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Alright, you’re probably wondering what prompted me to randomly look back to the 2015 ND Girls High School Basketball all-state teams and that is a perfectly fair question. In an attempt to compile a list of the top ND high school girls basketball players for this season I started thinking about some of the recent great players that are making an impact on college teams.

I actually started by checking out U-Mary’s stats to see how Shanley product Lauren Rotunda was doing in her sophomore campaign and then saw that Rotunda, along with Minot’s Cassie Askvig and Bishop Ryan’s Gabbie Bohl made up the top 3 leading scorers for a Marauders team that has played pretty well this season in a very competitive NSIC North Division. Then I got to thinking about some of the players that played around that same time and eventually I pulled up the 2015 ND all-state first teams from both Class A and Class B. Of the 11 players on the list, six are playing D1 basketball, four are playing at D2 (oddly enough on the same team) and one, Shaice Marx of Thompson, is now a student assistant at Bemidji State after having her career ended as a result of multiple concussions. All of the ten players that are still playing average at least 14 minutes per game and two of the players currently lead their team in scoring (Klabo & Bohl). Take whatever you want from it, but I think it’s a good reflection of the talent being produced in North Dakota.

The list features 2015 ND Miss Basketball, Hannah Stewart, who has played a critical role off the bench this season for an Iowa Hawkeyes team that boasts a 15-5 overall record and is off to a 3-4 start in conference play. Lexi Klabo and Fallyn Freije are the two best players for Travis Brewster’s UND squad. They’re currenlty 1-2 in points and rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Rylee Nudell and Sarah Jacobson have been starters since day one at NDSU. As sophomores, Nudell is second on the team in scoring (9.8 ppg) and Jacobson is dishing out a team-high 4.5 assists per game. It’s also worth noting that Emily Stroup was a 2^nd team all-state choice in 2015 as a junior at Fargo South. This past fall, Stroup led the Ole Miss volleyball team with 474 kills and helped the Rebels win the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. The former Bruin was named NIVC Tournament MVP.

I know most student-athletes would agree that the most memorable moments of their respective playing careers come in high school, but this is a good reminder to keep following these young ladies because you never know how big of an impact they could have at the next level. How about an all-star game with these players this summer? That’d be fun! Below is the list of the Class A and B 2015 first team all-state selections with their high school info, college info and current stats for the 2017-18 season.

2015 Girls Basketball all-state first teams:

Class A

Sarah Jacobson, Shanley (Jr.) - NDSU Soph. | 9.4 ppg, 4.5 apg, 4.2 rpg | Started all 19 games

Lexi Klabo, Davies (Sr.) - UND Jr. | 17.7 ppg (Leads team), 9.3 rpg | Started all 18 games

Cassie Askvig, Minot (Jr.) - U-Mary Soph. | 14.2 ppg, 8.5 rpg | Started all 19 games

Jordyn Jossart, Century (Sr.) - U-Mary Soph. | 4.3 ppg | Leading scorer off the bench

Lauren Rotunda, Shanley (Jr.) - U-Mary Soph. | 10.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 3.1 apg | Started all 19 games

Tylee Irwin, Wahpeton (Soph.) - SDSU Fr. | 5.8 ppg, 1.6 rpg |Averaging 14.8 mpg off the bench

*Emily Stroup, Fargo South (Jr.) - Named 2^nd team all-state – Ole Miss Soph. (Volleyball) | 474 kills (Led Team)

Class B

Hannah Stewart, Bishop Ryan (Sr.) - Iowa Jr. | 7.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg | 3^rd on the team in rebounds

Fallyn Freije, Lakota/Edmore (Sr.) - UND Jr. | 13.7 ppg (2^nd on team), 8.5 rpg | Started all 18 games

Gabbie Bohl, Bishop Ryan (Sr.) - U-Mary Soph. | 17.5 ppg (Leads team), 6.7 rpg | Started all 19 games

Rylee Nudell, Maple Valley (Jr.) - NDSU Soph. | 9.8 ppg, (2^nd on team), 3.6 rpg | Started 17 of 19 games

Shaice Marx, Thompson (Jr.) - Bemidji State Student Assistant (Concussion)