The teams who played in last season's Class B state championship game are at the top of the first boys basketball media poll of the season, though their rankings don't are the opposite of how they finished last March.
Defending state champion Beulah received two first-place votes and a No. 2 ranking while the team it beat in the title game, North Star, had eight first-place votes to take the No. 1 spot it held for the final seven weeks of the 2011-12 regular season.
Dickinson Trinity opens the season ranked No. 5 after defeating Divide County in its season opener on Dec. 1. The Titans visit No. 7-ranked Shiloh Christian at 6 p.m. MST Saturday in Bismarck.
Last season, Beulah and North Star were intertwined from beginning to end. The Miners were ranked No. 1 the first three weeks until they lost to North Star on Dec. 22. The Bearcats were ranked No. 1 the rest of the season, falling only to the Miners 51-49 in the state championship game. That loss snapped a 53-game win streak for North Star, which had won the 2011 state championship.
The poll is compiled by members of the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.
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Class B Rcd Pts
1. North Star (8) 0-0 98
2. Beulah (2) 0-0 89
3. Fargo Oak Grove 1-0 76
4. Cavalier 0-0 62
5. Dickinson Trinity 1-0 51
6. Des Lacs-Burlington 0-0 45
7. Shiloh Christian 0-0 38
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8. South Border 0-0 25
9. Carrington 1-0 21
10. Four Winds-Minnewaukan 1-0 16
Others receiving votes: Turtle Lake-Mercer-McClusky (0-0), Trenton (0-0), Rugby (0-0), LaMoure-Litchville-Marion (1-0), Central Cass (1-0), Powers Lake (1-0).
