The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
Nearly 60 years after the last basketball season under three divisions in North Dakota went into the history books, and over several decades of speculation and debate on the topic, a three-class system will be returning in 2023-24.
The North Dakota High School Activities Association (NDHSAA) Board of Directors, on a unanimous 10-0 vote, agreed to implement the plan that would create Divisions AA, A and B for basketball in the state.
An amended motion to the plan, which states that the new system start next season, passed on an 8-2 vote, with board members Dave Schoch and Paul Jundt dissenting.
Division AA will consist of schools with enrollments above 650 students, and includes several schools below the threshold who have chosen to opt up into the higher class.
The new Division A comprises schools with enrollments from 162 to 649 students, along with several schools in Division AA-sized school districts with enrollments from 100 to 399 students. Division B will consist of all schools under 162 students that do not qualify for Division A under the aforementioned exception.
Enrollment numbers were derived from the grades 9-12 average from fall 2021 and 2022 for member schools.
Both Divisions A and B will have four regions, with Division B subdividing each region into two districts.
Carrington now moves to Division A - Region 2, and will compete alongside Devils Lake, Four Winds/Minnewaukan, Grafton, Hillsboro/Central Valley and Thompson.
In other moves affecting Independent-area schools, M-P-B has been placed in Division B - Region 1, District 2 with Edgeley-Kulm/Montpelier, Ellendale, Kidder County, LaMoure/Litchville-Marion, Linton-HMB, Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter, South Border and Strasburg-Zeeland.
Griggs/Midkota, along with NR-S, moves to Division B - Region 2, District 4, and has been placed with Benson County, Dakota Prairie (boys), Hatton-Northwood, Lakota (boys), Larimore, May-Port-CG and Warwick. Nelson County (Dakota Prairie/Lakota) is a girls' basketball co-op.
HWC moves to Division B - Region 4, District 8 with Bishop Ryan, Drake-Anamoose, Glenburn, Lewis & Clark-Berthold, M-L-S (Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood), Our Redeemer's, Surrey, TGU (Towner-Granville-Upham), Velva and Westhope/Newburg.
Regional tournament winners will advance to the state tournament, but the new plan incorporates post-regional challenge games pitting runner-up teams from Regions 1-2 (eastern) and 3-4 (western) against the third place team in the opposite region. The winners of those four games will also earn tournament berths.
State tournament sites and dates will be February 29-March 2 (girls) and March 14-16 (boys), and the girls' tournaments will be held in Minot (Division A) and Jamestown (Division B). The boys' tournament sites are Fargo (Division A) and Minot (Division B).
The last time the state had three classes of basketball was the 1962-63 school year, which was the final year of the Consolidated Class "C" League.
Administrators/ADs’ thoughts on new plan
The Independent reached out to school administrators/athletic directors within our coverage area, to get their comments on the three-class basketball system which was passed by the NDHSAA.
Here are the responses from those who got back to us. Comments have been edited for clarity and length, when needed.
Janelle Helm, Carrington Superintendent:
“We do agree that we need to provide competitive balance in all sports, but at the cost of which school? This process has not been an easy one, and I know it’s just beginning. We have strongly advocated for our kids and voiced our opposition against this plan since the beginning. Now that the three-class system has passed, we need to deal with the situation at hand, and prepare our students for the challenge.”
Kent Dennis, Fessenden-Bowdon Superintendent:
“I believe it is a good thing for the activities in North Dakota. As many pundits would say, everybody gets a ribbon. That is not the basis for this change. The disparity between the sizes of schools continues to grow, not only in Class B but in Class A. This helps to create three more level divisions. I believe the quality of competition between schools will improve. My biggest hope is that we will see participation numbers remain steady or improve. No plan is perfect. The board will have to continually make adjustments over time. You have to start somewhere, and this plan gives the NDHSAA a good base with which to start.”
Bob Young, Pingree-Buchanan Athletic Director:
“At M-P-B, we were not in favor of the traditional proposal because we were likely going to be moved up to the A division because of the ‘out of zone’ multiplier they had in place. After they revised that portion of the plan and we were placed down in the B division, I support the plan for M-P-B moving forward.
Personally, nostalgia has the best of me, and I really liked the way that things have always been. There is something special about ‘The B’ but I do understand the need for a 3-class system in North Dakota. I know that people were looking for new winners of certain regions because some of the same faces end up in the Class B tournament. My answer to that is to try and get a group of kids and coaches together and work harder at it. I do think there will be issues moving forward. Anytime that you re-align something that has been going this long, there will be unhappy schools that feel they are getting the short end of the deal. I think it will take a few years to really get every school and co-op in the proper division. I do think in the end, it will be similar to football and one division will not have enough teams in it and that won’t work.
Going forward, I am excited for both boys’ and girls’ M-P-B Thunder basketball. I think that regardless of the class, district, or region that we are in, we are going to keep working toward making the most of our basketball programs for the students that attend our schools. High school basketball is an experience that kids only get to live through once, and we are going to try our best to make the most of it for them.”
