Set the intense rivalries of college hockey aside and what you get is a collective group of fans uniting for a common cause.

That cause? Friends, fun and a genuine love for hockey. That was evident Thursday at NCAA's Fargo Regional, where the sweaters spotted in the Scheels Arena crowd spanned far beyond the four participating teams.

WDAY's Dom Izzo: Over the last two years during basketball season, I've heard the same question. How did everyone miss on Mason Walters?

That question seems even more pressing this week. Tuesday Walters was named the NAIA National Player of the Year at the University of Jamestown. Walters averaged 26 points and 9 rebounds in leading the Jimmies to the NAIA Sweet 16.

Destry Sterkel has coached Sacred Heart for 9 years, after playing college basketball at Dickinson State, he traded in his jersey for a clipboard.

This year's Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton boys basketball team has been through a lot. The Rebels beat Thief River Falls in the Section 8AA championship, getting redemption after last year's loss in the same game. The 2022-23 squad had to squeeze a season's worth of games into a trunkated schedule after the school's deep playoff football run, but the Rebels battled to reach the state tournament for the first time since 2016.

The Squirrels used a 22-point fourth quarter to down Bismarck Shiloh Christian and claim the title in their first state tournament appearance in 11 years.

For about three and a half quarters, it was anyone’s game as the Central Cass Squirrels and Warwick Warriors sat tied with four minutes left in the final quarter of their Class B basketball quarterfinal Thursday evening at the Bismarck Event Center.

Then the Squirrels started to roll, scoring 14 points in the final 3:40 on their way to a 58-46 win to advance to the Class B semifinals.

Moorhead boys basketball downs Brainerd in the Section 8AAAA semifinals; Thief River Falls boys basketball outlasts Hawley in the section 8AA semifinals.

There are two steps remaining in the North Dakota State wrestling career of Jared Franek. The first is to plow through the early rounds of the Division I Wrestling Championships that begin Thursday in Tulsa, Okla.

The second is to reach the top row.

After 14 years away from coaching, Craig Irwin returned to the bench for a fresh start at Shanley High School where he's quickly making an impact on the program and the players.

"All respect to the coaches I've had in the past. They've all been great. But Craig's has been a different type coach is just so nice, so good," said senior point guard Alex Wheelock. "It really feels like a family here. He really is just like a role model for all of us. He's just such a great guy."

North Dakota State's hopes for an impressive run in the Summit League women's basketball tournament ended with a crushing thud in the Bison's first game at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. That doesn't mean the season is finished.

NDSU submitted bids to host first- and second-round games in the Women's National Invitational Tournament, a 64-team postseason competition for teams that didn't make the NCAA. The Bison secured the Summit League's automatic bid to the WNIT by earning the second seed in the conference tournament.