Fargo South athletic director
Ed Lockwood was pleasantly surprised when he strolled into the Fargodome late Wednesday morning.
The wood floor from the Bison Sports Arena was already in place, approximately 12 hours after North Dakota State had used the playing surface Tuesday night for the first round of the North Central Conference tournament.
"It was pretty remarkable," Lockwood said. "When I walked in here, I couldn't even believe it."
The additional floor was needed for the combined East Region boys and girls basketball tournament, which starts today at the Fargodome.
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Today's first round will feature two wood floors, two four-sided scoreboards, two large curtains, 16 teams and eight games.
"If I can sum it up, every person is going to have an opportunity to see a lot of basketball in three days," Lockwood said.
The combined tournament became an option after the girls basketball season moved to the winter from the fall for the first time this school year.
"I think there is some excitement and some anxiety, too," said Fargo South girls basketball coach Craig Flaagan. "Everyone is in a wait-and-see mentality. Until we do it, we're not going to know if it works."
On the south court, quarterfinal game times are scheduled for 2 p.m., 3:45, 5:30 and 7:15 p.m. On the north court, times are 2:30, 4:15, 6 and
7:45 p.m.
One of the concerns of having games being played simultaneously at one venue is noise exchange between the courts -- especially horns and whistles.
Lockwood said the two large curtains that separate the courts should help alleviate that potential pitfall.
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"My biggest concern is to see how people are going to react to all that activity going on in one place," Lockwood said.
The combined Class A state tournament -- also scheduled for the Fargodome the following week -- is set to have a similar set-up as the regions. Lockwood said the East Region tournament will give the Metro Tournament Committee a chance to prepare for the state tournament.
"We are going to have the (tournament) workers walk around and ask the people what they like and what they don't like," Lockwood said. "We are going to try to find any potential problems and correct what we can control."
East Region not in prime time
No games will be televised from the combined East Region boys and girls tournament.
Since the early 1990s both the boys and girls East Region tournaments were televised by KVRR-TV, the local Fox affiliate. The girls tournament wasn't carried last fall because it conflicted with the World Series.
"I'm really going to miss it," said KVRR-TV sports director Jeremy Jorgenson. "That was one of my favorite things, doing the East Region. Maybe we can work something out in the future because I really enjoy that."
The number of games and the added cost of televising from the Fargodome were two main factors in KVRR-TV not being able to broadcast the tournament.
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"It was a keepsake," Flaagan said. "Everyone had their VCRs plugged into that. Now we can't do that."
The Jaguars dressed for success
The Northern Cass girls basketball team, which plays in the North Dakota Class B state quarterfinals today, has a uniform dress code on the court.
All players wear the same shoes and all players crank their socks to their kneecaps. No head bands or wrist bands are allowed.
"It's just when you look like more of a team, you play like more of a team," Northern Cass senior Katie Hochgraber said. "It's like no one is better than you, and you all feel even."
Schmidt to enter NDOA Hall
Wahpeton's Lynn Schmidt, a longtime football official, will be inducted into the North Dakota Officials Association Hall of Fame Tuesday.
The ceremony will take place between games during the evening session of the Class B Region 1 boys basketball tournament at North Dakota State College of Science.
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Readers can reach Eric Peterson at (701) 241-5513 or epeterson@forumcomm.com
