 By Jeff Baranick
Mother Nature revealed her temperamental side late this
past week--unleashing unseasonably chilly temps and
gale-force winds across the Peace Garden
State--prompting the postponement or cancellation of
several North prep sports activities from Thursday
onward. But some events did take place for which we have
results to report. On the baseball diamond, in Class B
Region 8 play, Heart River swept Beulah by tallies of
9-5 & 4-2, while 1st-place Shiloh Christian humbled
Hettinger-Scranton-New England, 8-2 & 18-1. In Class A
West Region action, Century nipped Watford City
twice--by scores of 5-4 & 1-0; Legacy swept St. Mary's
3-2 and 10-zip; and Mandan and Bismarck split a
twinbill, with the Braves prevailing in the opening game
14-6, but the Demons bouncing back to claim the
nightcap, 3-0. In Class A inter-regional play last
Saturday, Mandan squeaked out 3-2 & 10-9 wins at the
expense of Fargo South and defending state champion West
Fargo Sheyenne clobbered St. Mary's 14-4 & 15-4.
Additionally, Minot North nearly doubled up Watford City
17-9 before the Wolves countered with an 11-7 victory
over the Sentinels in game two of the doubleheader.
Also, Century nipped Legacy 9-8 in a single encounter
played this last Saturday. In Class A West Region
softball contests, Bismarck split a doubleheader with
Legacy, as the Demons won the opener 15-3, but dropped
the follow-up encounter with the Sabers, 8-6. Meanwhile
Jamestown swept Century 15-3 & 7-6; Legacy hammered
Minot North 23-13 & 23-7; and Century edged Mandan
11-10. In interdivisional matchups, Class B's top-ranked
squad, Beulah, blitzed Century 19-1; but then the Miners
got similarly blasted by Class A's 2nd-rated team,
Minot, 20-1. Earlier in the week, in a Class B softball
skirmish, Beulah belted Wilton-Wing 20-1. On the pitch
in girls' soccer matches, Bismarck battered Williston
13-nil; Mandan blanked Century 3-0; Legacy edged St.
Mary's 2-1; and then Legacy overwhelmed Williston 6-0.
On the courts in girls' tennis duals, Legacy beat
Jamestown 9-0; Century defeated Jamestown 9-0; Century
doubled up Bismarck and Mandan did likewise to St.
Mary's by identical 6-3 tallies; and Minot downed Legacy
5-2. Turning our attention to Class B track-&-field
action, the Central McLean boys and Southern McLean
girls won team titles in their respective divisions of
the Southern McLean Quadrangular Invite last Tuesday in
Washburn. Among the individual highlights, Central
McLean's Lucas Sims won both the 100 & 200 sprints in
respective times of 11.15 seconds and 23.16 seconds.
Simon Buchfinck of Beulah won the 110 high hurdles and
beat all competitors in the long jump, soaring 20'6.5".
Hazen's Bohden Obenauer nabbed 1st place in both the
shotput and discus, while Central McLean's Aiden Hanson
did likewise in the high jump and triple jump. On the
girls' side of the competition, Southern McLean's Sophia
Krush swept to wins in the 100 & 300 hurdle races;
Monica Goven of Southern McLean and Beulah's Paige
Hetzler went 1-2, respectively, in the 100 dash, with
the duo swapping those places in the 200 sprint.
Furthermore, Shiloh Christian's Alayna Carlson won the
discus (109'11") and was runner-up in the shotput, while
Central McLean's Adlyn Eng finished 2nd in the 400 and
claimed top honors in the long jump. Regarding gridiron
news, the rosters were announced this past week for
June's 2024 ND Shrine Bowl Football Game in Mayville.
Representing 9-man state runner-up South Border on the
West honor team is the quartet of Colin Goettle, Connor
Kosiak, Trevor Schmidt, and Clay Jacob. Also selected
for Team West are New Salem-Almont's Ethan Maier;
Central McLean's Lucas Sims and Von Irwin; and Grant
County-Flasher's Weston Zacher. Among Team West's
coaches is South Border's Evan Mellmer. For the 11-man
West squad, chosen athletes are Beulah's Simon Buchfinck
and Riley Moulton; Shiloh Christian's Isaac Emmel and
Noah Schuette; Killdeer's Cayden Neurohr; Des
Lacs-Burlington's Logan Rist and Ty Hughes; Dickinson
Trinity's Gage Glaser and Ty Dassinger; Jameson Rime
from Velva-Garrison-Drake-Anamoose; Carter Knutson from
Southern McLean; Bishop Ryan's Coy Okeson; and Bowman
County's Roman Fossum. Finally, KDKT Sports Radio will
feature two Class B baseball showdowns this week from
Coal Country. The first is a Region 8 clash between
arch-rivals Beulah and Hazen originating from Goldmann
Field. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 pm CT with
KDKT's pre-game show commencing around 3:40. The second
clash of the inter-regional variety has the Garrison
Troopers (Region 6) visiting the Hazen Bison (Region 8)
this Friday (April 26th) at Slinde Field. That contest
is also slated for a 4:30 pm CT start.
Filed
by Veteran KDKT Sportscaster Jeff Baranick
Listen for Jeff on Friday Night Live - Friday
Nights 9pm/Central
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This Season's NDHSAA Broadcast/Game Schedule
 This
Week's Wrap-Up:
The Bismarck Bobcats
and the Minot Minotauros opened the NAHL Divisional
Semifinals this weekend. Bismarck won game one of
the divisional semifinals over the Aberdeen Wings
5-1 this weekend. Kai Dunits was the leading scorer
for the Bobcats with one goal and two assists.
Mathieu Bourgault lit the lamp twice in the game for
Bismarck. Evan Hunter and Matthew Rafalski each
scored one goal and recorded one assist in the game.
Klayton Knapp was between the pipes for the Bobcats
and he finished the game with 29 saves. The Bobcats
fell 2-3 in overtime in game two of the divisional
semifinals. Aberdeen took a 2-1 lead in the first
minute of the third period, but Kade Kohanski tied
the game in the final five minutes of regulation off
an assist from Tommy Cronin and Julian Beaumont. The
Wings ended the game in the opening minute of
overtime as Leonid Bulgakov scored his second goal
of the game. Cronin was the only Bobcat to score
multiple points in the game with two assists.
Mathieu Bourgault was the other goal scorer for
Bismarck in the loss. Stephen Peck was in the net
for the Bobcats and finished the game with 19 saves.
The Minot Minotauros dominated the Austin Bruins in
Game One of the NAHL Divisional Semifinals with a
9-1 victory. The Minotauros had seven players finish
with multiple points. Niklas Ketonen, Nicholas
Swecke, and Ian Spencer each lit the lamp twice and
recorded one assist in the victory. Jordan Gibbs,
Jack O'Hanisain, Joel Lehtinen, and Weston Knox each
recorded two assists in the game. Brady James was in
the net for the Minotauros and he recorded 20 saves
for the Minotauros. The Minotauros took a 2-0 lead
in the series with a 3-1 victory over Austin. Niklas
Ketonen, Nicholas Sewecke, and Ian Spencer were the
goal-scorers for the Minotauros in the game. Pavol
Funtek, Weston Knox, and Colby Woogk each recorded
one assist in the game. Lukas Swedin was between the
pipes for Minot and he saved 14 of the 15 shots he
faced in the win. For the UND Fighting Hawks, they
have an abundance of talent coming into the program
via the transfer portal and incoming freshmen. The
Fighting Hawks have six players in the NHL Central
Scouting Rankings for the upcoming 2024 Upper Deck
NHL Entry Draft in June. Sacha Boisvert was ranked
as the 16th best skater in North America and he is
projected to be a first-round pick. He is performing
at an extremely high level for the Muskegon
Lumberjacks in the USHL as he has scored 36 goals
and 32 assists, and he ranks fifth in the USHL in
goals and 11th in points. EJ Emery and Will Zellers
are projected to be picked in the second round.
Emery is projected to be a second-round pick but is
projected to go in the first round in some draft
boards. Emery currently mans the blueline for the
U.S. National Under-18 Team and Zellers has exploded
for 111 points this season with Shattuck St. Mary's
in Minnesota. Fellow USNTDP blueliner Sam Laurila is
ranked 148th. Incoming forward, Mac Swanson jumped
to 152nd after finishing third in the USHL with 77
points and pacing the league with 51 assists as part
of a record-breaking season with Fargo. Carson
Pilgrim rounds out the list at 159 after scoring 32
goals and 38 assists with Warroad High School in
Minnesota. Laurila, Swanson, and Pilgrim are all
projected as fifth-round picks. The Fighting Hawks
also added TJ Semptimphelter and Carter Wilkie
through the transfer portal. Semptimphelter is
transferring from Arizona State to play his final
year of eligibility in 2024-25. He finished his
career as one of the best goaltenders in ASU
history. He finished second in program history in
appearances (61), starts (60), minutes played
(3453:44), wins (30), saves (1,603), and goals
against average (2.72). His eight shutouts are tied
for first in program history and his 91% is the
third-best in program history. Carter Wilkie joins
the UND program after playing his last three seasons
with RIT. He finished with the eighth most points in
program history with 111 on 43 and 68 assists. He
was the fourth-fastest Tiger to hit the 100-point
mark doing so in just 107 games while also becoming
the third RIT player to score 40 points in
back-to-back seasons along with back-to-back
All-Atlantic Hockey First Team honors. He scored a
team-high 41 points last season with 16 goals and 25
assists to help the Tigers capture the AHA Regular
Season and Tournament Titles along with the first
NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016. Wilkie is
also a standout on the faceoff dot as he finished
second nationally with 566 victories and he reached
double-digit wins in 38 of the 40 games he appeared
in last season including a trio of 20-win games. The
North Dakota State University athletic department
will begin distributing educational-related
financial awards to student-athletes in the 2024-25
academic year. Awards from the NDSU Graduating
Champions Fund are made possible by a 2021 U.S.
Supreme Court ruling in NCAA v. Alston. At NDSU, the
awards will be supported by both an endowment
established by several donors and annual, private
donations. This program is expected to award more
than $1.5 million in the first year. NDSU Director
of Athletics Matt Larsen said all NDSU
student-athletes will have the opportunity to earn
the Graduating Champions Award, regardless of
scholarship or walk-on status. Annual amounts
ranging from $3,000 to $5,980 will be determined by
academic performance with award levels based on
semester and cumulative grade-point averages.
Qualifying student-athletes would receive half of
their semester award during the following term, and
the other half would be deferred until after
graduation or exhausting eligibility as an incentive
for student-athletes to complete their degree at
NDSU. While NDSU continues to fully fund athletic
scholarships to NCAA maximum limits in all men's and
women's sports, the Graduating Champions Award will
add to the overall financial support
student-athletes can receive while at NDSU, which
includes the full cost of attendance, and name,
image and likeness (NIL) opportunities. Head
Football Coach Tim Polasek announced that Joe
Beschorner is the new Special Teams Coordinator. He
joined the Bison football staff in January of 2021
and was the Running Backs Coach for his first four
seasons, and he will be NDSU's Tight Ends and
Fullbacks coach in 2024. Beschorner assumed the
Special Teams Coordinator role from linebackers
coach Grant Olson who was named Defensive
Coordinator in December. As NDSU's running backs
coach, Beschorner led a rushing attack that led the
nation in rushing touchdowns three straight years,
rushing yards two of the past three seasons, and
ranked second in rushing yards per game (280.6)
during the 2021 national championship season.
Beschorner was part of four conference championships
and four NCAA playoff appearances in five seasons as
the offensive coordinator at Minnesota State Mankato
(2015-2019) before coming to NDSU. He was named
Division II Coordinator of the Year in 2019 after
the Mavericks led the division in scoring with 47.5
points per game and advanced to the national
championship game.The NDSU and UND Men's Basketball
Teams added some players through the transfer
portal. NDSU added transfer Brennan Watkins from VMI
where he played two seasons in three years from
2021-24. He played in 30 games as a true freshman in
2021-22, sat out the 22-23 due to injury, and was
the team's leading scorer this past season. Watkins
averaged 15.2 points and three assists this past
year. He made 47 three-pointers, shot 87 percent
from the free-throw line, and had nine games of
20-plus points last season. UND Men's Basketball
Program added Reggie Thomas and Dariyus Woodson
through the transfer portal. Thomas comes to the
Fighting Hawks from Hastings College where he was
the Great Plains Athletic Conference Player of the
Year, was named a NAIA First-Team All-American, and
was the GPAC Freshman of the Year. He averaged 24.1
points per game last season along with a team-high
7.5 rebounds per game. He also shot 51% from the
field and 42% from three-point range. They also
added Dariyus Woodson who is transferring from Tyler
Junior College. He was one of the top shooters for
the Apaches as he shot 49% from the field and 38%
from three-point range. He led the team with 14.3
points per game and was third on the team with 4.8
rebounds per game. He scored in double-figures in 20
games for TJC last season with a season-high of 30
points coming against the Louisiana Knights
Post-Grad Academy, and scored 20-plus points in six
total games. He helped the Apaches to a winning
season for the first time since the 2019-20 season
with 16 wins which was also the most wins in a
season for TJC since 2019-20.
Filed
by KDKT Sportscaster Josh Coleman
Listen for Josh on Friday Night Live - Friday
Nights 9pm/Central
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