   Good Luck Miners!

The Miners played their first game of the season last night and they took down New Salem-Almont by a score of 54-36. Beulah is off now until after Christmas. Up next, the Miners play on December 27th at the Minot State Dome vs. Powers Lake-Burke Central. This will be a fun matchup as these two teams do not play each other often.