Things are mostly quiet on the Purple front but it was announced that former owner Red McCombs passed on Monday.
NDSU opened with League Performer of the Week nods for Heaven Hamling & Grant Nelson. That pair helped lead each of the men & women to much-needed wins over St. Thomas as they continued to go for top-three seeding. The guys nearly lost the chance to control their own position with a second-half swoon but Boden Skunberg continued his recent run of improved offense with a buzzer-beating game-winner to lock-in their spot for Sioux Falls! The ladies used an effective start on each end & 31 points from Heaven Hamling to notch one spot higher in the bracket!
Much of the conversation before, during & after the men's game was & will continue to center on Grant Nelson's future. With a season of proof that he can be more than a complimentary player & two years of eligibility, plus a redshirt option should he need it, the basketball world will be putting the press on for his services. Whether he comes back to Fargo or not, hopefully he takes the first steps toward a pro career so that every team sees him against the best even if he then returned to campus life. Given his talent and the three years he's already given, no one should have anything but good things to say about him & the situation.
It's just a hunch but him returning to NDSU doesn't seem farfetched. It helps that he's from North Dakota but having mostly (or entirely) the same team to go into next season with could match the enticement of an Iowa State, Kansas State, Wisconsin, etc.. It's a rare no-lose situation for the young man and will be great to follow however it unfolds but a return is not being written-off as an impossibility.
In Alabama softball opened a three-team event with a shutout win over Brown but were routed by Auburn. In the rematches Sunday the scores were lower but results the same.
Baseball started their own four games of play in San Diego with losses of 13 - 1 to Hawaii and 9 - 2 to San Diego State.
🏃 opened up the Indoor championships Saturday as they so often have, by winning event, after event, after event Saturday and continued the successes Sunday!
Beyond the lines, it's been reported but not yet officially announced that Matt Entz found his next defensive line coach.
Moorhead State's men's 🏀 got the final statement of the week in Sioux Falls and what it statement it was, after getting one of the first with Lorenzo McGhee being named the North Player of the Week! If they can repeat the same level on Monday as they had in the first half Sunday they will be all-but-assured of making the championship game again!
The women also got the week rolling with recognition for a couple of their members as Peyton Boom & Mariah McKeever were named All-Conference. Boom also was named Senior of the Year! When it came to game time they weren't able to execute to the level necessary for advancement past a first-round home playoff game.
The wrap on Winter continued with the first day of the Indoor🏃 Championships in Mankato Saturday and 🤼 in Aberdeen for the regional meet. The indoor championships concluded Sunday with a flurry of wings!
As for the still-young Spring seasons, softball got to 10 wins (two more than they had all last yera) before coming up short Friday against Wayne State. They finished-up in Illinois with a split and will head to California for a 10-game stretch in early-to-mid March.
🎾 pulled out a pair of close wins Saturday only to fall by a 4 - 3 score Sunday against Duluth.
Conference tournament week started with goalie Matt Fitzgerald being named Defensive Player of the Week following a 68-stop effort!
The compressed week of late-Winter competition commenced with women's 🏀 advancing to the Conference championship game via a 74 - 67 win over Hamline. The Sunday showdown with Gustavus did not go their way but at 22-5 they should be under consideration for the 64-team field to be announced Monday afternoon.
🤼 also made it's way through the Regionals field in Wisconsin with a seventh place standing Friday and improvement to sixth Saturday as Ty Bisek scrapped his way to qualification for the national meet!
Men's 🏒 was not able to extend it's run as St. Olaf came in and got the win Friday.
In St. Paul, Peyton Selle did some show-stopping with her fourth multi-event title while the men had a middle-of-the-road day. Allyson Kangas also represented with a winning distance on the weight-throw!
Men's & women's 🎾 each took care of Morris Saturday but split with Superior before the ladies traveled to St. Kate's, falling 8 - 1.
Two games back from the All-Star break and the season is once again tilting toward disaster with the saving-grace continuing to be the bloated nature of the conference. With 19 games to go there's still no telling whether they will make the playoffs outright, the play-in or finish on the outside looking in.
In other words, #MNigmatic is alive & kicking!
The recognition for members of the top team in the USHL continued with goalie Matej Marinov being named the Goalie of the Week for the fourth time this season! Having two of the top three goalies in terms of goals-against wasn't enough to keep Waterloo with a goose-egg as they prevailed in overtime to remain in the conversation for the West. The Bolts bounced back Saturday in Des Moines with a 5 - 2 win, scoring four-in-a-row after falling behind in the first period! Even with the loss Friday they remain five clear of the team with the next fewest losses which has as much value as the 31 victories they have already accrued!
The Birds provided another sign of Spring, this time making a trade with Milwaukee for former infielder Correlle Prime.
Reminder that scores and recruiting news are updated regularly so check back often!
Now for this week's highlights
It was a big week on the ice that began with Moorhead advancing to the section semi-finals via a 6 - 2 win over Brainerd. Sartell was little more of a threat in the semi as the Spuds went wire-to-wire and won 4 - 1. They will see if they can maintain that level Wednesday against Roseau in Thief River Falls. While the boys continue to wait for the chance to advance back to the big tournament the girls had their three goes at it. Opening with a shutout loss to the eventual champs Moorhead put a 6 - 2 score on Centennial and won the consolation bracket, 5 - 1 over Rosemount. All things considered, it was a great conclusion to an even better season! In the wake of the tournament Olivia Dronen was named All-Tournament & All-State while coach Ryan Kraft is the AA Coach of the Year!
In Grand Forks the ND boys 🏒 tournament also unfolded with the East sweeping the first round. In the first semi-final Red River doubled-up Sheyenne while South/Shanley blanked Davies to make it back to the title game as well. The offensive struggles for Davies continued as Sheyenne took the third place match 3 - 1. The finale was a stalemate at two goals apiece into a third overtime when John Lang got an opportunity and made the most of it for the out-of-towners! His two goals in the championship weren't enough to crack the All-Tournament, though he & his scores will be remembered for even longer as they are just the third Fargo-area team to raise the trophy since 2000!
On the court Davies & West Fargo's girls had another coin-flip meeting with the Eagles finishing just ahead yet again, despite another 28/11 performance by Miriley Simon.
On the boys side, Sheyenne & Central opened the week with a 66 - 63 overtime thriller that the Mustangs survived while Shanley got 25 points from Conner Kraft to beat Valley City. The play-in games on either side went chalk in 7 of the 8 with only West Fargo getting the slight 9/8 upset over South which eliminated both of the Bruins teams from playing in the SHAC as the girls were beaten by Shanley 54 - 26.
Oak Grove also secured a top-four seed in the upcoming Region 1 boys tournament with a win over Northern Cass Saturday. Hillsboro's boys also showed that they're ready for the Region whittle with a 34-point win against Midway/Minto. Likewise for #1 Central Cass who put a second loss on #5 Sargent County, by 14. Kindred also landed a haymaker, putting Enderlin down 77 - 39.
The Class B Girls State field was also finalized this week. A rematch of last year's Region 1 championship, Northern Cass beat Kindred this time to make it back-to-back appearances in the final but they couldn't equal Central Cass' output in the trophy game. Thompson also punched it's ticket to Minot with a double-digit win over Grafton in the Region 2 final.
Across the river D/G/F's boys got two one win under 20 for the season with one game to go, Thursday against 19-win Browerville. Lake Park/Audubon won't get near the 20-win mark but got back to .500 for the year with a pair of one-shot wins over Underwood & Hillcrest Academy. The Rebel girls also surged to the finish with a six-game winning streak, five of which were by at least nine points.
Moorhead also had a pair of State qualifiers for the State 🏊 Meet, Aiden Carlson (100m Fly & Breastroke) & Dresden Adams (100m backstroke).
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