MINOT, ND – Class 11B high school football is on the air tonight as the Stanley Blue Jays host Des Lacs-Burlington. The Lakers are 5-2 on the season and have a five game winning streak coming into the final game of the regular season. Stanley ended a seven game losing streak last week with a win over South Prairie-Max. Pre-game is set for 6:40 pm on 106.9 K-Heart and online at khrt.com.

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MINOT, ND – Scores from Thursday:

 

 

Class A
Bismarck St. Mary’s def. #4 Bismarck Legacy (3-0) 25-20, 25-23, 31-29
Minot High def. Mandan (3-0) 26-24, 25-12, 25-23
Dickinson def. Watford City (3-1) 25-18, 25-11, 25-27, 25-17

 

Class B
#3 Kenmare-Bowbells def. Ray (3-1) 24-26, 25-18, 25-19, 25-16
#6 Langdon Area-Edmore-Munich def. Harvey-Wells County (3-0) 25-9, 25-9, 25-8
Surrey def. Velva (3-0) 25-22, 25-14, 28-26
Des Lacs-Burlington def. TGU (3-0) 25-12, 25-15, 25-12
Bottineau def. Nedrose (3-1) 25-22, 25-19, 22-25, 25-16
Rugby def. Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood (3-0) 25-13, 25-22, 25-10
Beulah def. Bishop Ryan (3-2) 11-25, 25-23, 31-33, 25-18, 18-16
Hazen def. Heart River (3-0)
Trenton def. North Shore-Plaza (3-0) 25-12, 25-12, 25-10
Divide County def. Stanley (3-0) 25-18, 25-15, 25-15
Tioga def. Powers Lake-Burke Central (3-2) 20-25, 25-21, 25-21, 17-25, 15-13
Central McLean def. Shiloh Christian (3-2) 22-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-22, 15-6
New Rockford-Sheyenne def. North Prairie (3-2) 25-22, 22-25, 15-25, 25-17, 15-12
Nelson County def. St. John (3-1) 26-24, 25-20, 23-25, 25-18

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MSU MEN’S BASKETBALL

 

MINOT, N.D. (MSU) – Led by Preseason Player to Watch Cam’ron Dunfee, the Minot State men’s basketball team was picked to finish fifth in the NSIC North Division by coaches as the league released its Preseason Coaches’ Poll on Thursday. The Beavers shared the No. 5 spot in the NSIC North Division poll with St. Cloud State as both teams garnered 24 points. Minnesota Duluth was a heavy favorite to win the North Division, and the NSIC overall, earning seven first-place votes and 49 points in the North Division poll, and 13 first-place votes and 222 points in the full NSIC poll.

 

Dunfee, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, is one of two starters back from last year’s team that went 15-15 and finished fourth in the NSIC North. Dunfee averaged 12.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game last season for the Beavers. Overall, Minot State was selected by the coaches to finish 11th in the NSIC with 73 points.

 

Minnesota State Moorhead was selected as the No. 2 team in the North Division with one first-place vote and 43 points, and also picked second overall in the NSIC with one first-place vote and 206 points. Wayne State was picked to win the South Division with seven first-place votes and 49 points, and picked third overall in the NSIC with two first-place votes and 197 points. Last season’s North Division Player of the Year, Austin Andrews, a 6-6 forward from Minnesota Duluth, was selected as the North Division Preseason Player of the Year. Jake Hilmer, a 5-11 senior point guard from Upper Iowa who was named to the All-NSIC First-Team last season, was the South Division Preseason Player of the Year.

 

Minot State opens its season hosting Dickinson State in the annual Doug Jaeger Memorial Game on Saturday, Oct. 22, at 3 p.m., in a game that will be an exhibition for both teams.

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MSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

 

MINOT, N.D. (MSU) – Last season, 5-foot-5 guard Kate Head proved herself to be a star for the Beavers, tying the single-season assists record (123) and finishing second on the team in scoring. This season, the coaches of the NSIC expect even more from the senior guard from Australia, tabbing her as a Preseason Player to Watch as the NSIC released its women’s basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll on Thursday. While Head, who averaged 11.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game, was picked as a Player to Watch, the league’s coach also picked the Beavers to be an underdog this season as Minot State was selected to finish seventh in the NSIC North Division with 12 points, and 14th overall in the NSIC with 42 points. The Beavers finished the 2021-22 season with an 8-18 overall record and were seventh in the NSIC North Division.

 

Minnesota Duluth was favored to win the NSIC North Division by the coaches earning seven first-place votes and 49 points, while the University of Mary was picked second in the North with one first-place vote and 38 points. Minnesota State was picked to win the South Division with six first-place votes and 48 points, and also a slim favorite to win the overall NSIC title with eight first-place votes and 216 points, just barely edging out Minnesota Duluth, which had seven overall first-place votes and 213 points. Augustana was a close second in the South Division poll with two first-place votes and 41 points, and the No. 3 pick overall in the NSIC with one first-place vote and 182 points.

 

Minnesota Duluth’s 6-2, fifth-year forward Brooke Olson, a two-time NSIC Player of the Year, was the North Division’s Preseason Player of the Year, while Augustana’s 6-0 senior forward Aislinn Duffy, an All-NSIC First-Team selection last season, was the South Division Preseason Player of the Year.

 

The Minot State women’s basketball team opens the season on the road in Colorado, playing Southeastern Oklahoma State in back-to-back games on Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. (MT) and Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. (MT).

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WILD-RANGERS

 

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The New York Rangers had their offense clicking like they’ve been playing for months. When it came to trying to stop them, the Minnesota Wild were simply a mess. Artemi Panarin had a goal and three assists and Chris Kreider scored twice for the Rangers in a 7-3 victory on Thursday night that spoiled the Wild’s season opener. The Rangers have 13 skaters with at least one point through two games. Kreider and Adam Fox had the first two goals as the Rangers took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission, and Filip Chytil cleaned up a rebound to score in the second period and push the lead back to three.

 

Marc-Andre Fleury, who matched his career high with seven goals allowed, whacked his stick in frustration against the post right after that. After setting franchise record for wins and points last season, the Wild did not do themselves any favors with this start. Vincent Trocheck and Kaapo Kakko tacked on goals in the third period to neutralize the pair for the Wild by Matt Boldy in a whiplash stretch of 2:02 in which both teams scored twice.

 

Igor Shesterkin was as sharp as ever in the net, robbing the Wild more than once while they outshot the Rangers 12-2 in the early going. Shesterkin finished with 33 saves. Fleury, who stopped 28 shots while being put in some unfavorable positions by his defense, gave up seven goals twice before with Pittsburgh in 2006 (against the Rangers) and with Vegas in 2019 (against Colorado), according to Sportradar data. Fleury gave up six goals twice last season, both with Chicago before he was traded to Minnesota on deadline day.

Mats Zuccarello had a power play goal for the Wild, who lost in their first game of the season at Xcel Energy Center for just the second time in the franchise’s 22 years. They’re 16-2-4 in the opener at their downtown arena. The hockey-savvy fans here, who haven’t seen the Wild advance past the first round of the playoffs since 2015, were quickly disappointed by the home team’s effort — and by a Rangers team with as much top-six potency as any in the league. The Wild were booed after the first period.

 

Fleury had no chance to stop the first goal that came just 4:06 in, when Panarin and Mika Zibanejad — who had two assists — set up Krieder on the power play with a slick display of passing. Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime had a two-on-none short-handed breakaway in the fateful first period, but Dewar’s pass sailed out of Duhaime’s reach and no shot was attempted. Panarin’s second line with Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere — who also had two assists — was especially crisp all night. The Rangers, who lost to the Lightning in the Eastern Conference finals last spring, are loaded again.

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MLB-DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS

 

HOUSTON (AP) — Yordan Alvarez and his mighty bat did it yet again, launching a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning off Seattle ace Luis Castillo that lifted the Houston Astros over the Mariners 4-2 for a 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series. Alvarez was the Game 1 hero with his gut-punch, three-run shot off reigning AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray with two outs in the ninth inning that gave the Astros an 8-7 win. This time, Alvarez sent a drive into the short porch in left field to put the Astros on top 3-2. Game 3 in the best-of-five matchup will be Saturday in Seattle.

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NFL-THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

 

CHICAGO (AP) — Christian Holmes recovered a muffed punt by Velus Jones deep in Chicago territory to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Brian Robinson midway through the fourth quarter, and the Washington Commanders stopped a four-game losing streak, hanging on to beat the Chicago Bears 12-7. The Commanders did just enough to come away with their first win since beating Jacksonville in the opener and handed the Bears (2-4) their third straight loss. Washington caught a huge break when it punted on fourth down at its 36. Jones had trouble tracking the ball, then let it hit off his arms. Holmes recovered it in a big pile at the 6, and Robinson scored two plays later.