Prep Volleyball: Sentinels sweep Saints for second straight WDA win

The Minot North volleyball team won back-to-back conference matches for the first time this season, sweeping Bismarck St. Mary’s, 25-18, 25-21, 25-23, on Tuesday, Sept. 30.

A week after ending a five-game slide with a four-set victory over Mandan, the Sentinels (7-8 overall, 3-6 West Region) continued their winning ways against St. Mary’s (2-13, 1-8), claiming their second conference sweep of the season.

McKinnley Kragh led Minot North’s offensive attack with 10 kills, and also provided three of the team’s 11 aces on the night. Aven Kelly finished with eight kills, and Addy Harper and Elli Laskowski each put down seven kills of their own. Brynn Francis orchestrated the offense with 29 assists and provided a match-high four aces.

Mataya Messer had 10 kills and three blocks for the Saints.

The Sentinels finished the first half of the WDA schedule tied for seventh with Mandan in the standings, but own the tiebreaker. They are two games back of Legacy and Jamestown to avoid the play-in round of the conference tournament.

Minot North travels to Bismarck Legacy on Thursday, Oct. 2, for a 7 p.m. match.

Boys Soccer: Minot North’s skid hits 5, falls to Bismarck Century at home

The Minot North boys soccer team has been stuck on six wins and 19 points since its last victory back on Sept. 11.

The Sentinels dropped their fifth straight contest to close out the month, allowing three first-half goals in a 3-1 loss to Bismarck Century on Tuesday, Sept. 30. Minot North has been outscored 14-4 during the losing streak.

The Patriots scored twice in the opening nine minutes. Century’s Tegan Schlichenmayer opened the scoring in the eighth minute off an assist from Charlie Anderson and Kyle Livesay found the back of the net a minute later for a quick 2-0 lead.

Century (5-5-3 overall, 5-5-3 West Region) added to its lead before the intermission, as Cale McEvers took a pass from Silas Kaldor and made it 3-0 in the 35th minute.

The Sentinels (6-9-1, 6-7-1) avoided the shutout in the 52nd minute on a goal from Gavin Wald, but couldn’t muster anything else from there. Minot North held a 7-4 advantage in shots, but Century goalkeeper Ethan Ziegler made six saves.

Minot North’s Griffin Wald made one save.

The Sentinels currently sit in third place in the WDA standings with 19 points and two games left on their schedule. They are just one point ahead of Century for fourth place and two points clear of fifth-place Bismarck High and Williston, but the Demons have three games remaining on their schedule and would jump Minot North in the standings if they were to win out. The top four finishers in the regular season automatically qualify for the state tournament, as there is no conference tournament.

Minot North hosts Mandan-St. Mary’s on Thursday, Oct. 2, at 7:30 p.m. before closing out its regular season on the road against Jamestown on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 2 p.m.

Prep Football: Cardinals, Rockets No. 1 as Class A, 9-man polls stay remain unchanged

A week without upsets means media polls without any movement.

Langdon Area-Munich took the top spot once again in the Class A media poll and New Rockford-Sheyenne-Madddock is No. 1 in 9-man with the release of the state media polls on Wednesday, Oct. 1.

The Cardinals received 18 of a possible 19 first-place votes after defeating Thompson, 34-6, to remain undefeated. Killdeer received the only other first-place vote and is No. 2. Killdeer put up a Class A best 66 points against Bowman County last week.

Velva/Drake-Anamoose/Garrison, Park River Area and Ellendale/Edgeley/Kulm rounded out the top five. Bottineau and Dickinson Trinity also received votes. The Aggies have now appeared in the polls for 17 consecutive weeks.

NR-S-M garnered 15 first-place votes to continue its reign atop the 9-man poll. The Rockets put up a whopping 80 points on the road against Midway-Minto. LaMoure-Litchville-Marion received three first-place votes to take the No. 2 spot and No. 3 Linton-HMB grabbed the other. L-L-M and NR-S-M have appeared in the polls for 16 and 15 straight weeks, respectively.

Alexander and Divide County rounded out the top five. All five teams in the 9-man poll remain undefeated. Hankinson and Grant County-Flasher also received votes.