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(NewsDakota.com) – Aanen Moody shattered North Dakota’s Class A scoring record this season.On Saturday, the Dickinson standout added the title of Mr. Basketball to his resume. Moody convincingly became the 35th recipient of the award, which is presented annually to the top senior player in the state by the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.
The 6-foot-3 guard received 16 of 24 first-place votes and 91 total points. Moody was one of seven finalists and became the second Dickinson player to earn the award.
“It’s an honor, but not just for me,” Moody said. “It’s an honor for my entire community, my teammates and my coaches.”
Moody will be remembered as one of the most prolific scorers the state has ever produced. Averaging over 30 points per game in both his junior and senior seasons, Moody piled up a record 2,192 career points.
He was an eighth-grader when Fargo Shanley’s A.J. Jacobson set the previous benchmark at 2,002 points in 2013.
“I think coach (Dan) Glasser coming to the program and allowing me to work free in our system was the biggest thing to my success,” Moody said. “But I’ve always had the mentality that I’m going to score no matter who is in front of me.”
Glasser just wrapped up his second season as head coach of the Midgets. Moody scored 1,671 points under Glasser, helping Dickinson to 39 wins and back-to-back state tournament appearances.
“It was pretty obvious how special he was,” Glasser said. “I didn’t want to do anything to limit his ability, because when he scores the way he does it really helped our team. The numbers kind of speak for themselves.”
Moody posted per-game averages of 30.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 steals and three assists in his senior campaign, which culminated with a third-place finish at last week’s Class A state tournament in Bismarck. He was named the Class A senior athlete of the year and is going for a second straight first team all-state award.
Moody, who committed to play basketball at North Dakota after his junior season, joins Lucas Moorman as Mr. Basketball recipients from Dickinson. Moorman was awarded the honor in 2004.
“It’s really exciting,” Moody said, on continuing his career with the Fighting Hawks. “I can’t wait to get there this summer and find out what it’s like to be a Division I basketball player.”
KyJuan Johnson of Minot, Tronis McKay of Four Winds-Minnewaukan, Jake Paper of Fargo Davies, Logan Nelson of Northern Cass, Jacob Mertens of Devils Lake and Siman Sem of Fargo North also were finalists.
Johnson, a 6-foot point guard, finished second in the voting with four first-place votes and 51 points. Johnson averaged 16.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.1 steals per game for the three-time defending Class A champion Magicians.
McKay, a 6-3 guard/forward, also received four first-place votes and finished third in the voting with 49 points. McKay averaged 21.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.2 steals for the Indians, and was named Class B senior athlete of the year.
Paper, a 6-7 forward, tallied eight points in the voting. Paper posted 18.9 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks this season for the Eagles.
Nelson, a 6-3 guard, garnered seven points. The Jaguars’ standout posted per-game averages of 27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 steals in his senior season.
Mertens, a 6-3 guard, collected six points in the voting. He averaged 20.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals per night for the Firebirds this winter.
Sem, a 6-4 guard/forward, received four points. In 13 games prior to being injured this season, Sem averaged 22.7 points, 9.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.1 blocks for the Spartans.
Last year’s Mr. Basketball recipient was Four Winds-Minnewaukan’s Jason Feather.
