Larimore Polar Bears: Season Review

We looking at the Polar Bears in this article!   Larimore is the topic for this Season Review. The Polar Bears won 10 games this season and the future looks bright. They are coached by Kyle Kleven who is an up-n-coming coach in North Dakota. Look for the Polar Bears to be a tough squad in Class B next season!   This group has many underrated players that fans need to hear about. The Polar Bears have multiple Stock Risers in their program!   See below for player comments, team stats, player numbers, and a Q&A session with coach Kyle Kleven.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/SeaonReview-.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/SeaonReview-.jpg?w=865" alt="" class="wp-image-1842251" style="width:337px;height:auto" /></a></figure>   Team: Larimore   Mascot: Polar Bears   Head Coach: Kyle Kleven   Class: B   District: 4   Region: 2   Record: 10-11   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Lpolarbears.jpeg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Lpolarbears.jpeg?w=960" alt="" class="wp-image-2380537" style="width:277px;height:auto" /></a></figure>   Player Comments via Coach Kleven   [player_tooltip player_id='1843211' first='Michael' last='Myers'] (2024) |6'8 C|   "Michael had a very solid season all while battling through nagging foot and ankle issues. He averaged 13.9 ppg, 12.1 rebounds pg, and 2.3 blocks per game. He was always a guy that, even if he didn't score much in a game, teams still had to game plan around him just because of his size. Which in turn, opened things up for everyone else. He showed flashes of having some nice post moves. The biggest improvement I saw since I was just a fan last year was his presence in the lane in our zones. He had just about as many blocks this season as he did the other 3 years of his career. Again, just being that presence inside because of his size was a huge asset to us."   [player_tooltip player_id='2277114' first='Jace' last='Collison'] (2025) |5'10 G|   "Jace was probably our most consistent scorer. He is a great shooter as he made 7 3's in a game two different times this season. He is developing his drive to the bucket game yet, but once he gets that going he could be a very dangerous scorer."   [player_tooltip player_id='2276981' first='Avery' last='Gratton'] (2025) |6'2 G|   "Avery is a leader on the floor for us. Avery can score from all 3 levels. He has a nice midrange jump shot coming off the dribble. He made 23 3-pointers and will need more of that next season for us to be successful. He is a very good distributor of the basketball. He had 125 assists, so he's not afraid to be an unselfish player. Avery is usually one of the guys that we put on the other team's most athletic player if we decide to man up."   [player_tooltip player_id='2237846' first='Baron' last='Burns'] (2027) |5'9 G|   "Baron is another one of our leaders on the floor. He runs the show for us offensively and does a little bit of everything. He is a pest on the defensive end as he is usually asked to put some sort of full-court pressure on. He is a good shooter, especially when he catches it in rhythm. But, even with how young he is he understands the game and understands situations very well. We hope he will continue to take steps forward and try and improve his offensive game to become a more feared scorer."   [player_tooltip player_id='2380546' first='Brison' last='Falch'] (2025) |6'2 F|   "Brison does a lot of things well that don't show up in the box score. Brison and Avery are interchangeable on who we put on the other team's best player. Brison works his tail off and crashes the offensive boards. Everyone needs a guy like that. He started to be a threat around the basket when teams started doubling Myers and if he can continue to do that he will be a big asset."   Team Stats   PPG: 54.2 OPPG: 53 RPG: 32.3 APG: 13 SPG: 7.9 FG%: 37 2FG%: 42 3FGM: 117 3FG%: 29 FTM: 151   Stat Leaders   [player_tooltip player_id='2277114' first='Jace' last='Collison'] (2025) |6'0 G| - 16.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2 apg, 1.6 spg, 34 FG%, 71 3FGM, 33 3FG%   [player_tooltip player_id='2237846' first='Baron' last='Burns'] (2027) |5'9 G| - 7.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.5 apg, 2.7 spg, 32 FG%, 19 3FGM, 25 3FG%   Russell McLean (2024) |6'1 F| - 1 ppg, 1.7 rpg, .2 spg, 21 FG%   [player_tooltip player_id='2381010' first='Dyllan' last='Rethemeier'] (2026) |6'1 F| - 1.5 ppg, 1.4 rpg, .2 apg, .2 spg, 48 FG%, 2 3FGM, 22 3FG%   [player_tooltip player_id='2380546' first='Brison' last='Falch'] (2025) |6'2 F| - 3.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, .8 apg, 1.2 spg, 45 FG%   [player_tooltip player_id='2276981' first='Avery' last='Gratton'] (2025) |6'2 G/F| - 10.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 6 apg, 1.1 spg, 35 FG%, 23 3FGM, 29 3FG%   [player_tooltip player_id='1843211' first='Michael' last='Myers'] (2024) |6'8 C| - 13.9 ppg, 12.1 rpg, .4 apg, .6 spg, 48 FG%   Q&A with coach Kyle Kleven   PHD: Could you give us a season summary?   "It was a disappointing end to the season not being able to make it out of the District Tournament when we were playing on our own home floor. However, overall, it was hard to not consider the season a step forward. We had doubled the win total from the year before and you could see the maturity level take a step forward as this group was just another year older and another year of experience. We improved our team scoring by about nine points per game from the year before going from 45 ppg to 54 ppg and that was another step forward."   PHD: Do you have any fun memories to share with us?   "A couple of fun memories just involved the crowds that we had this year. When we beat a receiving votes Cavalier team at home to go to 8-4, I hadn't heard our gym that loud in a long time. Just seeing the excitement on the boy's faces was cool. The other was just getting to play the District Tournament in front of our home crowd. Even though we lost two games, that first game against MPCG was a great high school basketball game. Being down double digits and coming back to take the lead late in the game and hearing again how loud the crowd got was just a cool feeling."   PHD: What improvements from the season can you tell us about?   "An improvement for the year was obviously our offensive output. As I said the boys were just a year older and stronger, so just seeing them show a big improvement in year one like that makes me excited for the future."   PHD: Did you overcome any adversity this year?   "This ties into the improvements as well. This group has had to play maybe a little earlier than they were ready for, but seeing them not back down is one thing that was cool to see. In the past, if this group got down by double digits it was tough for them to battle back. But we erased multiple double-digit leads to keep us in games and just seeing them not quit and slowly battle back was an improvement."   PHD: Can you tell us about the Role Players?   "A role player that stood out to me was [player_tooltip player_id='2380546' first='Brison' last='Falch']. He slowly started figuring out what his role was throughout the season and became an asset for us. In the middle of the season, teams would leave him alone and double Myers. Brison would then go set screens and make himself available. He would get some easy looks on dump-offs because of making himself available and finding the holes in the defense. He had a couple of huge steals to get us back into the district game against MPCG and also had a career-high in points vs Park River FL. He works his tail off and I'm happy to see a kid like that start to have some success."   PHD: What can you tell us about your seniors?   "We only had two seniors but we will miss them both. Russell McLean was our 6th man this year and we were glad to have him around. He was a kid that was unsure if he was going to play this year, but we are glad he did. He would come to practice every day and do everything we asked of him. He maybe didn't get the playing time or the glory that some of the other guys got, but his demeanor never changed. He was always the first guy off the bench to congratulate teammates and was always ready to go when his number was called, even if it was only for a couple of minutes at a time. The other senior we will miss is [player_tooltip player_id='1843211' first='Michael' last='Myers']. Michael became a captain this year and his leadership will be missed. It will be very hard to replace a 6'8” guy in the middle. Michael seemed to always draw double teams but we still would manage the boards really well and would be the focal point of other team's defensive game plans."   PHD: What can you tell us about your up-n-coming players?   "A couple of up-and-coming players that we will look for to help us in the next few years will be Junior [player_tooltip player_id='2381010' first='Dyllan' last='Rethemeier'] and Sophomore Case Knudson. Dyllan received a lot more varsity minutes as the year went on and he is a very athletic post player. Dyllan is also athletic enough that he can play a wing spot if needed. We will look for Dyllan to step into a starting role for us next season in his junior season and will hope to get some of the production lost by Myers. Case was a freshman this past season and he got a little taste of what varsity ball is like. Case is a very athletic kid that plays very good defense and has the potential to be a very good offensive player as well. Case was on one our main players on the JV team and he will also be looked at to help fill the void left by [player_tooltip player_id='1843211' first='Michael' last='Myers']."   PHD: Who was your best defensive player?   "We have a lot of guys who are maybe worthy of being called our best defensive player: [player_tooltip player_id='2276981' first='Avery' last='Gratton'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2380546' first='Brison' last='Falch'] usually are matched up with the other team's best wing player. But, if I had to pick one I would say our best defensive player is [player_tooltip player_id='2237846' first='Baron' last='Burns']. He is usually matched up with the best guard from the other team and he is just an energy guy. His motor never quits. He is the guy if we want to pressure the other team full court that we send him up to pester the ball handlers. It showed this season when he racked up 56 steals."   PHD: Do you have any final comments to share with us?   "Overall the Polar Bears had a good season, sure the ending was a little disappointing but it's a step forward and something for this program to build on. We should be a very good team next year as we only lose two seniors and return a lot of key players back. We would like to play faster next season and it will be a different-looking team without our 6' 7” guy in the middle! But, in this new three-class system, anything can happen!"   Best of luck to the Polar Bears in the offseason!   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Lpolarbears.jpeg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Lpolarbears.jpeg?w=960" alt="" class="wp-image-2380537" /></a></figure>

We looking at the Polar Bears in this article!