Mike Kraft/MDN Jayden Marshall and Our Redeemer’s will take part in this year’s Dale Brown Hoopster Classic at the Minot State University Dome and the Minot Municipal Auditorium. The Knights play Hazen and North Star during the holiday tournament.

It’ll be a real who’s who when the Dale Brown Hoopster Classic tips off at the Minot State University Dome on Saturday, Dec. 27, to begin the holiday tournament season across the state.

In total, 34 teams – 20 boys and 14 girls – representing both Class A and Class B are set to play 25 games across three days at two venues. The Hoopster Classic begins with a boys contest between Rugby and Stanley at 11 a.m. on Saturday and continues through Tuesday, Dec. 30.

All seven contests on Saturday will be held at the MSU Dome before splitting hosting duties with the Minot Municipal Auditorium on both Monday, Dec. 29, and Tuesday, Dec. 30. Eighteen games will take place at the MSU Dome, while the remaining seven games will be held at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.

Starting on the boys side, the 20-team field includes six teams that participated in their respective state tournaments a year ago, including defending Class B champion Bishop Ryan. Our Redeemer’s and Westhope-Newburg also competed in the Class B state tournament last season, while Devils Lake, Des Lacs-Burlington and Beulah advanced to the Class A state tournament. The rest of the Class A field includes Stanley, Rugby, Hazen, Four Winds-Minnewaukan, Dickinson Trinity and Dunseith. TGU, Velva, Powers Lake-Burke Central, St. John, North Prairie, North Star, Garrison and Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood round out the competition.

Dating back to the 1997-98 season, the 20 teams have combined for nine state titles, with Four Winds-Minnewaukan and Dickinson winning two and Rugby, North Star, Beulah, Bishop Ryan and Westhope-Newburg all with one.

The boys basketball season is barely two weeks old, but most teams in the field have had the opportunity to get a few games under their belt and shake off the offseason rust. Half the competition has played in at least three games so far this season. Devils Lake has played the most with five. Bishop Ryan has played the fewest with just one – a victory over Powers Lake-Burke Central on Dec. 13. The Lions are one of six teams in the field that enter the Hoopster Classic unbeaten. Devils Lake (5-0). Hazen (4-0), Dunseith (3-0), Rugby (2-0) and Beulah (2-0) are the others. Bishop Ryan and Dunseith are scheduled to play each other on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the Minot Auditorium. Devils Lake and Beulah are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in Class A, respectively, and Four Winds-Minnewaukan is receiving votes in the latest media poll. Our Redeemer’s is ranked third in the Class B poll. Overall, the 20 teams are a combined 34-20 so far this season.

There are four matchups on the boys side on Saturday, followed by five more on Monday and six to close out the showcase on Tuesday. A couple games of note on Saturday include Rugby (2-0) and Beulah (2-0) at 3:30 p.m., followed by Hazen (4-0) and Velva (2-1) at 5 p.m.

Beulah is again involved in what will be the most anticipated game when the Miners square off with Devils Lake (5-0) in a 1 vs. 2 tilt. The game tips Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the MSU Dome. Our Redeemer’s (2-1) first game of the showcase is also a big one, as the third-ranked Knights battle with unbeaten Hazen on Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the Minot Auditorium.

Tuesday’s slate might be the strongest, as Four Winds-Minnewaukan (1-1) takes on Beulah at 3:30 p.m. at the MSU Dome, Bishop Ryan (1-0) plays Dunseith (3-0) at 5 p.m. at the Minot Auditorium and Our Redeemer’s goes up against North Star (2-1) in the final game of the showcase at 8 p.m. at the MSU Dome.

Not to be overshadowed, the girls portion of the showcase is just as impressive, bringing some of the best teams across Class A and Class B together. The field includes defending Class B state champion and current No. 1 Benson County (6-0) as well as the top-ranked team from Class A with South Prairie-Max (5-1). They are two of the four teams in the field that participated in the state tournament last year, with Rugby and Langdon Area/Munich being the other two. Of the 14 teams, nine have winning records. Benson County is the lone unbeaten, while South Prairie-Max (5-1), Langdon Area/Munich (4-1) and Rugby (3-1) all have just one loss. Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood enters the showcase with six wins in seven contests, while Garrison and Nedrose each have five. Every team has played at least four games to date, with many having played between five and seven. The 14 teams are a combined 48-35.

Two Regions across Class A are represented. Five teams come from Region 3 – the largest representation amongst any single region or district on the girls side. Along with South Prairie-Max, Rugby and Nedrose, Des Lacs-Burlington and Stanley also come from Class A Region 3. Class A Region 4 is represented by a single team with Beulah. The remaining eight teams are from Class B, led by four teams from District 6. They include M-L-S, Bishop Ryan, Our Redeemer’s and TGU. Bishop Ryan is one of three teams in the field that have won a state title since 2004, joining Benson County and Langdon Area/Munich. Benson County and Langdon Area/Munich come from District 4, along with St. John. Garrison is the lone representative from District 8 to round out the roster of teams.

The girls’ slate of games features four contests where both teams have a winning record, three of which take place on the showcase’s final day. The first instance is Monday at the Minot Auditorium at 4 p.m. when Our Redeemer’s (3-2) plays Langdon Area/Munich. The top game on Saturday is the first, with TGU (4-2) taking on Stanley (3-4) at 12:30 p.m. at the MSU Dome.

The schedule goes out with a bang on Tuesday right from the beginning when Rugby plays Our Redeemer’s at 12:30 p.m. at the MSU Dome. At 2 p.m. at the Minot Auditorium, M-L-S (5-1) takes on Garrison (5-2) and then back at the MSU Dome at 6:30 p.m., South Prairie-Max squares off with Langdon Area/Munich.