North Dakota Catchup: EDC
The season is approaching its end. With less than a month left in the regular season, teams all across the state are hoping to be rounding into form and playing their best ball. With two months worth of interesting development…
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Continue ReadingThe season is approaching its end. With less than a month left in the regular season, teams all across the state are hoping to be rounding into form and playing their best ball. With two months worth of interesting development to this point, now is a good time to take a quick look at the landscape of hoops in North Dakota ahead of the postseason.
Here’s where things stand in the EDC:
Devils Lake Has Been Dominant
The Firebirds were far and away the best team in the EDC last year and despite graduating several key rotation players, the train has kept on chugging. Devils Lake is undefeated on the season and has shown it can win tough games against the rest of the good teams in the league.
Jes Mertens has the engine on both ends of the floor, averaging 13.8 points, 4.2 assists and 5.7 steals per game. Jailyn Martinson has enjoyed a breakout season, averaging 14.4 points per game to lead the way. On a team where four starters average double-figures in scoring (and another averages 9.2 ppg), the Firebirds are incredibly hard to prepare for because they’ve got so much versatility throughout the lineup. They have great length with a bevvy of playmakers and shooters.
Fargo Shanley, Fargo Davies and Grand Forks Red River Round Out the Top Four
Devils Lake has clearly established itself as the elite team in the EDC but Shanley, Davies and Red River are right there in that second tier.
Fargo Shanley gets the edge in my mind as the second best team in the league due mostly to recent wins over Fargo Davies, Grand Forks Red River and a competitive four-point loss to Devils Lake. Reile Payne and Hadley Huber form the best duo in the league and Moriku Hakim has been terrific as an interior presence averaging 12.8 points and 9.5 rebounds.
Fargo Davies has taken a big jump this year and sits at 11-5 on the season and in third place in the EDC. A loss to Fargo Shanley on Friday knocks them down a peg but with Ryleigh Wacha and Taylor Fey both showing the ability to dominate on the interior, the Eagles have a duo that few teams can contend with.
The Roughriders have shown they can hang with anybody in the league though might be a step behind the other three due to a lack of scoring juice. Their defense has been arguably the best in the league and
West Fargo Schools In The Mix
To this point in the year, the two West Fargo schools are in the mix to earn top-four spots in the EDC, but are facing uphill climbs. The Packers have taken some lopsided losses to the high-end teams in the league but have also shown they are capable of playing at a high level. McKenna Becher is one of the elite players in the EDC and Ashlyn Diemert, Brynn Giesen and Chloe Pfau have all had really good moments.
The Mustangs have been one of the surprising teams in the league, sitting at 9-7 on the season. Sheyenne had to replace a huge chunk of the core that went to state last year and players like Jadyn Feist (14.3 ppg 9.3 rpg), Paige Johnson, Alivia Manson, Joely Goodiron have been excellent.
Jordyn Kahler, Adie Wagner putting up numbers.
Wahpeton and Fargo South are on the low end of the EDC but have been interesting thanks in large part to Kahler and Wagner, who are second and third in the conference in scoring. Kahler’s averaging 19.7 points per game, knocking down 33 percent of her 3-pointers and getting to the free throw line more than nine times per game. She’s shouldering a huge load for a team that doesn’t have any other natural scorers, and for the most part, she’s produced at a consistently excellent rate. Wagner is putting up 18.5 points per game as just a sophomore. She’s showing progress with her efficiency and she’ll continue to get better.