Hoop Chat: Davies, Park River/Fordville-Lankin, Highmore-Harrold

We are chatting with two North Dakota coaches and one South Dakota coach in this Season Preview article. We shot a series of questions at the coaches and they gave us back some intriguing information. Take some time to read below about the Eagles, Aggies, and Pirates. We have many players below that you will want to hear about and the coaches gave us some interesting basketball material.   Team Info   Team: Fargo Davies State: ND Class: AA Region/Conference: Eastern Dakota Conference   Team: Park River/Fordville-Lankin State: ND Class: B Region: 2 District: 3   Team: Highmore-Harrold State: SD Class: B Region: 6   See below for PHD's conversations with Bart Manson (Fargo Davies), Aaron Schramm (Park River/Fordville Lankin), and Scott Pekarek (Highmore-Harrold).   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Preview-crop-823x540-1688699564.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Preview-crop-823x540-1688699564.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-2058335" /></a></figure>   Q&A with coach Bart Manson from Fargo Davies   PHD: Could you write a couple sentences summing up last season?   “Overall Record 24-3, Regular Season EDC Champs, EDC Tournament Champs, 3rd Place State Tournament. The group rallied and overcame multiple adversities throughout the year playing high-level basketball.”   PHD: How did the offseason go for your team/program?   “Group improved by competing against multiple high-level teams throughout the Midwest during June team camps. Worked on individual player development and team chemistry.”   PHD: Who are a few of your top players to look out for?   “[player_tooltip player_id='1169136' first='Mason' last='Klabo'] - Returning First Team All-State Junior, 1,000-point scorer.”   “[player_tooltip player_id='1161524' first='Daniel' last='Yorke'] - Returning All-Conference Guard who can score and guard all positions.”   “[player_tooltip player_id='1557677' first='Alpha' last='Camara'] - Returning Starter, one of the most athletic players in the state.”   “[player_tooltip player_id='1480612' first='Jaxon' last='Beiswenger'] - Senior, will be able to guard and score.”   “[player_tooltip player_id='1867243' first='Nick' last='Hasbargen'] - Senior, elite defender.”   “[player_tooltip player_id='1145145' first='Peter' last='Havelka'] - Senior, 6'5 post with mid-range shooting ability.”   “[player_tooltip player_id='1991123' first='Kaleb' last='Skari'] - Really shot the 3 ball well last year on the JV.”   PHD: Who are a couple of up-and-comers to look out for?   “Sophomores: [player_tooltip player_id='1332141' first='Cameron' last='Miller'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1332142' first='Colton' last='Reinke']”   PHD: What style of basketball will your team play?   “Fast, athletic team looking to create turnovers and transition scoring opportunities.”   PHD: What are a couple of your team goals this year?   “Like every year our goal is to compete at a high level to make it to the State Tournament again.”   PHD: Who are some of the top teams in the EDC?   “EDC will be extremely competitive this year as it always is.”   “Central/North/South/Sheyenne - All Teams with multiple returners.”   2022-23 Team Stats   Record: 24-3 Total Points: 22024 Opponents Points: 1688 FGM: 792 FG%: 45 3FGM: 262 3FG%: 34 FTM: 358 FT%: 71 Rebounds: 907 O-Rebounds: 328 Assists: 455 Steals: 389 Blocks: 62   Eagles Game Schedule   12/5/23 - home vs. Moorhead   12/8/23 - home vs. Bismarck   12/12/23 - home vs. Shanley   12/19/23 - home vs. Grand Forks Central   12/22/23 - at Grand Forks Red River   12/28/23 - at Minot   1/5/24 - at Fargo South   1/9/24 - at Fargo North   1/12/24 - home vs. Sheyenne   1/19/24 - at West Fargo   1/23/24 -at Horace   1/26/24 - home vs. Grand Forks Red River   1/30/24 - at Shanley   2/3/24 - at Alexandria   2/6/24 - at Grand Forks Central   2/8/24 - home vs. Fargo South   2/10/24 - at Moorhead   2/13/24 - home vs. Fargo North   2/16/24 - at Sheyenne   2/20/24 - home vs. West Fargo   2/22/24 - home vs. Horace   PLAYOFFS   Best of luck to the Eagles this season!   Q&A with coach Aaron Schramm from Park River/Fordville-Lankin   PHD: What can you tell us about last season?   “This is my first year as head coach but I know we graduated 6 seniors. Our top scorers and rebounders have graduated. We have 5 returning letter winners, one of which was a starter at center - [player_tooltip player_id='1558205' first='Nevin' last='Daley']. We did have a highly competitive JV last year and a number of those kids will be called on to contribute this season.”   PHD: How did the offseason go for your program?   “Our summer offseason allowed us to attend a few team camps which gave a lot of our younger players a chance to be exposed to varsity-level basketball. Early indications are that these younger players will be ready to compete at the varsity level.”   PHD: What can you tell us about this year's team?   “Our greatest strength this winter should be our depth. We will be undersized with most of our players 6'0" and under. However, we will be athletic and I anticipate us to play an up-tempo style of basketball.”   PHD: Who will be some of the teams to watch in Region 2?   “With the transition to a 3-division system, it will be interesting to see what our new District and Region are like. We are familiar with some of our district teams, but we will be playing some new teams and do not know a lot about them. I see North Star being the top team in our District and Region. They have experience, talent, and size with the [player_tooltip player_id='1324683' first='Dane' last='Hagler'] and Simon brothers. I know Cavalier and Drayton-Valley-Edinburg will be senior dominant teams that have a lot of experience and scoring ability. Midway-Minto will be young, but they have a great deal of talent and experience coming back. Langdon-E-M is always competitive and [player_tooltip player_id='1857757' first='Rayce' last='Worley'] is an excellent player. I do not know much about North Prairie and St. John's. North Border will be like us in that they graduated a lot of experience and scoring/rebounding. They had a competitive JV and those kids will be ready to contribute at the varsity level too. From our Region, I see the new Nelson County coop being very strong. May-Port CG is well coached and should be very competitive. I also believe New Rockford-Sheyenne is supposed to be very athletic and talented. Finally, Warwick is the defending Region Champs and they have a lot of kids coming back. It should be a very competitive District and Region.”     PHD: What are some goals for the season?   “Our goals for the season are to continue to get better as the year goes along. I would like us to be playing our best basketball come tournament time.”   Aggies Game Schedule   12/8/23 - at Hatton-NW   12/14/23 at Cavalier   12/15 home vs. Drayton-VE   12/19/23 home vs. North Border   12/28/23 - at Midway-Minto   1/4/24 - Ramsey Co. Tourney at Devils Lake vs. TBD   1/5/24 - Ramsey Co. Tourney at Devils Lake vs. TBD   1/6/24 - Ramsey Co. Tourney at Devils Lake vs. TBD   1/12/24 - at Langdon   1/16/24 - home vs. North Star   1/18/24 - at North Border   1/22/24 - home vs. Midway-Minto   1/26/24 - at North Prairie   1/30/24 - at Cavalier   2/1/24 - home vs. St. John   2/3/24 - at Nelson County   2/5/24 - home vs. Larimore   2/8/24 - home vs. Warwick   2/13/24 - at Drayton-VE   PLAYOFFS   Best of luck to the Aggies this season!   Q&A with coach Scott Pekarek from Highmore-Harrold   PHD: Could you write a couple sentences summing up last season?   “We were a very athletic and up-tempo team last year. We had a lot of experience that helped us through the season. We had a tough loss in the semis of Regions and just fell short of our goal for last year.”   PHD: How did the offseason go for your team/program?   “We had a very good offseason. The boys hit the weight room hard to get stronger and work on their agility. We had the boys work on a lot of fundamentals and shooting this summer to help us through this season.”   PHD: Who are a few of your top players to look out for?   “[player_tooltip player_id='1651106' first='Trake' last='Cowan'] 6'5 Senior - Trake is a big strong presence down in the post. Very good rebounder and very athletic for his size.”   “[player_tooltip player_id='1651105' first='Carson' last='Stephenson'] 6'1 Senior - Carson is a very high IQ basketball player. Very good shooter. He will be a tremendous leader for us this year.”   “[player_tooltip player_id='2269324' first='Caleb' last='Roth'] 6'5 Junior - Caleb is very long and athletic. He is a good defender and a guy that will do a lot of the dirty work for us.”   “Aiden Ferens 5'10 Junior - Aiden is a tremendous on-ball defender.”   “Miles McPeak 5'11 Junior - Miles is a strong defender and good shooter.”   PHD: Who are a couple of up-and-comers to look out for?   “[player_tooltip player_id='2269327' first='Jordan' last='Erfmann'] 6'5 Sophomore - Very long and athletic. He has a tremendous motor and is getting stronger each year.”   “[player_tooltip player_id='2269328' first='Brooks' last='McPeak'] 5'6 8th grader - Brooks is a do-it-all player right now. He is a very good shooter and can create for his teammates very well.”   PHD: What style of basketball will your team play?   “We are going to run as much as we can. But when we get slowed down we have a great inside presence to work with along with some good outside shooting. We should be a very good defensive team this year.”   PHD: What are a couple of your team goals this year?   “Obviously, the main goal is the state tournament.  We hope to be top 2 in our Region again this year.”   PHD: Who are some of the top teams in your Region?   “Faulkton - our Region”   “Wessington Springs - 281 Conference”   “Wolsey-Wessington - 281Conference”   “James Valley -281 Conference”   “Lower Brule - Our Region”   Best of luck to the Pirates this season!   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/10/TeamPreview.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/10/TeamPreview.jpg?w=865" alt="" class="wp-image-1634111" /></a></figure>

We are chatting with two North Dakota coaches and one South Dakota coach in this Season Preview article. We shot a series of questions at the coaches and they gave us back some intriguing information. Take some time to read below about the Eagles, Aggies, and Pirates. We have many players below that you will want to hear about and the coaches gave us some interesting basketball material.