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Class B District 12 boys tourney is wide open

Mark Jones/MDN Our Redeemer’s Jayden Wetzel drives to the basket in a game on Jan. 28 in Minot. ORCS will open the District 12 tournament today against South Prairie at the Minot Municipal Auditorium at 3 p.m.

The Class B District 12 boys basketball regular season was wildly unpredictable.

So when the district tournament tips off today at the Minot Municipal Auditorium, it’s fair to expect more of the same.

“You look at (Lewis & Clark)-Berthold,” Bishop Ryan coach Brock Teets said. “They are the No. 4 seed. Seeds mean nothing in this tournament.

The Lions (17-2) enter the tournament as the second seed, and will face seventh-seeded Glenburn this evening at 6 p.m.

Our Redeemer’s (13-6) is the top seed in the tournament for the second year in a row. The Knights will face South Prairie in the day’s first contest at 3 p.m.

And ORCS coach Jeremy Feller also says the tournament appears to be wide open.

“The district is as wide open as it has been in years,” he said. “We got four or five teams that could win it.”

Both Minot schools have dealt with their share of injuries during the course of the season.

Ryan has played the last month without junior post Anthony Vetter, who tore ligaments in his ankle in a game against ORCS, and sophomore Ben Bohl, who suffered hand injury last month. However, Bohl has been cleared to play and is expected to be in the lineup this evening.

Despite the injuries, Ryan continues to keep winning. The Lions have won seven straight games, dating back to their loss to ORCS on Jan. 24.

“It’s not been one or two kids,” Teets said. “We have had to do it as a team. We had to elevate our game. We each had to do a little more.”

The Knights, who have had to deal with injuries to juniors Noah Abel and Leyton Lang, appear to be on the mend as both players are expected to play in the district tournament.

“February hasn’t been ideal,” Feller said. “But we’ve had a good week of practice. On Monday, we held a noon practice. I didn’t know what to expect, but they came in focused.”

In other tournament action, Des Lacs-Burlington (15-4) is the third seed and will face Surrey (6-13) in this evening’s final game at 7:30 p.m.

DL-B defeated Surrey 98-27 on Jan. 27, and have won seven of their last eight games.

“We have played well in spurts lately,” DL-B coach Doug Wagner said. “And have been able to sustain things for longer stretches in each game. As with any team, we strive for consistency, especially at tournament time.”

Should DL-B win this evening, the Lakers will likely face Ryan in the semifinals on Saturday. Ryan defeated DL-B 72-50 on Feb. 3.

With a win today, ORCS will face the winner of the Berthold (14-4) and Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood (9-10) contest.

“I don’t think you can count Mohall out,” Feller said.

The tournament will conclude Monday with two region qualifying contests, and the district tournament championship game, which will tip at 7 p.m.

Mark Jones covers high school sports and general assignments. Follow him on Twitter @MarkJones27_MDN.

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