MSU President's Newspaper Column
February 3, 2024
High school and Mayville State basketball a highlight for the next several weeks
In a few weeks, we’ll be rolling out the red carpet for Division A, Region 2 girls and boys basketball players, coaches, and fans when they participate in the regional tournament hosted at Mayville State University’s Lewy Lee Fieldhouse. It’s been a long time since we’ve had the opportunity to host high school basketball tournaments, and we are extremely excited and honored to be involved again.
As you may know, the North Dakota High School Activities Association has a new organizational structure, which means regions and divisions are quite a bit different from when we last hosted the tournaments. Division A, Region 2 schools are Carrington, Devils Lake, Four Winds/Minnewaukan, Grafton, Hillsboro/Central Valley, and Thompson.
The girls teams will play games at 5:30 and 7 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 19 and 20. Championship games are scheduled for 5:30 and 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22.
Girls state qualifier games for Division A, Regions 1 and 2 and Division B, Regions 1 and 2 will be held Saturday, Feb. 24 at 1, 3, 5, and 7 p.m. Division A and B teams who placed second or third in their regional tournaments will play in these games for a chance to go to state.
The regional tournament for boys will begin Monday, March 4. Games will be played at 5:30 and 7 p.m. on March 4 and Tuesday, March 5. Championship games are scheduled for Thursday, March 7 at 5:30 and 7 p.m.
Regional tournament champions in both the girls and boys categories will advance to state tournament play. The state tournament games for Division A girls will be held in Minot Feb. 29-March 2, 2024. The state tournament games for Division A boys will be held in Fargo March 14-16, 2024.
Mayville State interim athletic director Rocky Larson and assistants Billy Tomblin and Dennis Hutter are working closely with the North Dakota High School Activities Association representatives to make sure we’re prepared and ready to accommodate our campus visitors. We thank Dave Nelson of Hillsboro, who is instrumental in making sure we’ve got all the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed; and Mayville State alumnus and former Mayville State Athletic Director Jay DeCann who, prior to his departure, secured Mayville State’s opportunity to host the tournament games.
To ensure that we’re providing the best possible accommodations for those who participate in and attend the tournaments, things like concessions, hospitality rooms, ticket sales, parking, and so much more are being considered. I tip my hat to the Mayville State Athletic Department and all Mayville State employees, including Dining Services and Facilities Services, who are working hard to make it all come together.
One of the considerations we need to plan for is accommodating practice opportunities for our Mayville State teams throughout the high school tournament time. While all of this is going on, our men’s and women’s basketball, softball, and baseball teams will be practicing as their seasons are also in session. We appreciate the understanding and cooperation of our own Mayville State coaches and athletes who are doing whatever they can to help make it possible to do it all in a short period of time. This is teamwork at its finest!
We’re coming into the home stretch of our basketball regular season play. These are exciting times. Both our women’s and men’s teams are doing very well and we hope to see them finish strong and enter post-season conference tournament play Feb. 21 and 25 and March 3.
Go to www.msucomets.com to keep current with all things Mayville State Athletics and please do join us at the games whenever you can. Our student athletes and coaches very much appreciate the amazing support they receive from members of the community.