K-HEART SPORTS – SATURDAY – 11/04/23
MINOT, ND – The Minot High football team is headed to the Dakota Bowl for the first time since 2017. The Magi took down the only team that defeated them in the regular season by defeating the Mustang at West Fargo Sheyenne 47-30 in the Class AAA semifinals on Friday night. Twice in the first half, Minot High had the ball inside the Mustangs 5 yard line and fumbled. Sheyenne led 17-7 at halftime and then scored on the first possession of the third quarter to go ahead 24-7. From that point the Magi outscored the Mustangs 40-6 to secure their spot in the championship game on Friday.
High School Football
Class AAA
Semifinal
#1 Fargo Shanley def. #5 Fargo Davies, 31-8
#3 Minot High def. #2 West Fargo Sheyenne, 47-30
Semifinal
#1 Fargo Shanley def. #5 Fargo Davies, 31-8
#3 Minot High def. #2 West Fargo Sheyenne, 47-30
Class AA
Semifinal
#1 Fargo North def. #5 West Fargo Horace, 40-14
#7 Grand Central def. #6 Jamestown, 14-13
Semifinal
#1 Fargo North def. #5 West Fargo Horace, 40-14
#7 Grand Central def. #6 Jamestown, 14-13
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MINOT, ND – Those who will play the the Class A and 9-Man championship game on Friday will be determined today. We’ll broadcast the Aggies game hosting Dickinson Trinity. Pre-game is set for 1:10 pm on 106.9 K-Heart, khrt.com, and through the LIVE 365 app.
High School Football
Class A
Semifinal
#1 Velva-Drake/Anamoose-Garrison hosting #4 Dickinson Trinity, 1:30 pm
#2 Kindred hosting #3 Langdon Area-Edmore-Munich, 1:30 pm (at Fargo North)
Semifinal
#1 Velva-Drake/Anamoose-Garrison hosting #4 Dickinson Trinity, 1:30 pm
#2 Kindred hosting #3 Langdon Area-Edmore-Munich, 1:30 pm (at Fargo North)
9-Man
Semifinal
#4 Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn hosting North Prairie, 2 pm
#2 New Rockford-Sheyenne-Maddock hosting #3 South Border, 2 pm
Semifinal
#4 Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn hosting North Prairie, 2 pm
#2 New Rockford-Sheyenne-Maddock hosting #3 South Border, 2 pm
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GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING
MINOT, ND – The WDA Championships for girls swimming and diving finishes up today at the Bismarck Aquatics and Wellness Center. Minot High is the two time defending champion.
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CLASS B CROSS COUNTRY ALL-STATE
MINOT, ND – The North Dakota High School Coaches Association has named their All-State teams for Class B cross country. Three runners from New Town were named to the boys team including Ben DuBois, Xavier Bell, and Lander Lahtinen. The girls team includes 3-time state champ Brynn Hanson of Des Lacs-Burlington, Hannah Senechal and Keyara Lundstrom of Rugby, and Mashae Miller of Kenmare-Bowbells-Burke Central. Brooklyn Bartsch of Rugby was named the Outstanding Senior Athlete and Bill Jansen of Ruby was the Coach of the Year.
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MSU MENS HOCKEY
MINOT, N.D. (MSU) – The Jimmies snapped a long losing streak against their in-state rivals and in the process spoiled the top-ranked Minot State hockey team’s perfect season. An early goal by visiting Jamestown left the Beavers playing catch-up most of the night, then a late power-play goal helped the Jimmies to a 2-1 win over Minot State at the Maysa Arena on Friday night. The same two teams meet again tonight at the Maysa Arena at 7:30 p.m.
The loss was the first of the season for the Beavers (10-1-0 overall) who had won 17 in a row dating back to last season and had beaten the Jimmies in each of the two teams’ last 14 head-to-head contests, as well. But No. 8-ranked Jamestown jumped in front early, scoring 56 seconds into Friday’s game, then maintaining that 1-0 lead until midway through the final period. Peppering the Jimmies goal – Minot State outshot Jamestown 37-18 in the game – the Beavers final broke through as Sheldin Howard scored off a Jay Buchholz assist with 9:02 left in the game, evening the score at 1-1. A penalty on Minot State less than a minute later, though, gave Jamestown a chance to regain the lead and the Jimmies cashed in, scoring the game-winning power-play goal with 6:30 left to earn their first win over the Beavers since December 10, 2021. Riley Wallace finished with 16 saves on the night in goal for Minot State.
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MSU WOMENS HOCKEY
MINOT, N.D. (MSU) – Back on home ice, the 10th-ranked Minot State women’s hockey team came up empty Friday against the visiting Saints and it ended up costing the Beavers. Fifth-ranked Maryville (9-4-0 overall) scored twice in the second period, all the offense either team could muster, as Minot State (4-7-0) fell 2-0 in ACHA action at the Maysa Arena. Both teams return to action for game two of their weekend series at the Maysa Arena today at 3:45 p.m. Haylie Biever finished with 11 saves in goal on the day for the Beavers.
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MSU WOMENS BASKETBALL
BILLINGS, Mont. (MSU) – The Beavers started a bit slow but kept battling, and in the end nearly scored an upset Friday at the D-II Tip-off Classic hosted by Montana State Billings. Transfer Sydney Gustavsson led the way with 15 points while Beaver point guard Vilborg Jonsdottir totaled 6 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds, but the Minot State women’s basketball team fell to the No. 3/5-ranked Tampa Spartans 63-57 at Alterowitz Gymnasium Friday. The Beavers (0-1 overall) had two players score in double figures, led by Gustavsson, who added three steals. Emma Mogen tacked on 10 points, and Jonsdottir added two steals. Led by Lorelei McIver’s two offensive rebounds, Minot State did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 13 boards that resulted in 11 second-chance points. Minot State forced 22 Tampa turnovers while committing 15 themselves in Friday’s game. The Beavers turned those takeaways into 27 points on the offensive end of the floor. Gustavsson’s three steals led the way for Minot State. Next up in the tournament, Minot State plays Florida Tech tonight at 8 p.m. (Central Time).
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MSU WOMENS VOLLEYBALL
MANKATO, MN (MSU) -The Minot State volleyball team jumped ahead 1-0 but couldn’t hang on and fell in four sets (25-20, 15-25, 17-25, 14-25) to the Minnesota State Mavericks Friday on the road at Taylor Center. Bailee Brommenschenkel had a team-high two aces in the loss. Minot State never trailed on the way to winning the first set 25-20. Emily Kotelnikoff had a team-high 10 kills for Minot State. Minot State got a team-high 14 digs from Kendal Braun. Minot State attackers were helped by a team-high 17 assists from Jaina Macaulay.
SET 1 | The Beavers won the first point and held the lead the rest of the way to win the first set 25-20. Minot State led by as many as five points at 9-4 before closing out the set.
SET 2 | Minot State lost set two 25-15 to tie the match 1-1. The Beavers dropped the second set despite a solid performance on the attacking side. Minot State registered a .370 attack percentage with 11 kills in the set loss.
SET 3 | Minot State then dropped their second set in a row, falling behind in the match two sets to one. The Beavers lost a tough set 25-17. Minot State trailed by as many as eight points as Minnesota State grabbed the advantage for good at 15-14 in a set that was tied up 10 times before the Mavericks took over in the second half of the stanza.
SET 4 | Minot State lost the fourth set and the match, falling 25-14. The Beavers trailed by as many as 12 points as Minnesota State grabbed the advantage for good at 2-1 and Minot State couldn’t recover in a set that was tied up just once before the Mavericks took over.
The loss dropped Minot State’s record to 2-23 overall and 1-14 in NSIC action.
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NORTH DAKOTA HOCKEY
BOSTON (UND) – Luke Tuch broke a 2-2 tie with a power play goal early in the third period to give No. 9/8 Boston University a 3-2 win over No. 3/4 North Dakota on Friday night from Agganis Arena in Boston. The Terriers (4-2-1) rode their special teams to the victory, finishing 2-for-5 on the power play and killing off all three man advantages for North Dakota (4-2-1) to grab the upset win and drop the winless streak to six for the Fighting Hawks against BU. It was a similar story to the last few meetings between the two storied programs, with UND controlling play 5-on-5 and dominating the shot count at 34-20, but goaltender Mathiew Caron stopped 32 shots to notch the victory. For the sixth time in seven games, UND jumped out to a 1-0 lead on strike from Jackson Blake just over four minutes into the opening period on the sophomore’s fifth goal of the season. Blake played catch with Jake Schmaltz before wiring a puck through the legs of Caron to get the visitors rolling. After the early push from NoDak, the Terriers were able to knot the game at 1-1 late in the first period on a deflection goal from Dylan Peterson to send the game into the intermission tied before penalties took over in the middle frame. With two players in the box for the green and white, Lane Hutson gave BU the 2-1 lead at the 12:41 mark of the second with a 5-on-3 power play goal, but the Fighting Hawks responded just 26 seconds later when Ben Strinden sniped a shot past the goaltender on a shorthanded rush to quickly tie the game at 2-2 with UND’s third shorthanded tally of the year. Despite a 16-5 shot advantage in the third period by UND, it was the home side who took the lead early in the final stanza on Tuch’s fourth goal of the year and second of the game for the Terriers on the man advantage. NoDak pushed for the equalizer, but could not rally back as the Terriers held on for the 3-2 win. North Dakota will look to even the series tonight at 6:07 p.m. from Agganis Arena.
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NAHL HOCKEY
MINOT, ND – Minot got two first period goals from Jack O’Hanisain and third period goals from Ian Spencer and Joel Lehtinen as the Tauros defeated the Wings 4-2 on Friday night in Aberdeen. Brady James tallied 18 saves in goal for Minot. The Minotauros move to 9-3-1 on the season. Meanwhile, the Bismarck Bobcats lost to the Austin Bruins 2-1.
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COLLEGE FOOTBALL
UNDATED – For the first time since joining the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the Minot State football team is going to kick off against a non-NSIC foe. The Beavers make a nearly 12-hour journey to Michigan to take on the Michigan Tech Huskies of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) today, the first non-conference game for Minot State since the 2011 season when the Beavers were transitioning to the NCAA Division II level. The Beavers head into the contest with matching 1-8 overall and NSIC records looking to bounce back after a near-miss against in-state rival the University of Mary last weekend. As for the Huskies (4-4 overall, 1-4 GLIAC), they too roll into the weekend looking to rebound after very tough back-to-back weekends, losing to two-time defending national champion Ferris State and at home to No. 3-ranked Grand Valley State. Kickoff is Noon Central Time.
For the first time in program history, North Dakota and Murray State will meet on the gridiron today. Kickoff between the Fighting Hawks and Racers is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Murray, Ky. North Dakota enters the contest with a 5-3 record and 3-2 standing in MVFC play after defeating Indiana State 36-33 in overtime last weekend. UND trailed 30-27 with 47 seconds left and drove 60-yards over the next 40 seconds to give C.J. Elrichs the second field goal attempt of his career. He drilled the 32-yarder with four seconds remaining, eventually sending the game into overtime at 30-30. The Fighting Hawks only allowed a field goal on the Sycamore possession and then Tommy Schuster found Quincy Vaughn for a 15-yard touchdown strike to end the game, giving the Hawks the 36-33 overtime win. Murray State comes into the weekend with an overall record of 2-6 and a 1-4 mark in the MVFC after falling 38-6 at North Dakota State last week. All of MSU’s points came on field goals, with James London making a 53-yarder to bring the tally to 28-3 at intermission, and Matt Maldonado making a 39-yarder in the third quarter to bring the tally to 35-6. Quarterback D.J. Williams was the most productive Racer, going 15-for-26 for 108 yards.
North Dakota State goes back on the road this week as the 10th-ranked Bison (6-2, 3-2 MVFC) face top-ranked South Dakota State (8-0, 5-0 MVFC) in the annual Dakota Marker game at 2 p.m. today in Brookings, S.D. The Jackrabbits have won 22 straight games including 16 in a row at home. This is the 115th meeting between North Dakota State and South Dakota State dating back to 1903. NDSU leads the series 63-46-5, but SDSU has won four straight including a 45-21 victory in last year’s FCS national championship game and a 23-21 victory in Fargo last October. The Bison have a 10-9 edge in the Dakota Marker game, which has been played each regular season since 2004. The trophy is a 75-pound model replica of the original quartzite monuments placed along the state border in the 1890s.
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TWINS-SIGNINGS
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins exercised their 2024 club options on outfielder Max Kepler and infielder Jorge Polanco on Thursday, their two longest-tenured players. Kepler will make $10 million and Polanco will make $10.5 million next season. Both players had a $1 million buyout, but their productivity this year made those prices market bargains for Minnesota. The Twins signed both players as 16-year-old international free agents in 2009, with Kepler from Germany and Polanco from the Dominican Republic. Kepler batted .260 with an .816 OPS with a team-high 24 home runs in 130 games as the regular right fielder for the Twins in 2023. He had a .926 OPS in 66 games after the All-Star break for the AL Central champions. Kepler is 12th in Twins history with 153 home runs over nine major league seasons. Polanco came back from a knee injury to hit .255 with 14 home runs and a .789 OPS in 80 games this season while playing second base and third base. He has the most home runs (112) by a switch-hitter in Twins history, over his 10-year major league career. The Twins have another club option on Polanco at $12.5 million for 2025.