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North Dakota Girls Basketball

In this week’s blog I’ll mention my impact player for each class. This is the player I expect to shoulder the load for their team and take over games to lead their team to victories in the post-season.

In Class A the top teams all seem to be peaking at the right time. West Fargo has stayed hot, not losing a home game all season. Mandan, Red River, Shanley and even Minot have all been playing some of their best ball in the last week or two. The one team that isn’t peaking is Century who have played in their only close games of the year in the last week.

Holly Johnson of Minot is my impact player. She has the potential to carry the team all the way. She has averaged about 18 ppg 8.8 rpg. 3 apg, 2 bpg, 2 spg in the regular season and hasn’t yet reached her ceiling.

ND Girls Power Rankings

1. West Fargo, 17-1, Undefeated at home
2. Century 16-2, Lost to Minot
3. Shanley, 14-3
4. Red River, 14-4
5. Mandan 14-4

In Class B Carrington is one of three teams that I believe could go all the way. Emily Thompson carried them last year and is my impact player for this class. Thompson is a  (6-1) Senior Center;  she led the team to a title as a second team all-state last year. Emily will play volleyball for UND in the fall but wants to win another title this year. She scored 18 points and 9 rebounds vs. Central Cass in the title game last year.  I believe Central Cass and Grafton are the two other teams that have the pieces to make a title run this year.