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Bishop Ryan squeaks away for first district title since 2011

Garrick Hodge/MDN Bishop Ryan point guard Eli Stewart (11) drives to the lane during the District 12 championship Monday at the Minot Auditorium.

Last year’s District 12 title game was settled in overtime. Those same two teams appeared to have a chance to head back there again on Monday night, until No. 2-seeded Bishop Ryan edged away from the defending district champions and No. 1-seeded Our Redeemer’s in the final four minutes.

The Lions (20-2) seized their first district title since 2011 with a 49-44 victory over the Knights (15-7) at the Minot Auditorium. Coming into the contest, Ryan had lost the last two district championship games.

“I told the seniors that, ‘Hey, it’s been four years. This is it. This has been our third opportunity in three years, so let’s go get it,’ “ Ryan coach Brock Teets said. “Defensively, I thought we were good enough tonight. Offensively, in the first half especially, we were just in la la land. We didn’t execute anything offensively and we didn’t come focused. But, we made enough plays in the second half to grind this one out and pull it off.”

The Lions got four points inside from senior Jake Bohl to get off to a quick 10-2 start. Then, a Noah Abel 3-pointer sparked a 7-0 Knights’ run. Layups from Lions sophomore Chinaza Udekwe and senior Eli Stewart was answered by a mid-range jumper from Abel to make the score 14-11 in favor of Ryan at the end of the first eight minutes.

The first two minutes of the second quarter were a scoreless defensive struggle that came to an abrupt end after another Abel 3-pointer tied the score at 14-14. Abel finished with a match-high 18 points off of five 3-pointers and got plenty of praise from the opposing coach.

Garrick Hodge/MDN Our Redeemer’s guard Noah Abel (3) drives to the basket while Bishop Ryan’s Chinaza Udekwe (22) defends during the District 12 championship Monday.

“Our Redeemer’s, I thought, played a great game,” Teets said. “They have tremendously talented guards and (Noah) Abel had a nice night. He made a lot of good shots, even with a hand in his face.”

Knotted at 19-19, ORCS pulled out to a 23-19 halftime lead with a strong offensive put back from senior Taylor Strand and a Jayden Wetzel tap-in at the buzzer off of a missed 3-pointer by Abel.

The Lions regrouped with a pep talk and a spark off the bench.

“Obviously, we had a chat at halftime about what we had to do differently,” Teets said. “Caden Shean came in off the bench and gave us great minutes defensively and knocked down a big shot. Made a nice pass, made some good hustle plays and he kind of set the tone for us.”

The score was tied three times in the third quarter (25-25, 29-29 and 32-32). All signs started to point to another classic finish as the teams combined to hit a trio of triples to finish the frame.

First, Knights senior Brett Nunziato gave ORCS the lead, 32-29, then Shean drained his only bucket of the night and senior Jake Bohl knocked another three-ball down to give the Lions a 35-32 going into the fourth.

Anything Abel could do, Jake’s younger brother Ben Bohl had the counter for in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Ben Bohl finished with a team-high 14 points, ahead of his senior teammate Eli Stewart with 11 points.

“Coach told me to settle down and just be confident,” Ben Bohl said. “So I stayed confident in my shot and took it to the basket, went hard and I threw a few in.”

A 3-pointer by Abel tied the contest back up at 35-35 and Wetzel gave the Knights a two-point lead shortly after with a couple of points in the paint. Ryan responded with five straight points on a free throw from Udekwe and two buckets from Ben Bohl, 40-37.

Abel sunk his final 3-pointer of the contest and tied the game for the final time at 40-40 with 4:07 remaining.

A stop-and-pop jumper from Ben Bohl and another crucial 3-pointer by Stewart, who hit the game-winning triple to beat Des Lacs-Burlington in the semifinals on Saturday, pushed Ryan up five points with 2:50 left.

“Down the stretch, it just came down to them executing better than us,” ORCS coach Jeremy Feller said. “They called a play and they got the look they wanted, the shot they wanted. While we struggled to get that look.”

The lack of offensive execution was clear when Abel had a telegraphed 3-pointer attempt blocked by Ben Bohl.

Clutch free throws made by Udekwe in the 1-and-1 bonus and fast break layup after a steal by Ben Bohl cemented the victory. Knights junior Tayten Mau made the score line more respectable by making an uncontested 3-pointer with time expiring, 49-44.

Ryan, having avenged their loss in the regular season and last year’s district championship to the Knights, will bolster the No. 1 seed out of District 12 in the Region 6 tournament. Not like that holds much meaning to coach Teets.

“Once you get to the regional tournament, I’m a big believer in that you just have to win three games,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who you play. It doesn’t matter what (part of the) bracket you are in. You just have to win three games. So one seed (or) four seed, to me it doesn’t matter.”

The Region 6 tournament will be held at the Minot State Dome from March 6-7, 9. Ryan’s first round opponent will be District 11 No. 4-seeded Drake/Anamoose, and ORCS gets District 11 No. 3-seeded Bottineau.

The Knights and Bottineau were both their respective regular season district champions.

“If we want to make a run at a regional title,” Feller said. “We have to find a way to execute and play with a little bit more passion, a little bit more emotion.”

Alex Eisen covers Minot High School, Minot State athletics and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.

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