Leader of men: Kari Dohrmann leading Richardton-Taylor basketball to new heights
- Carter Dooner
- Feb 24
- 4 min read
RICHARDTON, N.D. — Richardton-Taylor head coach Kari Dohrmann’s classroom sits just a few paces away from the school’s basketball gym.
In those blue-and-white-painted hallways and throughout the school, she accumulated more than a few distinctions over the years: athletic director, coach, teacher – and, in some cases, something of a parental figure.
“Sometimes it’s like she’s your mom,” senior captain and center Kane Rivinius said. “But then other times, you know you have to respect her.”
Dohrmann is a business teacher at the high school and coaches the boys varsity basketball team. In her sixth season at the helm, the team sits in the upper half of its district and boasts a 6-4 record with a handful of wins over quality opposition.
But it wasn’t always like that.
Growing pains
Richardton-Taylor hasn’t exactly been a haven for boys basketball over the several years.
In the past six seasons, the Raiders have failed to eclipse the five-win mark, including a pair of one-win seasons during a stretch where the program struggled to find a true identity on the court.
The reasons were varied – lack of numbers, limited experience and, at times, wavering commitment.
“Coming in freshman year, that senior class we had, it kind of seemed like they took practice as a fun time instead of work time,” junior guard Kyler Krank said.
At times, there was even hesitation about whether players would return at all. Rivinius, a multi-sport athlete who plays both football and basketball, would grapple with that decision every time the sign-up sheet was slid across the table.
“Every year for both football and basketball, I would contemplate it,” Rivinius said. “I’d be like, ‘I don’t know if I really want to do this.’”
For Dohrmann, the challenges were constant, but the life lessons kept her pushing.
“Some days were tough,” she said. “But I’m a firm believer that it’s bigger than wins. This is the highest level that some of these boys may play, so I’m going to try to make the most of it.”
Her motivation ran deeper than the win column. When her son moved through the Richardton-Taylor basketball system, stability was hard to find.
Coaching turnover was high, creating a carousel that left a lasting impression on the players.
“My oldest son had four coaches in four years,” Dohrmann said. “When we’re dealing with kids and having those conversations in the classroom and listening to their side of it – they felt like those coaches gave up on them.”
Since then, Dohrmann has made it a priority to remain consistent – to stick with her players regardless of the results.
Doubters and belief
Along the way, doubt followed. Dohrmann remains one of the few women coaching a boys' varsity basketball team at the high school level.
She recalls an interaction early in her tenure during a road trip, when she and another coach made up an all-female coaching staff.
“There was a time on the road and a guy came up to talk to us,” Dohrmann said. “He ended up talking to my son and one of the other seniors. He said, ‘You guys have two girl coaches?' ‘Hmm, I guess we’ll see how that goes.’”
Comments like that surfaced throughout the beginning of her coaching career. Dohrmann never truly let those comments bother her. To her, she didnt feel the need to prove anything to anybody.
After all, she played two years of college basketball at Bismarck State and has been around the game her entire life.
“Proving myself was never, ever a thought in my mind,” she said. “But proving the boys to everybody else was a different story.”
Two seasons ago, the Raiders added Garrett Zent as an assistant coach, a move players say helped strengthen the program’s dynamic.
Zent handles much of the junior varsity work while also assisting with the varsity squad.
“She’s a different breed,” Rivinius said. “But she’s also a different coach than any other female would be, if that makes sense. And adding Garrett to the team – that was a huge addition when he joined us two years ago.”
A turning point
Over time, numbers grew, and the belief followed.
Players point to this past summer as the turning point, when the program finally found what it had sometimes lacked: a completely locked-in and fully committed group of players.
“I especially felt it this summer,” Krank said. “When we had all the kids together, we were winning – and by large margins.”
The Raiders traveled weekly to team camps across the state, using the summer to develop chemistry and sharpen their skills.
Their core 12 players consistently participated, setting a standard for those who would follow.
“Seeing the growth in those 12 players from start to finish really showed in the chemistry that came from it,” Dohrmann said. “The other kids are seeing that you’re not just going to show up on day one and say, ‘I’m a senior, I’m this or that.’ Loyalty doesn’t buy you time in the gym.”
That time in the gym has translated to tangible results. After six years, Dohrmann and the Raiders are beginning to see the payoff.
To start this season, Richardton-Taylor placed third at the Roughrider Tournament, knocking off a preseason favorite in Belfield – now 9-3 – by a 66-62 score in the third-place game.
The Raiders also picked up their first District 7 win in dominant fashion over Hettinger-Scranton this past week.
Just a season ago, Richardton-Taylor exited the district tournament in the play-in round as the No. 9 seed out of 10 teams. This year, they have goals of not only winning a district tournament game, but also advancing to the regional tournament.
And it all circles back to that gym across the hall from their coach’s classroom – a place the Raiders have now fully embraced.
“When we’re in practice, we know we need to focus,” Rivinius said. “It’s really easy to goof off, but we need every minute of every practice if we want to get as far as we can.”
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