K-Heart Sports – 12/06/22

K-HEART SPORTS – 12/06/22 – 0700
 
MINOT, ND – The top three remain the same in the second Class B Girls Basketball Poll of the season. Four Winds-Minnewaukan is the unanimous #1 in the first boys poll. The polls are voted on by the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.
 
North Dakota Class B Girls Basketball Poll
 
               (First Place Votes)        Record    Points    Last Week
1. Central Cass (14)                       2-0          171         1  
2. Kenmare-Bowbells (2)                3-0          160         2
3. Kindred (2)                                  3-0          144         3
4. Rugby                                         3-0          120         5
5. Shiloh Christian                          2-0            97         8
6. Edgeley-Kulm-Montpelier           1-0            61         9
7. Thompson                                   1-1           50          6
8. Northern Cass                             2-0           49         NR
9. Grafton                                        2-1           37          7
10. Central McLean                         2-0           24         NR
 
Others receiving votes: Bowman County (1-1), MayPortCG (2-0), Garrison (3-0), Langdon Area-Edmore-Munich (0-1), Linton-HMB (3-0), Westhope-Newburg (3-0), Hatton-Northwood (2-0), North Prairie (2-0)
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North Dakota Class B Boys Basketball Poll
 
                               (First Place Votes)     Record    Points
1. Four Winds-Minnewaukan (18)              0-0           180
2. Central Cass                                           0-0           157
3. Bishop Ryan                                           0-0           125
4. Thompson                                               0-0           112
5. Bowman County                                      0-0          102
6. Shiloh Christian                                       0-0            85
7. Kindred                                                    0-0            83
8. Grafton                                                    0-0            38
9. LaMoure-Litchville-Marion                       0-0            33
10. North Star                                              0-0            20
 
Others receiving votes: North Border, Dickinson Trinity, Stanley, Des Lacs-Burlington, Rugby, Hillsboro-Central Valley, Hazen, St. John, Standing Rock, Velva
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MINOT, ND – The first two games of the Nedrose Tourhament we played on Monday.
 
High School Girls Basketball
Class B
 
Nedrose Tournament
First Round
North Prairie def. Our Redeemer’s, 51-48
Surrey def. Powers Lake-Burke Central, 49-41
 
High School Boys Wrestling
Williston def. Dickinson, 46-18
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NDSU MEN’S BASKETBALL
 
PORTLAND, Ore. (NDSU) – The North Dakota State men’s basketball team pulled out a 67-62 road victory over the University of Portland on Monday night inside the Chiles Center. NDSU junior Boden Skunberg finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for his second career double-double. Bison freshman Tajavis Miller scored 17 points, and freshman Damari Wheeler-Thomas had 12 points and six rebounds. NDSU’s defensive effort limited the Pilots to a season-low 62 points on a season-low 34-percent shooting, including a 5-for-19 effort from beyond the arc. The Bison shot 44 percent for the game and made 7-of-17 from three-point range. The contest featured 15 lead changes and seven ties. The Bison led 28-24 at halftime after going ahead by as many as 12 in the first half. Portland scored the first eight points of the second half to build a four-point lead, but never pushed its margin further. The Pilots held a 55-52 advantage with just over five minutes left when NDSU pieced together a pivotal 8-0 run that featured a three-pointer from Jacari White and a pair of buckets by Tajavis Miller. Skunberg made five free throws in the final minute. Wheeler-Thomas, Miller, White, and Luke Yoder recorded two steals apiece. NDSU will return home to host Montana on Saturday and Waldorf on Sunday.
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UND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL-HONOR
 
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (UND) – North Dakota guard Kacie Borowicz collected this week’s Summit League Women’s Basketball Peak Performer of the Week honor, league officials announced on Monday. Borowicz averaged 23.0 ppg, 4.0 apg, 3.5 rpg and 1.5 spg to help North Dakota finish 2-0 during the week with victories over Wisconsin-Superior and at Eastern Michigan. In the Fighting Hawks’ 77-30 win over Wisconsin-Superior, Borowicz led the team with 12 points, three assists and a pair of steals in just 18 minutes of play. She went 5-for-11 from the floor and connected on both her free throws. Against Eastern Michigan, the Roseau, Minn., native notched her second 30-plus point game of the season, finishing with 34 points on 10-for-19 shooting. The senior also added seven rebounds, five assists and a steal to her stat line, becoming the first player at UND since 2017 to score 30-plus points, 5-plus rebounds and five-or-more assists in a single game. Borowicz has led UND in scoring each game so far this season and leads the League and ranks 11th nationally in points per game (21.0). This is the second weekly honor of the season for the senior.
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UND HOCKEY-BLAKE
 
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (UND) – UND Freshman forward Jackson Blake has been named one of 32 players to the preliminary roster of the 2023 U.S. National Junior Team, announced by USA Hockey on Monday. The group, which includes eight members of the 2022 U.S. National Junior Team, will gather for a training camp at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich., from Dec. 12-17. Players are auditioning for a spot on the final 23-player roster that will represent the United States in the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship Dec. 26, 2022 – Jan. 5, 2023, in Moncton, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. The United States has medaled in five of the last seven tournaments.
 
Blake has been on a torrid pace in his first season with the Fighting Hawks, ranking tied for the team lead with 19 points in just 17 games. The freshman is second on the squad with nine goals and has already registered six multi-point games this season. The Eden Prairie, Minn., native ranks 19th in the nation in points and 20th in goals, while is point total is fifth and goals are fourth in the country among freshmen. Blake is currently riding an eight-game point streak, the longest by a freshman since Shane Pinto in 2019-20.
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VIKINGS-DEFENSE
 
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Camryn Bynum jumped in front of New York Jets wide receiver Corey Davis for the fourth-down interception just in front of the goal line, preserving another harrowing Minnesota Vikings victory. The second-year safety added that highlight with 10 seconds left to the collection of well-timed stops and game-ending turnovers the Vikings (10-2) have used to effectively minimize their big-play vulnerability on defense this season. Their perfect record in nine games decided by eight points or fewer has been made possible by a defense that has taken the bend-not-break mantra to a whole new level. “Honestly if we can win, I don’t give a damn, even though we want to bury them and close it out when we can,” linebacker Eric Kendricks said. “These teams are really good. They have players that can play too. We have 10 wins. Everybody’s gunning for us and knows that we’re a target, so we’re getting everybody’s best to the very last second.”
 
The Jets had 24 plays inside the 20-yard line, all in the second half. They netted 36 yards and scored only one touchdown in six opportunities. The Vikings also stopped the Jets short of the sticks on 13 of 16 third downs and three of five fourth downs. On the other hand, only Detroit — which Minnesota visits this Sunday — has allowed more total yards per game in the NFL this season. No team has permitted more passing yards per game or per play than the Vikings. “You have to continue to look at it, just because it just puts a lot of pressure on your football team,” coach Kevin O’Connell said.
 
WHAT’S WORKING
Facing a stout defensive front, the Vikings quietly had one of their most productive games running the ball this season with 128 yards on 29 attempts. Dalvin Cook rushed 20 times for 86 yards, and he and Alexander Mattison each had second-quarter touchdowns. “The belief we have in those two, they’re warriors,” right tackle Brian O’Neill said. “I want to give them the rock.” According to Sportradar data, the Vikings gained a season-high 84.4% of their rushing yards before initial contact by the defense on Sunday.
 
WHAT NEEDS HELP
No quarterback in the NFL has been pressured (123) or hit (93) more times this season than Kirk Cousins, per Sportradar. After taking several jarring blows from the Jets, the ultra-durable Cousins said he was fine physically but acknowledged the rush affected his accuracy. He went 21 for 35.
 
STOCK UP
The safety tandem of Bynum and Harrison Smith combined for 15 tackles and five pass breakups in addition to the picks. Smith is third in the league with five interceptions.
 
STOCK DOWN
WR K.J. Osborn has totaled only 14 receptions for 103 yards over the past seven games. Cousins has completed only 58% of his passes targeting Osborn, compared to 69% for Justin Jefferson and 68% for Adam Thielen. Osborn, who had seven touchdown catches last season, has just two this year.
 
INJURY REPORT
Cameron Dantzler Sr. is on track to come off injured reserve and has a “great chance” per O’Connell to return Sunday to the depth-tested cornerback position opposite Patrick Peterson. Akayleb Evans started against the Jets after a two-game absence because of a concussion, only to re-enter the protocol in the third quarter, and he’s already been ruled out against the Lions. The rookie has had three concussions since joining the team. “Before Akayleb plays again we want to make sure it’s 100% the right timing for him because we care more about the player health and safety,” O’Connell said. Left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who has also been in the concussion protocol twice in the past four weeks, has been held out of the past two games. He practiced Friday and has been progressing.
 
KEY NUMBER
19. Vikings opponents have made 19 consecutive field goals since a miss by Miami’s Jason Sanders on Oct. 16. Greg Zuerlein went 5 for 5 for the Jets, including a 60-yarder. Of the seven field goals made from 60-plus yards in the NFL in the past two seasons, four have come against the Vikings.
 
UP NEXT
The Vikings would clinch the NFC North title by winning Sunday at Detroit (5-7). Then they have two more home games, against Indianapolis (4-7-1) and the New York Giants (7-4-1).
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NFL-MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
 
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tom Brady threw a pair of touchdown passes in the final three minutes Monday night, helping the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rally from a 13-point deficit to beat the New Orleans Saints 17-16 and tighten their grip on first place in the weak NFC South. The seven-time Super Bowl champion tossed a one-yard TD pass to rookie Cade Otton, finishing a 91-yard drive to pull within 16-10 with exactly three minutes remaining. He got the ball back with 2:29 to go, then won it with a 6-yard throw to another rookie, Rachaad White, with three seconds left.
 
 
 

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