North Dakota Mr. and Miss Basketball finalists announced

022825.s.ff.Region1.GBB.Final.6 — Northern Cass’ Haidyn Crockett races down the court against Valley City’s Greta Goven on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, during the finals of the ND Division A Girls Basketball Region 1 Tournament in the Scheels Center at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex in Fargo.

By Ryan Spitza

March 24, 2025 at 4:20 PM

FARGO — The North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association has announced its 2025 finalists for the North Dakota Mr. and Miss Basketball awards.

The awards are presented to the top senior player in North Dakota boys and girls basketball. Miss Basketball has been presented annually since 1984 while Mr. Basketball began a year later in 1985.

This year’s Mr. Basketball finalists are Westhope-Newburg’s Walker Braaten and Fargo Davies’ Mason Klabo. Miss Basketball finalists are Northern Cass’ Haidyn Crockett and West Fargo Horace’s Jaiden Haile.

Editor’s note: Statistics listed below do not account for state tournament totals

Walker Braaten, 6-foot-3 guard, Westhope-Newburg

Westhope (N.D.) High School's Walker Braaten, left, is pictured here with North Dakota State associate head football coach Randy Hedberg. Braaten has verbally committed to play for the Bison.

Already a two-time all-state selection, Braaten averaged 22.9 points per game as a senior this season to go with 6.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 3.5 steals.

Braaten helped Westhope-Newburg to the 2024 Division B state championship and the Sioux returned to the title game this year before falling to Minot Bishop Ryan 52-33.

Braaten led Westhope-Newburg in the final with 18 points and nine rebounds and was named this season’s Division B Senior Athlete of the Year as selected by the North Dakota High School Coaches Association.

Braaten is committed to North Dakota State for football next season.

Mason Klabo, 6-foot-2 guard, Fargo Davies

031525.S.FF.State.AA.BBB — Fargo Davies' Mason Klabo shoots against West Fargo's Haakon Seymour during the North Dakota Division AA state high school basketball semifinals on Friday, March 14, 2025, at the Fargodome.

The most accomplished player in school history, Klabo averaged 28.4 points per game for the Eagles this season to go with 7.7 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 2.9 steals.

The Illinois State commit is already a three-time all-state selection to go with four unanimous all-conference nods. Klabo was selected as East Region Senior Athlete of the Year, NDHSCA Division AA boys basketball Senior Athlete of the Year and earlier this week was named North Dakota boys basketball Gatorade Player of the Year .

Klabo guided the Eagles to the Division AA boys state championship game this season before finishing runner-up to Bismarck Century. Klabo finished with a team-high 21 points in the contest to go with seven boards.

Klabo is Davies’ all-time leading scorer with 2,394 career points, top among Division AA/A boys basketball and eighth all-time among all boys basketball divisions in North Dakota per lists compiled by ND Hoopster. He holds an array of other program records for the Eagles as well.

Haidyn Crockett, 5-foot-9 guard, Northern Cass

022625.s.ff.Region1.GBB.SF2 — Northern Cass’ Haidyn Crockett high fives teammates ahead of their semifinal game against Kindred on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, during the ND Division A Girls Basketball Region 1 Tournament in the Scheels Center at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex in Fargo.

Crockett averaged 29 points per game this year to go with seven rebounds and three steals per contest.

She exits Northern Cass as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,186 career points, good for 25th all-time among all divisions in North Dakota girls basketball.

The previous Jaguars’ scoring record was 2,175 held by Haidyn’s older sister Halle, who graduated from Northern Cass in 2023 and now plays at the University of Jamestown. Haidyn will join Halle there next season.

An all-state selection last year with another nod likely on the way, Crockett was named Region 1 Co-Senior Athlete of the Year this season alongside Wahpeton’s Scout Woods and was also selected as Division A girls basketball Senior Athlete of the Year by the NDHSCA.

Jaiden Haile, 6-foot-2 forward, West Fargo Horace

012525.S.FF.Davies.Horace.GBB — West Fargo Horace's Jaiden Haile reaches for a rebound against Fargo Davies' Aniston Gigstad on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, at Horace High School.

Haile finishes her career as a state champion after helping the Hawks to the Division AA state championship for the first time in program history. She averaged 23.8 points per game this season to go with 16 rebounds, three assists, two steals and 1.1 blocks.

Haile is a three-time all-conference selection to go with an all-state nod last season. She was named this season’s East Region Senior Athlete of the Year as well as Division AA girls basketball Senior Athlete of the Year by the NDHSCA.

The Gonzaga commit scored 13 points and nabbed 22 rebounds in Horace’s state title win over Bismarck Century. Haile was named tournament MVP with an average of 22.7 points and 16.7 boards per game over the course of the three-day tournament.

Recent winners of the Mr. and Miss Basketball awards include Four Winds-Minnewaukan’s Deng Deng and Grand Forks Red River’s Jocelyn Schiller in 2024, Minot’s Darik Dissette and Bismarck Century’s Logan Nissley in 2023, and Bismarck’s Treysen Eaglestaff and Kindred’s Abby Duchscherer in 2022.

A full list of winners may be viewed at ndapssa.com.

Winners of the 2025 awards will be announced Friday.

By Ryan Spitza

Ryan Spitza joined The Forum in December 2021 as a sports reporter. He grew up in Marquette, Mich., a city of 20,000 on the southern shore of Lake Superior. He majored in multimedia journalism and minored in public relations at Northern Michigan University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in May 2019. While attending college, Spitza gained real-world experience covering high school and college athletics for both The Mining Journal and The North Wind.

Spitza can be reached at 701-451-5613 or rspitza@forumcomm.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryspitza.