By Jake Pommerer
Standings
Conference play kicked off this past weekend in the North Star Athletic Association. This week all teams will hop back into non-conference play for a bit, before conference play, once again, gets into full swing after the winter break.
Conference Matchups
Waldorf 82 Viterbo 73
The Warriors defended their home court and held off the Vhawks. The two teams rebounding, and turnovers were virtually identical where the difference came was in the shooting percentages. Waldorf shot 52% from the field and 42% from beyond the arc, while Viterbo shot 44% from the field and 27% from beyond the arc. The conference’s leading score Demitrius Martin led the Warriors and all scorers with 30 points. Brady Polk led Viterbo with 13 points off the bench. Waldorf improves to 2-7 overall and 1-0 in conference play, Viterbo falls to 3-7 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
Dickinson State 83 Valley City State University 61
Dickinson State used a strong shooting performance and solid defense to defeat the Vikings of Valley City State. The BlueHawk defense held VCSU to just 38% shooting. Montel Carlow led all scorers with 23 points for Dickinson State, Logan Nelson led the Vikings with 11. Dickinson State improves to 3-8 overall and 0-1 in conference play, Valley City State falls to 1-10 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
Mayville State 96 Presentation College 61
Mayville State broke out to an early 18-0 lead and never looked back in their win over Presentation College. The Comets had five players score in double figures in the win led by Simon Ramirez with 23 points. Presentation was led by freshman Jackson Becker with 19 points. Mayville moves to 8-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play, Presentation falls to 3-9 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
Bellevue 67 Dakota State 63
In what was probably the best game of the day Bellevue survived a late rally to hold off Dakota State. Dakota States Achilles heal came at the free throw line where they shot 55% compared to Bellevue’s 79% Connor Dukes who has come through in the clutch a few times for the Bruins already this season led them in scoring with 15 points. Gare Ewefada and Josh McGreal each had 14 for Dakota State. Bellevue improves to 7-5 overall and 1-0 in conference play. Dakota State falls to 3-9 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
Power Rankings
- Bellevue- good start to the conference season, have played a tough schedule so far and have some key wins
- Mayville- A team that is on the rise and playing really well together
- Dickinson State-Team with a lot of talent and now on a two-game winning streak; maybe just the kick-start they need
- Waldorf- Another team with talent that just needs some things to go their way
- Dakota State-Good effort against a good Bellevue team
- Viterbo- Don’t sleep on them as they are well coached and are tough to play at home
- Presentation-Need to find some momentum
- Valley City-Got in the win column and played tough in a holiday tournament but need to find some wins
