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Grovers find Groove

No. 4 Oak Grove takes care of hometown No. 5 Bishop Ryan

Al Christianson/Special to the Minot Daily News Bishop Ryan's Chinaza Udekwe (22) draws contact from Oak Grove's TJ Anderson (14) during the first round of the North Dakota Class B state tournament Thursday at the MSU Dome in Minot.

The No. 4-seeded Oak Grove Grovers (20-4) weathered the early storm and used a strong third-quarter run to knock off No. 5-seeded Bishop Ryan 66-60 in the first round of the Class B boys basketball state tournament at the Minot State Dome.

“We just wanted to keep coming at them and running the floor,” Oak Grove Kyle Card said. “We thought we got some easy looks. Andrew (Christianson) made some big shots and once he gets going, we kind of fed off that a little bit because he has got a lot of energy and other guys start to make shots.”

The Lions (23-3) got off to a quick start with a jump hook for senior Jacob Bohl and a triple from senior Cody Feist. An Eli Stewart rim attack on a dribble dive and sophomore Ben Bohl getting one to go while being surrounded in the paint had four of the five Ryan starters score, and put the score at 11-5.

Oak Grove senior Bryce Bakkegard jump started the Grovers’ offense with a mid-range jumper and a difficult finish after a clinical spin move. But, Ben Bohl responded with five points of his own, including a 3-pointer from the top of the arc.

A Feist block leading to a runout transition layup had Ryan leading 18-9 after the opening quarter, with Ben Bohl and Bakkegard both contributing seven points each.

The second quarter was an inverse of the first quarter. Instead of Ryan dominating, it was Oak Grove.

“Second quarter we just stopped sharing the basketball,” Ryan coach Brock Teets said. “I don’t know how long we went there without a basket in the second quarter. That really hurt us and allowed Oak Grove to get back in it.”

Two 3-pointers by junior guard Andrew Christianson guided the Grovers all the way back to tie the game at 22-22. Then, a couple of made free throws by Christianson gave Oak Grove its first lead of the contest, 24-22.

After letting the Grovers’ lead grow out to 28-22, the Lions ended their long scoring drought with four points from Ben Bohl to close out the half. Oak Grove outscored the Ryan 19-8 in the second quarter to have a two-point lead, 28-26, through the first 16 minutes.

The first 4:23 of the third quarter saw the Grovers go on a 14-4 run, which was capped by another Christianson 3-pointer and a Ryan timeout. Christianson finished with a team-high 23 points with five triples. Bakkegard added 16 points.

Missed free throws by Ryan later in the quarter allowed Oak Groves to keep a double-digit lead going into the fourth quarter, 45-35. The Grovers shot 46.8 percent for the game.

“That kind of really separated themselves,” Teets said. “We weren’t ourselves defensively tonight. This game got into the 60’s and that’s not us. We gave up 10 offensive rebounds, that’s not us. It was the wrong time for us to not play our style of basketball.”

Both squads matched each other with big shot after big shot to start the fourth quarter. From Christopher Sowitch getting things started with a three-point play to Christianson and Ben Bohl draining 3-pointers, when the dust finally settled the Grovers were still leading by eight points, 53-45, with 5:09 remaining.

Oak Grove free throws held off a desperate rally for the Lions with Ben Bohl banking in a 3-pointer and Stewart ending the game by swishing a half-court shot after the final buzzer had sounded.

Ben Bohl led the Lions in scoring with 23 points, followed by Jake Bohl with 16 points and Stewart with 10 points. Ryan shot 45.1 percent as a team.

No. 4 Oak Grove will get its crack at top-seeded Four Winds/Minnewaukan (24-1) next in the second semifinal this evening at 8:15 p.m. The Indians defeated Stanley in the first round, 70-64.

“It’s going to be a track meet,” Card said. “Up and down the floor, but they are a good team, well balanced and well coached. So, we are just going to enjoy this one and see what happens tomorrow.”

Ryan moves to the consolation semifinals for a contest against Stanley at 2:45 p.m. this afternoon.

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

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