Hatton-Northwood girls basketball ranked for the first time since 2007

Jan. 28—HATTON, N.D. — Hatton-Northwood girls basketball coach Tony Evenstad told his team earlier this week the Thunder are ranked in the North Dakota Class B poll for the first time since 2007.

First, he aged the statistic by saying that was his senior year of high school in Northwood.

Then he asked the group: "Were you guys even alive?"

Some weren't.

But the 14-1 and No. 10-ranked Thunder are back, powered by a scrappy defense that hasn't lost since Dec. 7.

"I think our two biggest factors (to the 14-1 start) are really the pride we have in our defense and how quick we can get up and down the floor," Hatton-Northwood senior Skylar Uglem said. "When (Evenstad) told us that (we were ranked for the first time since 2007) we were really excited. We've worked hard the last couple of years."

The Thunder are averaging 55 points per game on offense and only giving up 36 per game. The team's only loss came back on Dec. 7 to Thompson in the team's first game of the year.

It's a mix of experience and youth. Uglem, a 5-foot-6 guard/forward, is the steady veteran and averages 12.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 3.0 assists per game. Uglem has led the Thunder in rebound for three years in a row.

But freshman Kennison Azure, a 5-10 guard/forward, is the Thunder leading scorer. The sister of North Dakota State football recruit Kelby Azure, Kennison is averaging 16.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 3.0 steals and 2.1 blocks per game.

Junior Stella Sehrt (7.8 ppg), sophomore Amara Howson (6.7 ppg), sophomore MaKenna Gader (6.5 ppg), sophomore Trista Bilden (2.8 ppg) and senior Megan Larson (2.2 ppg) also figure into the scoring.

"It's been fun being a leader because we do have a lot of younger players," Uglem said. "It's fun to be able to mentor them and lead them through. They've really worked hard and played an important role."

The Thunder were 3-18 in the 2016-17 season but have elevated its performance each season. Hatton-Northwood went 9-14 two years ago and 14-6 last year.

"Last year we had a pretty good season and figured about 90 percent of our scoring was coming back," Evenstad said. "We figured we would have some wins early by looking at our schedule, but I don't know if anyone thought 14-1.

"We knew we could be successful. It was getting the pieces to jell. They want to be good and are practicing like that. To me, a lot of that is a culture of the program. A lot of these girls have been in it for three or four years. They take care of the little things so I don't have to. The older girls let the other ones know this is how we do it here."

The Thunder don't pass the eye test very well in warmups. Evenstad estimates they're out-sized in every game. The tallest Thunder starter is 5-10.

"It's our tenacity," Evenstad said. "We're smaller but our quickness and pride in not wanting to get beat make up for it."

The Thunder were last in the Class B state tournament in 2005. In the final poll of the 2007 season, Hatton-Northwood was ranked No. 4.