The Bismarck tribune., 1935-03-20
BRAVES ARE PAPER
FAVORITES TO COP
n. D. CHAMPIONSHIP
Coach McMahan's Quint Has
Best Record in Games With
Qualifying Teams
PLAY WILL OPEN FRIDAY
Crafton's Class B Entry to Meet
Fargo in Initial Game Of
State Classic

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at the World War Memorial building
gymnasium, boosting the total seat
ing capacity to we'll over the 5000
mark, completed local arrangements
Wednesday for the twenty-second an
nual North Dakota high school bas-
ketball tournament which opens here
Friday afternoon.
Reserved seat ticket sales were re-
ported by Supt. H. @. Saxvik, tourna-
ment manager, to be the largest since
the state classic was moved from the
State Training school floor at Man.
dan to the Capital City auditorium.
Coaches OF the eight quints enter
cd in the event concluded their heavy
drills and six Of the teams, Grafton,
Wahpeton, Fargo, Valley City. Devils
Lake and Minot are expected to start
the trek to the Capital City Thursday.
The other entrants, Bismarck and
Mandan, will taper off with light
workouts Thursday.
First round pairing will pit Grafton
against Fargo at 3 p. M: Mandan
versus Valley City at 4 p. m: Wahpe-
ton against Minot at 1880 p. m, and
Devils Lake versus Bismarck at $50
p. m.
Braves Are Paper Favorites
Coach McMahan's Mandan Braves,
basing calculations on games played
against other tournament entries. are
paper" favorites to annex the title.
Losing only to the Bismarck De-
mons among the tournament teams,
a quint they turned back later in the
season. the Braves have chalked up
four victories, the other three being
over Minot, Valley City and Wahpe-
ton. Favored to come through in
their first round encounter with VAL
ley City, residing in the cellar posi-
ton, the Braves will be forced to meet
the winner Of the Grafton Fargo bat
tie in the semi-finals.
A title for the Mandan five would
be the first for that school in the
2l-year history of the tournament
and whether they can shake off the
bad streaks which were responsible
this year for setbackS at the hands of
st. Mary's Of Bismarck and James,
towns downtrodden Bluejays, remains
a matter Of conjecture.
Figuring strong in the lower
bracket will be Coach Farley Robert
sons defending champions from
Minot. The Magicians rank second
in the summary, winning four out OF
seven tits with tournament quail
fiers. Their seasons record includes
victories over Valley City. Bismarck
and Fargo. losses to Mandan and
Grafton and an even break in two
games with Devils Lake.
Grafton would rank third on this
basis having downed Fargo. Minot,
split even In "home-and- home"
series with Wahpeton and dropped
two out Of three games TO Devils
Lake. They will be formidable con-
tenders despite their class B ranking.
Wops Are Dangerous
Coach Marty Engh's Wops, whose
triumphs over Fargo, Grand Forks,
Valley City and jamestown were
somewhat dimmed by the pair OF set
backs they suffered at the hands of
Mandan and Bismarck on a western
jaunt must nevertheless be given
plenty Of consideration and un-
doubtedly merit their fourth place
standing.
With five games divided on the two
sides Of the ledger, the Fargo Midgets
hold fifth place but must face the
third ranking Walsh county aggrega-
ton in their first game. Despite losses
to Wahpeton, Grand Forks and
Minot. the Midgets looked impress
siye in their wins over Valley City
and Devils Lake and will be real
threats if they can subdue their first
round opponents.
Devils Lake is ranked just one
notch above their first round oppon-
ents, Coach McLeod'S Demons Both
quintS have downed teams higher I'D
in the standings with Bismarck divid-
ing q double bill with Mandan and
downing Wahpeton while the Satans
were taking two out of three games
from Grafton only to 60 down before
the Midgets and the Wops.
The records OF tournament teams
played with one another and not in
cluding games or points against out
side opponents: