Volume 2 Issue No. 4 February 10 2016-2017

NODAK NOTEBOOK

*New pairing is 18-2*Easing kids into hoops

* Boy scores 53, girl scores 45*Youth tournaments coming up

Basketball’s in their bloodBy Bruce Strand

Steve Redfox, point guard, is one of the returning starters from Four Winds-Minnewau-kan’s state champion team.

Devils Lake Journal photo

North Dakota

Continued on Page 4

On the Fort Totem Reservation in North Dakota, basketball

courts both indoors and outdoors are continuously in use for pickup games, and when young kids invoke names of their heroes, it’s not NBA players; instead they aspire to shoot like Jason Feather or dunk like Tro-nis McKay or run the offense like Steve Redfox. The local heroes.

So noted a Devils Lake Journal writ-er last year as he visited to investi-gate how all those victories at Four Winds-Minnewaukan have been generated in the past dozen years.

The two small schools paired seven years ago and so far the Indians have played in three state championship games, winning their first Class B championship last year, and cur-rently ranked first with a 16-1 mark.

The Indians were state runners-up in 2013 and 2015, lost some key play-ers, but came back last year with a smaller but quicker squad, and com-pleted the job this time, beating Our Redeemer’s of Minot 77-65 in the Class B title game.

Before the co-op, Four Winds went to state in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

All of this occurred under Rick Smith, who got his 300th win dur-ing the state championship season. A native of Warwick, ND, and grad-uate of University of North Dakota (elementary education), he’s been coach for 16 seasons and also serves as activities director.

Smith said the team is enjoying its new notoriety.

“I think the last cou-ple of years, we’ve typically gotten ev-erybody’s best game and that’s been a good thing because in a way it’s prepared us. It’s shown us ar-eas where maybe we were deficient or things we needed to do better,” Smith told the Jamestown Sun after their opening win this year.

“Our kids understand that we’re going to

take everybody’s best punch. We need to be prepared for that. There are a lot of good teams out there, but our players enjoy that challenge and they’re excited for this season.”

Among the graduates from that 26-1 team were Jason Feather, who was named Mr. Basketball for the state, and another key player, Koltin Three Irons.

Still, a strong core returned led by versatile 6-foot-3 Tronis McKay, a second-team all-stater as a junior who scored 22 points in the cham-

Grand Forks and Fargo have been selected to host regional playoffs for the 2017 Pacesetter North Dakota Youth Basketball State Cham-pionships. Grand Forks will host the Pacesetter EAST REGION Playoffs for the North Dakota Youth Basketball State Championships for grades 4-9 on Saturday and Sunday, March 4-5, at the University of North Dakota Well-ness Center. Boys in grades 4 and 6, and girls in grade 5 will play on Saturday, March 4. Girls in grades 4 and 6 and boys in grade 5 will play on Sunday, March 5. Fargo Davies High School will also host EAST REGION playoffs with boys in grades 7 and 9 and girls in grade 8 playing Satur-day, March 25, and girls in grades 7 and 9 and boys in grade 8 playing Sunday, March 26. The WEST REGION playoffs will be held in Dickinson March 25-26 at Dickinson State University and the Dickinson Community Center. All teams play 3-4 games in the region play-offs. The top two teams at region advance to the state tournament April 1-2 in Jamestown to play in a Final Four-style bracket, and the

top two teams at state advance to the 8-team four-state championship, which will be held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul in 2017 due to construction on the Target Center. The Pacesetter Great Four-State playoff sys-tem involved over 900 teams from South Da-kota, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa in 2016. North Dakota claimed four Great Four-State championships last summer when the Bis-marck Showtime 4th grade girls, the Central Cass 6th grade girls, the Dakota Thunder 7th grade girls and the St. John’s/Four Winds 8th grade boys won titles at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The Pacesetter youth playoffs are expected draw 40-80 youth teams to each region. Fliers, registration and further information are available at www.pacesettersports.net. -Submitted by Jeff McCarron, Pacesetter Director jeff@pacesetternet.com

Grand Forks, Fargo, Dickinson to host Pacesetter Region Playoffs for the

Youth Basketball State Championships

Pacesetter Newsletter North Dakota Basketball News February 10 Page 2

Pacesetter Newsletter North Dakota Basketball News February 10 Page 3

By Jeff McCarronPacesetter Director

Ex-Gopher Richard Coffey, I recently read, volunteered to coach his son Amir’s (starting Gopher freshman) 3rd grade AAU team because he wanted him to play the point - in case he didn’t grow tall, he could still play big-time. It worked. When is the best age to start learning basketball? I have had the joy of teaching kids in camps for 41 years – all ages K-12 – and I look at it this way: Stage 1: Building Excitement - Ages 1-5

It is helpful to get kids excited in a sport early – by al-lowing them to watch games, to be around players, to dribble, pass, shoot at low baskets and have fun. Stage 1 can start as soon as they can sit up and roll a ball and can continue through ages 1-5 at small baskets with fun and excitement – not technique - as the focus. Stage 2: Teaching Skills - Grades K-2

Kids in K-2 can be taught ball handling, passing and shooting skills, plus footwork, and defensive skills. They may not pick it all up, but if “fun and excitement” are happening and competitive drills and little games are played to keep their interest, they will stay engaged and do their best. SHOOTING NOTE: Players should definitely be playing at low-er baskets at the K-2 level, so cor-rect shooting form can be taught and they can have success making baskets. How low? If a player can make 1 of every 3 shots or better, they can get hooked on shooting. Let them ad-vance out farther at the same basket or to higher baskets only after shooting 50% or better. PLAYING NOTE: I learned a lesson at camp a few years ago. I had been teaching K-2 camp sessions with 3-on-2 games at the peak of their competition. We could get them to “pass to the open teammate” since there was an extra offensive player. Some real games could be played and baskets scored. We had tried 5-on-5 early in our camp years, but it had often turned into runaways with the ball, dribbling excursions away from the basket, little passing, little shooting, and a sort of

mass chaotic madness that often caused piles of bodies …. as other passive players drifted off seeking pigeons in the rafters. Then a few years ago, I had an espe-cially fascinating collection of characters, cute, funny, energetic, positive. So I gave in to my own desires and announced impulsively, “Let’s play full court!” “Yea!” they yelled. “The big court?” one boy asked unbeliev-ingly. “Yes, the big court!” “Yea!” they yelled again. The game was ON and it became a fantastic madness! Not unlike what I described earlier, but when it was all done, they were sweating and smiling. It brought tears to my eyes, to be honest. They just loved to play! And compete! I’ll never forget that game and will also nev-er forget what Michael Jordan said, “Let them have fun. They can learn the game as they go.” Stage 3: Play Competitively — Grades 3-4

Almost all kids in grades 3-4 can get the ball over a 10-foot rim. Still, it would be helpful to have lower baskets to raise their interest level and keep it there. IN-TEREST and EXCITEMENT TO COMPETE are keys that should be maintained while learning and practic-ing, even through the highest levels. In grades 3-4, skill work on fundamentals is important, so kids learn good habits early. It is hard to break habits later. They can start playing on real teams at this level. They will understand team play concepts fairly well in third grade and be able to start focusing and playing as a team in 4th grade. Games with scores at this level are healthy, and provides an excitement they want and need. People differ in opinion on starting this early, but from what I have seen, if your school or community is wait-ing until grade 5 to organize teams, the teams that have been playing in grades 3-4 are going to give them a “whoopin” which will hurt the all-important PRIDE and INTEREST level. Kids and parents don’t like to lose. If you are not going to start your kids playing competi-tively until grade 5, then be careful not to schedule the best teams that started in grades 3-4, or you could risk a demoralizing situation in your program. A friend of mine coaching his grandson’s team has reported scores like 60-4 in situations like this. That is not healthy for either team. If you start your kids later, get them com-petitive through practice and in-house games before playing the much-better teams. So, get them excited ages 1-5, teach them basic skills and keep them excited grades K-2, and start them on teams with real competition in grades 3-4. And always, keep it FUN and EXCITING…at every age.

When should kids start basketball?

Jeff McCarron

Pacesetter Newsletter North Dakota Basketball News February 10 Page 4

Email Erik Olson at olsons1120@comcast.net

Four Winds-Minnewaukan is defending champ & No. 1

The Indians, including coach Rick Smith at far right, displayed their nets and No. 1 fingers af-ter last year’s state championship.

Devils Lake Journal photo

pionship game, and point guard Steve Redfox, already established as an excellent floor leader.

It’s a long time between seasons for Four Winds-Minnewaukan al-though they fill the spring, summer and fall with basketball, too. When the new season started in Decem-ber, McKay tweeted “finally game day!” and the fun began anew. They bolted out of the gate scuttling four teams ranked by Boys Hoopster, North Dakota's basketball preview book —No. 38 Dunseith 101-61, No. 17 Grafton 83-50, No. 3 Dickinson Trinity 71-42 and No. 9 Des Lacs-Burlington 83-65.

The Indians handed Carrington their first loss 74-58 on Jan. 31. They beat No.4 Thompson 71-59 last Saturday despite McKay fouling out (with 19 points) with five minutes left. Charlie Black hit a pair of free throws, then a layup off a Redfox bounce pass, then a basket off a rebound for a 7-0 run and finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds. The Indians drubbed Rugby 83-32 this Tuesday with McKay scoring 28 points and Redfox 25. Their lone loss was a stunner as unranked Hillsboro-Central Valley beat them 68-63.

The success of the FW-M program has one painful by-product: making cuts, a rare situation for a Class B team. This year they had 52 kids try out and kept 30. “It's not easy to tell a kid they can't play basketball, but it's something we have to do,” Smith told the Journal.

Fort Totten and Minnewaukan have a combined pop-ulation of about 2,000 people. Games at Four Winds draw big crowds. At regional and state tourney time the Indians have a huge following wherever they play. The communities know that basketball is what they do there, and they do it well.

Continued from Page 1

Pacesetter Newsletter North Dakota Basketball News February 10 Page 5

Pacesetter Newsletter North Dakota Basketball News February 10 Page 6

The Pacesetter Minnesota Invitational Tournament has been one of the premier summer tournaments in the Midwest since 1991. NBA players Joel Przybilla, Mike Miller, Kris Humphries, and Nate Wohlers are a few of the many top male and female players who have played in the MIT.

The top teams from the 5-state area of Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin are invited annually. Each year 40-70 teams participate.

All teams play 5-6 games in two days. Teams play in “regional” brackets on Saturday (3-4 games) and advance to Final Four brackets based on Saturday results for Sunday (2 games).

Teams that win the prestigious MIT championships will receive individual plaques. Teams with high fi nishes receive medals with neck ribbons.

One of the top facilities in the area will host this event: Claire Lynch gym at The College of St. Benedict (St. Joseph).

Interested teams are encouraged to register soon to hold a spot.

Circle One: Boys Girls School _________________________________ Team Contact Person __________________________Email address (required) ________________________________________________________________Day Telephone ___________________________ Cell Phone __________________________________Mailing Address _______________________________________________________________________Alternate Contact _________________________ Alternate’s Cell # _____________________________

VARSITY BOYS & GIRLS

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Registration Deadline: July 21 (if not already fi lled)Entry Fee $280

Online Registration: www.pacesettersports.net

Contact Information: Email Jeff McCarron at jeff@pacesetternet.com

or call Tracey at 320-243-7460

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College of St. Benedict

Pacesetter Newsletter North Dakota Basketball News February 10 Page 7

By Jeff McCarronPacesetter Director

There is a tug-of-war on for basketball players.

This battle splits two ways: the groups that offer all-star team or club team tournaments and the groups that offer school team or community team tournaments.

At Pacesetter, we provide for the “hometown team” group, where youth basketball teams in grades 4-9 that are school-based or community-based now have a “Fi-nal Four-style” playoff system, the Pacesetter Great Four-State championships, that involve over 900 teams in four states: MN-IA-ND-SD.

Pacesetter Sports started this sys-tem in 2010 to give school teams an exciting playoff to match or surpass the lure of AAU teams traveling to tournaments around the country. All players playing in the Pacesetter Playoffs must either attend the same school or live in the same city, school dis-trict or tribal community. Smaller schools with under 400 enroll-ment in grades 9-12 may combine if the total enrollment when com-bined is 400 or less.

Teams begin with Region Play-offs in February-April in their own section of their state, seeking to advance to their state champi-onships. The top two teams in their state tournaments then advance to the Paceset-ter Great Four-State champion-ships in the Twin Cit-ies. The Target Center hosted the championships from 2010-2016. Due to construction this summer, the championships will be held at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Last year Minnesota and North Dakota won four “Great State” titles, Iowa won three four-state titles and South Dakota won one four-state title. Here is the honor roll of the 2016 Great Four-State champions:

MINNESOTA7th Grade Boys – Stewartville9th Grade Boys – Perham8th Grade Girls – Eden Valley-Watkins9th Grade Girls – Mountain Iron-Buhl

NORTH DAKOTA4th Grade Girls – Bismarck Showtime6th Grade Girls – Central Cass7th Grade Girls – Dakota Thunder8th Grade Boys – St. John’s/Four Winds

IOWA4th Grade Boys – Pella

5th Grade Girls – Xavier Cath-olic6th Grade Boys – Mason City

SOUTH DAKOTA5th Grade Boys – Sioux Falls Hurricanes

Fliers, further information and registration are available at www.pacesettersports.net.

In following a tournament tra-dition, all teams playing in the Great Four-State tournament are invited to a large team meeting, which could be held in a Marriott or Radisson ball-room, a Timberwolves suite, or on the main Target Center floor the night before their event, and all players from every team are introduced in front of the hun-

dreds of players, parents and coaches. Their team-mates are their friends from their own community, and they will be playing together soon on the same high school team. Most of the parents have known every player from childhood.

The next day the players get to play together in front of all their fans on the Target Center floor, home of the NBA Timberwolves and the WNBA Lynx.

It doesn’t get any better than that.

The road to Minneapolis-St. Paul

Fargo and Bismarck players dueled in the Great Four-State tournament last July in the Twin Cities.

Youth teams now have ‘Midwest Madness’ Playoffs

Pacesetter Newsletter North Dakota Basketball News February 10 Page 8

Questions? Call Pacesetter at 320-243-7460 or email: info@pacesetternet.com • www.pacesettersports.net

Follow our Facebook page: Pacesetter Basketball

All grades refer to the 2016-2017 school year.All players on a team must either be enrolled in the same school system or live in the

same city, the same school district or the same tribal community. Smaller schools may combine to form one team if the combined enrollment of their high schools for grades 9-12 is 400 or fewer. Schools that combine should be from the same area.

Region Playoff Schedule

FREE Timberwolves

Tickets(2017-2018 season)

All players will receive a free ticket offer!

Bismarck Showtime - 4th Grade Girls 2016 Great Four-State Champs

Dakota Thunder - 7th Grade Girls2016 Great Four-State Champs

St. Johns/Four Winds - 8th Grade Boys2016 Great Four-State Champs

Central Cass - 6th Grade Girls2016 Great Four-State Champs

REGION PLAYOFFS

East Region: UND – Grand Forks

Saturday, March 4Boys Grades 4 & 6, Girls Grade 5

Sunday, March 5Boys Grade 5, Girls Grades 4 & 6

East Region: Fargo Davies

Saturday, March 25Boys Grades 7 & 9, Girls Grade 8

Sunday, March 26Boys Grade 8, Girls Grades 7 & 9

West Region: Dickinson

Saturday, March 25Boys Grades 4, 6 & 8 Girls Grades 5, 7 & 9

Sunday, March 26Boys Grades 5, 7 & 9 Girls Grades 4, 6 & 8

Region Champion and Runner-up are invited to the North Dakota State Championship April 1-2 in Jamestown.

Top two teams at STATE advance to Great State in the Twin Cities.

The North Dakota state champion and runner-up in each grade are invited to the

Great Four-State Championship in the Twin Cities.

Send check with this entry form to: PACESETTER, PO BOX 222, PAYNESVILLE, MN 56362Registration also available online at www.pacesettersports.net

All players are from one school district. School district

Combined team. List all school districts

(See back for details)

Site Grade Circle Boys or Girls Circle Rating: Strong - Good - Fair - Weak

Team Contact Person Team Color

Cell # Alt #

Mailing Address

Email address

Alternate Contact Person Cell #

Team Entry Form - NORTH DAKOTA Region Playoffs

(needed if two teams from same school register)

(Street) (City) (State) (Zip)

(Email address required - Confirmation will be sent via email - Please write legibly)

DEADLINE: Mail – Prior Saturday Online – 12:00 noon Monday

$155/team3-4 game guarantee

Pacesetter Newsletter North Dakota Basketball News February 10 Page 9

What a pair: 15 straight for Velva-SawyerBy Bruce Strand

In their first year as a pairing, the Velva-Sawyer girls have compiled an 18-2 record including 15 straight

wins, climbing to No. 5 in the Class B media poll.

Coach Chris Braaten said the team is anxious to see what it can do in Region 6 this year.

“Once tournament play begins it’s a whole new sea-son,” Braaten told the Minot News. “During the regular season the focus is more about the grind and improving as a team. But at tournament time, you look closer at the opposing teams and just try to move on and survive another day.”

The Aggies’ money player is 5-foot-10 senior guard Jonnah Lee, who’s averaging 16.9 points, 3.5 assists, 4.1 steals and 7.9 rebounds. In the playoffs last year, Lee, then playing post for Velva, ended Bishop Ryan’s three-year reign as state champs by leading an upset win with 23 points, 17 rebounds and seven blocked shots.

Braaten cited 5-foot-11 senior center Morgan Erick-son the most vocal leader, while averaging 8.2 points and 5.5 rebounds. Soph forward Rachel Mack adds 8.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, and junior guard Greta Florence 6.4 points.

Smith racks up 53 for Williston Trinity

Fifty-three points in one game. That was the final to-tal for senior Austin Smith of Williston Trinity Catho-lic School in a Jan. 20 rampage against Burke County, leading a 75-62 win. The Minot Daily News reports that his 53 is the high game in the state this season and that he broke Jarek Hanson’s 2008 school record of 45 points. Trinity trailed by 12 at halftime. Smith had “only” 13 points at the break and poured in 40 points in the final 16 minutes. “It was pretty cool,” Smith told the Daily News. “We were down at half, and we needed to get going.” His previous high was 34 points.

Frolek scores 45 in Wyndmere 51-49 win

Wyndmere-Lidgerwood’s Peyton Frolek scored 45 of her team’s 51 points in a 51-49 win over Britton-Hecla (S.D.) last week, capped by her seventh 3-pointer of the game for the win with five seconds left. The senior

guard broke the school record of 43 by Tonia Arth in 1992. Coach Erin Bohnenstingl said he’s “never met a kid with drive like that in my life … Everything you tell her to do she does." Frolek, who’s averaging 20 points and five steals, will compete for North Dakota State in track and cross country. (Fargo Forum)

Solen boys finally vanquish arch rival

The Solen boys, who were 0-6 against Shiloh Chris-tian the last two seasons, including season-ending loss-es each year, finally broke through against the No. 3 ranked Skyhawks 78-71 last week before an overflow crowd at Shiloh. Monte Carlow scored 32 points with 7-for-11 shooting on three-pointers for the Sioux (13-1). Brayden Uses Arrow, one of the Solen seniors, said people in Solen suspected there was a “curse” in the rivalry with Shiloh Christian that the team was deter-mined to break. “We circled this game,” he told the Bismarck Tribune. ”We played a good game and finally beat this team.” Jonas Mitel scored 25 for Shiloh.

STATE RANKINGS

BOYS CLASS B (MEDIA)

(1) Four Winds-Minnewaukan 16-1 (2). Northern Cass 15-2 (3) St. John 15-0 (4) Dickinson Trinity 13-2 (5) Thompson 14-3 (6) Shiloh Christian 13-3 (7) Hills-boro-Central Valley 12-3 (8) Solen 14-1 (9) Linton-HMB 15-2 (10) North Star 13-3

BOYS CLASS A (MEDIA)

(1) Dickinson 16-1 (2) Minot 17-1 (3) Fargo Davies 16-0 (4) West Fargo 13-3 (5) Bismarck Century 11-4

GIRLS OVERALL (MAX PREPS)

(1) Bismarck Century 15-0 (2) Bismarck Legacy 10-4(3) Mandan 9-6 (4) Grand Forks Red River 13-2 (5) Fargo Shanley 12-4 (6) Bismarck 9-6 (7) Fargo Davies 11-3 (8) Wahpeton 11-4 (9) West Fargo 12-3(10) Bismarck St. Mary’s 10-7

Pacesetter Newsletter North Dakota Basketball News February 10 Page 10

Pacesetter!Basketball & Volleyball Camps

CHAMPIONSHIP

Camps that come to YOUR school!

Coaches: Book your camp today! Download camp brochure at www.pacesettersports.net

Email Tracey: info@pacesetternet.com or call 320-243-7460

The Pacesetter “Championship Formula”

1) TOP COACHES - Master Teachers, Championship Coaches, Best Young Coaches

2) STRONG FUNDAMENTAL TEACHING - Through 37 years Pacesetter has fine-tuned it’s program to provide players with the most important skills for game success at every age.

3) LOW COSTS - Most programs range from $50-$95

4) LOW RATIOS - Averages: 10-1 player/coach

“Great balance between skill work and compettitive games to keep kids engaged.” “Great camp, great competition, reasonably priced, can’t wait till next year.”

“Our campers were met with an enthusiastic and knowledgeable coach who desired to see each player improve their skills.”

“Comments from Host Coaches” - 2016 camps

“Our director was amazing! He really worked with the girls well both as a team and individually.”

“I was very excited and pleased to see the results from camp. I saw growth in every player... He helped me with my coaching questions. I was able to talk strategy with him and he gave me some drills and skills to address. I would love to host again...”

Select one of the most popular options or create your own... using the following hours and fees.

SESSION LENGTH 3-DAY CAMP 4-DAY CAMP 1.5 HOURS $50/player $65/player 2 HOURS $60/player $75/player 2.5 HOURS $70/player $85/player 3 HOURS $80/player $95/player 4 HOURS $90/player $115/player 6 HOURS $120/player $150/player

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“Serving Hometown Teams since 1980”