Class A Team Rankings
For most teams in Class A, the regular season is over. With only a few games left on the slate on Thursday, the postseason right around the corner. Before we turn our attention to the playoffs, here is the final…
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Continue ReadingFor most teams in Class A, the regular season is over. With only a few games left on the slate on Thursday, the postseason right around the corner. Before we turn our attention to the playoffs, here is the final regular season top-10 in Class A
Devils Lake
The Firebirds are the lone undefeated team in the state and the only team with less than two losses. With Bismarck Legacy losing in its regular season finale, Devils Lake moves into the No. 1 spot in Class A and will have a chance to run the table for a state title. The Firebirds haven’t completely destroyed the EDC competition like they seemed to do a year ago, but this group is battle-hardened and has proven it can come back against anybody and win in multiple ways.
Bismarck Legacy
The Sabers lost to Bismarck in the regular season finale but finished the year 19-2 and will go into the WDA tournament as the No. 1 seed. They defend as well as any team in Class A and while the offense can come and go at times, it’s easy to trust that Alexis Dressler, Arianna Berryhill and Mac Boone are going to make big plays in the biggest moments.
Bismarck Century
The Patriots’ only two losses on the year are against Bismarck Legacy. In those games, Bismarck Century shot a combined 10-for-48 from the 3-point line. They are shooting in the mid-30 percent range from 3-point range on the season, so if there’s any doubt that the Patriots are good enough to beat anybody, it’s misplaced.
Fargo Shanley
The Deacons lost to Moorhead last week but have already secured the No. 2 spot in the EDC. They’ll face Grand Forks Red River in a game that could easily happen again in a week in the EDC semifinals, so it’ll be interesting to see how serious those two teams take the regular season finale. With Reile Payne, Hadley Huber and Moriku Hakim leading the way, this team is good enough to win multiple games at state.
Bismarck
The Demons will certainly be going into the postseason feeling good, as they beat Bismarck Legacy by 16 in the regular season finale. The defense was magnificent, as they allowed just 37 points without allowing an individual to hit double digits. The Demons can get stuck on the offensive end of the floor at times, and that gives them a huge degree of variance, but at their best, they’ve proven they can beat anybody.
Mandan
The Braves got crushed by Bismarck Century last week but bounced back this week with a win over Jamestown to finish fourth in the WDA. The Braves would probably rather avoid Bismarck Century as long as possible, so that might work in their favor come tournament time, as they’ve proven they can play at a high level and beat anybody, but also get handled on the wrong night.
Grand Forks Red River
The Roughriders have one game left with Fargo Shanley and could still fall out of the No. 3 spot in the EDC with a loss and a Fargo Davies win against West Fargo Sheyenne, but they are surging late in the year (albeit against the bottom teams in the league) and look like a team that can advance against anybody because of their defense.
Fargo Davies
The Eagles took a pair of losses last week, going down against Grand Forks Red River and West Fargo to drop to 13-7 on the year. Fargo Davies could fall all the way to No. 5 in the EDC if it loses to West Fargo Sheyenne Thursday and West Fargo beats Fargo North, so the Eagles have plenty to play for still before the postseason. They’ve proven they can play at a really high level, but inconsistency has eluded them for large stretches.
Bismarck St. Mary’s
The Saints earned the No. 5 spot in the WDA and will face Mandan in the first round next week. They finished the regular season 12-9 with wins over Dickinson and Turtle Mountain. Bismarck St. Mary’s has the talent and experience to beat anybody, but it’ll be a tough road in the WDA Tournament because of how many quality teams there are in the middle.
West Fargo
The Packers seem to be heading into the playoffs with positive energy, as they’ve won four games in a row including a big one over Fargo Davies last week. West Fargo has a really solid mix with McKenna Becher leading the way and players like Ashlyn Diemert, Brynn Giesen and Chloe Pfau all playing at a high level lately.