The highest honor in North Dakota high school basketball has been awarded to two accomplished seniors.

Leelee Bell, the all-time leading AA/A girls scorer and second leading girls scorer overall in state history, has been named 2026 Miss Basketball.  High-scoring guard Carter Evanson is Mr. Basketball.  Both honors were announced Friday by the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters & Sportswriters Association.

Bell, a unanimous Miss Basketball selection, led Minot to the program’s third state championship this past season.  Its second came in 2022, when Bell was an eighth-grader.  This season, Bell averaged over 27 points and 11 rebounds a game as the Majettes were 27-1.  She ended her career with 3,159 points, becoming just the third girls player and fourth overall in state history to score at least 3,000 points.  Bell, who was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in 2024 and 2025, will play collegiately at Oklahoma.

Evanson led Horace to the school’s first state tournament in boys basketball while averaging 25.2 points per game, along with 4.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.1 steals.  Evanson also averaged 25.2 points per game in his junior year for the Hawks.  He has committed to play college basketball at the University of North Dakota.