Photo by Noah Clooten

Photo by Noah Clooten

Benson County girls’ basketball was ranked No. 1 for the second straight week in the latest NDAPSSA polls released Monday.

Both Devils Lake teams remained at No. 2 in Class A, where they’ve been all season. New Rockford-Sheyenne stayed at No. 5 in the boys’ Class B.

Benson County, which was the preseason No. 6, is now comfortably in the No. 1 slot. The Wildcats received 14 of the 18 first-place votes on Monday, a week after getting 11 out of 19. The only other team to receive first-place votes in the Class B girls was No. 2 Kenmare/Bowbells, with four.

The Wildcats are off to a 10-0 start, as of Tuesday morning. Their closest game was their most recent one, a 63-54 win over Langdon Area/Munich (3-5). All of their other wins have been by double digits.

On the boys’ side, Wilton-Wing dominated the poll with 15 of the 18 first-place votes. The No. 2-4 teams each received one first-place vote. NR-S is the highest-ranked team to not receive a first-place vote. The Rockets were the preseason No. 7 and have gradually shifted upwards. They’re off to a 5-0 start, with tight wins over North Star, Rugby and Dunseith.

The Devils Lake boys received six first-place votes in the Class A poll, with the remaining 12 going to still-No. 1 Kindred. That’s one more first-place vote than last week for the Firebirds, who are 5-0 overall and 2-0 in region play. Notably, voting took place before Devils Lake’s 74-35 win over Four Winds/Minnewaukan on Monday.

No. 3 is Grafton, a region foe that Devils Lake is set to face at home on Jan. 21.

The Devils Lake girls also received one more first-place vote than last week, going from six to seven. South Prairie-Max stayed at No. 1 with 11 first-place votes.

Devils Lake is off to a 7-0 start, and recently survived a scare against No. 3 Valley City. The Firebirds were down by as many as 12 in the third quarter but came back to win, getting a game-winning shot just before the buzzer by Torri Fee. Had the Firebirds lost that game, Valley City very likely could have overtaken them in the polls.

Instead, the Hi-Liners are still No. 3 with zero first-place votes and a 4-1 record.

The full polls are listed below.

Class A boys’ basketball

  1. Kindred (12) – 84 points (Previous: 1)
  2. Devils Lake (6) – 78 points (Previous: 2)
  3. Grafton – 49 points (Previous: 3)
  4. Killdeer – 46 points (Previous: 4)
  5. Shiloh Christian – 8 points (Previous: 5)

Class A girls’ basketball

  1. South Prairie-Max (11) – 82 points (Previous: 1)
  2. Devils Lake (7) – 79 points (Previous: 2)
  3. Valley City – 37 points (Previous: 3)
  4. Carrington – 35 points (Previous: 4)
  5. Central Cass – 32 points (Previous: 5)

Class B boys’ basketball

  1. Wilton-Wing (15) – 177 points (Previous: 1)
  2. Bishop Ryan (1) – 153 points (Previous: 2)
  3. North Border (1) – 129 points (Previous: 3)
  4. Westhope/Newburg (1) – 124 points (Previous: 4)
  5. New Rockford-Sheyenne – 107 points (Previous: 5)
  6. Hankinson – 92 points (Previous: 6)
  7. Velva – 77 points (Previous: 7)
  8. Glen Ullin/Hebron – 65 points (Previous: 8)
  9. Our Redeemer’s – 31 points (Previous: 9)
  10. Midway/Minto – 9 points (Previous: NR)

Class B girls’ basketball

  1. Benson County (14) – 173 points (Previous: 1)
  2. Kenmare/Bowbells (4) – 143 points (Previous: 3)
  3. Tioga – 137 points (Previous: 5)
  4. Central McLean – 126 points (Previous: 6)
  5. Berthold – 104 points (Previous: 7)
  6. Sargent County – 81 points (Previous: 2)
  7. May-Port-C-G – 69 points (Previous: NR)
  8. Bowman County – 45 points (Previous: 9)
  9. Washburn – 26 points (Previous: NR)
  10. Maple River – 22 points (Previous: 4)

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