Postseason Report: WDA Wrap Up
Unless something unforeseen occurs, the basketball season has come and gone. There’s a lot to unpack from the last four months of hoops though and before we turn our attention to the AAU and offseason scene, let’s look back at…
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Continue ReadingUnless something unforeseen occurs, the basketball season has come and gone. There’s a lot to unpack from the last four months of hoops though and before we turn our attention to the AAU and offseason scene, let’s look back at the season that was.
Bismarck Legacy Was the Best Team
The Sabers were elite on both ends of the floor all season, going 22-3. They won the WDA Regular Season Title and the WDA Tournament Title but lost to Fargo Shanley in the first round of the state tournament.
That doesn’t take away from how good this team was. It was undoubtedly one of the four best teams in the state – the best over the course of the year – thanks to terrific balance and consistency on both ends of the floor.
Alexis Dressler was a rock on both ends of the court and a leader who stuffed the stat sheet on a nightly basis. Arianna Berryhill had her ups and downs throughout the season but finished the year playing her best basketball and will head into next year as one of the favorites to be on the all-state lists. Jaiden Baker had huge moments as well.
The Sabers have been one of the best teams in the state for a while now, and while they didn’t ultimately reach a state championship, there’s no way to look at this season and not view it as a success.
Bismarck Century Was Better Than Expected Considering The Circumstances
A year ago at this time, Bismarck Century was an easy favorite to win yet another state championship. That hope was built on 6-foot-5 phenom Lauren Ware having one more year of eligibility and a promising young core of complementary pieces.
Flash forward to the beginning of the season and Ware is gone to an injury. Now it is all on those complementary players to keep the Patriots afloat.
They exceeded expectations.
There was buzz around freshman phenom Logan Nissley before the season started, but she played nothing like a freshman. She was one of the best players in the league and contributed in so many ways. She’s going to be a force for a while. And those complementary players from a year transitioned into bigger roles successfully as Julia Fitterer, Ashton Kinnebrew and Chloe Markovic all emerged as rock-solid, reliable all-around players.
The Patriots lost in the first round of the state tournament – seeding pitted the second and third best teams against each other in the first round – but they’ll head into next year ranked atop Class A again.
Minot, Mandan and Jamestown Were Surprises
As there are every year, this year saw plenty of teams surprise us positively or negatively.
Mandan went into the year facing a lot of unknowns given what the Braves had lost from a year ago. Lakyn Darras was back, but after her, there were no sure things. They started slow but emerged as one of the five or six best teams in the state and ultimately ended up as the last team standing from the WDA in the state tournament.
Minot may have been the biggest surprise team in the state. The Magicians won 12 games and were in the mix to finish in the top-four of the WDA until late in the year. Allie Nelson was one of the best players in the league and a senior-laden group provided excellent stability and consistency for a team that had been down for a couple of seasons.
Jamestown was one of the teams that looked like a multi-game winner in a state tournament setting early in the year but fizzled as the season went on. The Bluejays have talented players especially with Grace Hegerle and freshman Ella Falk, but they struggled with consistency later in the year.
High-End Players Returning for 2020-2021
While there are some terrific seniors graduating from the league, there’s a considerable amount of high-end talent set to return, keeping the league interesting next year.
Jamestown, while somewhat disappointing last year, returns two terrific players in Grace Hegerle and Ella Falk.
Mandan’s Sydney Gustavsson is one of three starters returning for the Braves and could be a Player-of-the-Year candidate.
Bismarck, Bismarck Century and Bismarck Legacy all return all-league players.
Bismarck brings back Jilee Golus. Bismarck Century returns Ashton Kinnebrew, Logan Nissley and Julia Fitterer and Bismarck Legacy will be among the best teams in the league with Arianna Berryhill and Jaiden Baker both back.
Watford City returns its top five scorers including all-league forward Ashley Holen while Williston returns two starters.