North Dakotans win Hawaii cage tourney

Jenae Kramlich of Barnes County North, Heather Brown of Litchville-Marion-Montpelier and Maple Valley’s Mariah Smith played key roles in helping Team North Dakota won the annual King Kamehameha Summer Basketball Tournament on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, last month.

It was the ninth trip to the islands led by Lidgerwood girls’ basketball coach Mark Wisnewski and the first time the North Dakota team won the tournament. The team consisted of players from Class B schools in both North and South Dakota.

Kramlich had a team-high 12 points in the championship game as Team N.D. rallied out of a 12-point hole to beat Gulf Coast 56-54. The Gulf Coast team was comprised of players from Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Smith added 11 points in the victory, while Brown hit for eight.

“The trio of Jenae Kramlich, Heather Brown and Mariah Smith, and their overall play, was simply outstanding,” Wisnewski said. “All three were big difference makers in our success as a team. They all fit perfectly into the scheme we employed on both ends of the floor.”

Earlier in the tournament, the team beat Gulf Coast (59-41) and teams from Tennessee (39-27), Oklahoma (45-27) and the host Kamehameha twice (44-30 and 42-38).

Other players on the team included: Bria Knaust, Kya Wisnewski and Alycia Kramer from Lidgerwood; Wyndmere’s Haley Wittenburg; Jordyn Campbell of Fairmount; Wahpeton’s Taylor Albrecht, Cahri Anderson from Rosholt, S.D.; Alexis Hage of Richland; Veronica Munkeby, Michel Hoistad and Taylor Wagner from Lisbon and Michelle Warren and Katie Brademeyer of Oakes.

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