E/K-M, L/L-M girls hoops hoping for deep postseason runs

Feb. 7—JAMESTOWN — The top two seeds in the Class B girls' basketball District 2 tournament have high expectations as they enter the Jamestown Civic Center at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 9.

The top seed in the tournament is the Edgeley/Kulm-Montpelier Rebels who will face the winner of the game between Ellendale and South Border at 3 p.m. on Friday.

"The tournament will be really competitive, there's some really good teams," Rebels head coach Rory Entzi said. "Hopefully, we get healthy ... it seems like since the beginning of the year we've been either missing somebody for a sprained ankle or sickness or a knee or something. So it seems like when we get one back, we lose another one. So we're hoping this coming week, we have everyone back."

The play-in game between South Border and Ellendale took place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6. The results of that game were unavailable by the Sun's deadline.

Entzi said all teams in the postseason are starting from scratch and the regular season records can be thrown out.

"Both teams play hard and both teams are well coached," Entzi said, referring to the South Border-Ellendale matchup. "So, they both bring a similar style in how they play through their schemes. So, they'll be a challenge, whichever one we have to face. We're just gonna have to be ready for them."

Heading into the tournament, Entzi said he hopes sophomore Elli Lloyd recovers in time to play against Sargent County on Monday, Feb. 5, before ramping up fully to play in the postseason.

The Rebels are led by Mataeya Mathern's 17.2 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game, 78 total assists and 89 total steals as of Sunday, Feb. 4.

"We're gonna need all of them to step up but obviously it starts with Mataeya," Entzi said. "She's our best player, leading scorer, a senior, you look at your upperclassmen to be the leaders. So you look at her and I think Libby Mathern would be another player. My other seniors are like Abby (Mathern) and Grace Irey and Lexie Dallman off the bench. You look for the seniors to step up this time of the year because they have the experience of playing before. So we're gonna lean on that a little bit."

On the team front, Entzi said his squad needs to take care of the basketball and play tight defense.

"We just gotta work together honestly," Mathern said. "We need every single one of us whether you're on the court playing or you're on the bench. We need all 14 of us and we just gotta bring the energy every game and come ready to battle because it's not going to be easy."

The Rebels are very comfortable playing at the Civic Center. The Rebels are currently on an eight-game winning streak at the Civic Center dating back to last season, including a 60-49 win over Washburn during the Stutsman County Girls' Shootout in December.

"I definitely feel that our experience is going to be a positive for us ... experience is good for these moments because you don't really know what it's like until you've been in them before," Mathern said. "I think that'll help us just because we've been in this position before last year and we have a lot of girls that have had time. I just feel like it definitely will help us stay calm when it gets going because tournament time can get exciting. You just gotta take a deep breath and trust in your abilities."

The No. 2 seed is the LaMoure/Litchville-Marion Loboes who have a 12-7 record and will face off against the No.7-seed Medina/Pingree-Buchanan Thunder at 6 p.m. Friday.

Loboes head coach Ben Holen said his team's goal is not to look past any teams and execute to the best of its abilities.

"They're a very good team," Holen said. "People look at their record and look at their seed and think otherwise but we're smarter than that. We understand they're a great team, they didn't play at full strength for a good chunk of their season and that's why their record is what it is. They're fully capable, they have good weapons, they do different things defensively, they can score the ball."

Loboes' leading scorer Tessa Rasmusson said she expects the Thunder to play tight man-to-man or zone defense.

The Loboes are led by Ramusson's 13.7 points per game and Addison Smith's 3.1 steals per game. Rasmusson said her expectations for the tournament are to arrive focused on the end goal and rebound the basketball well.

Holen said he is looking for all 10 players on his team to make an impact.

"I'm looking to see everybody that's in uniform to do their job," Holen said. "The roles have become a little more defined in terms of a rotation and our playing time. I know the girls that are regularly in the mix or close to that are gonna be ready to go, they're gonna be excited. Everybody else that's in uniform or on staff knows their job and that's gonna be the focus, honestly, just everybody doing their job, everybody enjoying the moment and the special atmosphere that is playoff basketball and seeing where it takes us."

The Rebels and Loboes played in the 2023 District 5 championship game with the Rebels getting a 46-32 win, something that the Loboes want to reverse.

"It would be pretty special (to win it)," Rasmusson said. "I know we made last to the ship last year and fell to Edgeley, so to overcome that and be district champs, I think that would be pretty special for us since we are a young team."

A loss in the district tournament does not necessarily mean the end of a team's season as there are two additional region qualifiers in addition to the championship game. During the District 2 tournament, the losers of both semifinals get a chance to still make the Region tournament by playing the teams that win the consolation semifinals.

"With every step of the way, it'll feel a little different in that sense," Holen said. "It won't feel like a regional opening round or a regional semifinal on Friday because the atmosphere hasn't ramped up to that point quite yet and everyone has the understanding that yeah it's not single (elimination). It doesn't change your mindset or anything but yeah, the atmosphere you won't have the same sense in that way. When it gets to single (elimination), you can even sense it in the atmosphere, it's incredible."