The Hoopster North Dakota boys basketball preview picked Lisbon to win Class B, District 1 and finish second in Region 1.
Broncos coach Kim Mark wasn't sure if the preseason hype was warranted. His team graduated seven of its top eight players from last season and returned one starter.
"I thought we were a little bit overrated because we lost so many kids," said Mark, in his 10th year at Lisbon.
Lisbon has lived up to the billing. The Broncos are ranked No. 2 in this week's Class B poll. They have a 9-0 record after beating Wyndmere 60-34 on Tuesday.
That win gave Mark his 300th career victory.
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"The thing that I've seen with these guys is they really get along pretty well," Mark said. "It's a very unselfish basketball team. The team chemistry is as good as I've ever had."
Defense has been critical for the Broncos, who are holding teams to 32 points per game.
Six-foot-5 junior post Logan Carlblom is the starter back from last season. Senior point guard Patrick Dougherty(5-9), senior wings Ben Kaspari (6-0) and Josh Berg (5-10) and senior post Jon Evenson (6-2) round out the starting lineup.
Junior guard Kyle Rader (6-0) also has made starts recently. Juniors Justin Reinke and Derek Hiam and sophomores Jordan Lee and Nathan Dykema have also contributed off the bench.
"They have really impressed me," Mark said. "They have come off the bench and played really well."
The future of Class B boys basketball?
Last week, the North Dakota Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association set initial enrollment guidelines as the group tries to create a three-class plan in basketball and volleyball.
The top division would be enrollments of 450 and up. The middle division would be between 150 and 449 and the lower division would be 149 and less. Here is how those figures would have split last year's Class B state boys basketball tournament, although teams have the option to play up a class.
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Four Winds (185 enrollment), May-Port-CG (215) and Minot Ryan (207) would be in the middle division.
Pingree-Buchanan-Kensal (92), Bismarck Shiloh Christian (95), Richland (102), Parshall (66) and tournament champion Dickinson Trinity (149) would be in the lower division.
Something else
The 13th annual KQLX wrestling tournament is scheduled for Friday and Saturday in Lisbon. Ranked No. 1 in Class B, Napoleon headlines the 15-team tournament. Wahpeton, ranked No. 2 in Class A, is also set to compete. Wrestling starts at 6 p.m. Friday and 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Results will be posted on kqlx.com. ... The 16th annual boys basketball Pepsi Shootout is scheduled for Saturday at the Fargo Civic Center. The event features 12 teams from North Dakota and Minnesota, including Hankinson, which is rated No. 7 in this week's North Dakota Class B poll. The first of six games starts at noon.
Readers can reach Forum reporterEric Peterson at (701) 241-5513or epeterson@forumcomm.com .Peterson's prep sports blog can befound online at www.areavoices.com
