Four Winds-Minnewaukan puts together winning streak despite early adversity, readies for tough tests ahead

Jan. 20—GRAND FORKS — Four Winds-Minnewaukan’s break couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Indians have won six games in a row since Dec. 29. Their last three victories were by 20 points or more.

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The results don’t tell the full story, though. Four Winds-Minnewaukan has dealt with near-constant lineup changes due to injury and illness throughout its winning streak.

“It has been a team effort,” head coach Rick Smith said. “Even through these wins, we’ve been battling sicknesses and injuries to key players. They always have that saying, ‘next man up,’ and it’s kind of been that way for us. There’s always been somebody stepping in. We really haven’t had a legitimate full team since probably the second game of the year, and even then, sicknesses were starting to set in.”

The Indians are in the midst of a break in the schedule following their 82-62 victory over Bottineau on Jan. 12. They won’t play again until Jan. 23, when they’ll take on Stanley at Devils Lake High School.

Senior Jonte Delorme, a starting guard, was absent from the Indians’ 86-61 win over Devils Lake on Jan. 5 due to injury. He’s averaging roughly 15 points per game this season.

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Dion Jackson Jr. also missed a stretch due to injury. He’s a sharpshooting senior guard who comes off the bench for Four Winds-Minnewaukan.

There have also been occasional absences from other players due to illness.

“We’ve had about a week and a half off, which has really come at a good time for us to try and get everybody back in the gym,” Smith said. “Try and get some cohesiveness in practice, get our guys playing together again.”

The Indians have been able to overcome roster inconsistencies with their deep rotation.

Leading the pack is Marial Deng. The senior guard is the only returning starter from last season.

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“We’re pretty balanced, but Marial is our senior leader,” Smith said. “We look to him a lot. He’s stepping up, he defends, he can defend one through five with his length and his strength, and he’s starting to round his game offensively, inside-out a little bit more. We look to Marial a lot for leadership on both sides of the ball for us.”

Deng leads the team in scoring, averaging over 20 points per game.

Deng committed to

UND for football in May,

where he’ll join his older brother, wide receiver Deng Deng.

Marial is a high-level wide receiver, and his multi-sport athleticism shines through on both sides of the court.

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“He’s very athletic, but he also works,” Smith said. “He’s put his time in the weight room and he’s starting to bulk up a little bit. He’s a very young senior, he’s going to graduate at 17, so he’s still got a long way to go to round his body into shape the way he wants it before he goes and plays football next year.”

Delorme is next up in scoring, followed by 6-foot-4 sophomore forward Sylvester Alberts, whose scoring average is in the double digits.

Junior forward Joran Lohnes has come off the bench and made the occasional start when needed, also earning a double-digit scoring average.

“He can post up a guard and can take the big guys out,” Smith said. “And he shoots very well from the outside for us.”

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Even the players who don’t consistently finish near the top of the score sheet have carved out distinct roles.

Junior Dayson Dubois runs the point for the Indians. Though he doesn’t score much, Dubois “works his tail off” on defense and “does his point guard duties.”

Likewise, senior forward Tyler Black Jr. isn’t a go-to scoring threat, but his defensive prowess and versatility have proven useful in the starting lineup.

“They don’t worry about that little green book as much as some players do,” Smith said. “These guys don’t. These guys want to win. We went through a tough stretch and we’ve got another tough stretch coming up, so we’ve just got to keep plugging away.”

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Four Winds-Minnewaukan has some major tests in the coming weeks. The Indians will play Kindred on Saturday, which was ranked No. 1 in the NDAPSSA Division A boys basketball poll on Jan. 14.

They’ll travel to Grafton on Feb. 5 and Devils Lake on Feb. 10, both of which sit near the top of the Division A Region 2 standings.

“We’re going to have to have full force against those guys,” Smith said. “Kindred’s going to show us exactly how good we really are, and exactly what we need to continue to work on. And then you’ve got teams like Grafton coming up and Hillsboro coming up, and then you’ve got Devils Lake coming up again. … So that’s going to be a real, real tough stretch for us. But we’re looking forward to it. It’s going to show us what we need to continue to work on as we go down the stretch.”