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Consistency tested

Streaky No. 4 Lions bulldoze past Watford City 73-38

Alex Eisen/MDN Bishop Ryan junior guard Ben Bohl (3) takes a shot from long range over Watford City’s Elijah Brown (1) Tuesday at Bishop Ryan Catholic School in Minot.

When the Bishop Ryan offense was clicking on Tuesday, the Lions were unstoppable. In the spurts that they weren’t connecting, the defense carried them through.

The No. 4-ranked Ryan boys basketball team rode waves of momentum to a 73-38 home opener victory over Watford City Tuesday night at Bishop Ryan Catholic School.

“Well, it’s early,” Ryan first-year coach Jeremy Feller said. “We definitely have things we have to work on. Our defense needs to be a lot more consistent and a lot better… We talked about settling for so many jump shots, which resulted in our streaky performance. We need to be more consistent at moving the basketball, more inside touches and recognizing mismatches. I think that will come, we have a veteran crew.”

The Lions (2-0) jumped out to 14-2 lead with junior Ben Bohl, senior Anthony Vetter and senior Caden Shean each scoring a couple of baskets. Ryan held a 15-7 lead after the first quarter.

Vetter paced the Lions with a team-high 18 points, as four Ryan players finished in double figures with Bohl (16), Mason Hedberg (15) and Shean (12).

Watford City (1-1) got five straight points from senior Jarek Hogue in the second quarter, but that turned out to be only half of the Wolves points in the quarter. Hogue finished with a team-high 15 points, with teammate Elijah Brown adding 10 points.

Meanwhile, Ryan went off to score 33 points in the second quarter. At one point, Hedberg scored 10 straight points himself to give the Lions a 41-15 lead.

“It feels really good, obviously, to put the ball in the basket,” Hedberg said. “But, all that really matters is the team getting the win. I’m just trying to do my part to do that.”

Ryan led 48-17 at halftime. The physical force of Vetter, Chris Sowitch and Jacob Lizotte inside wore down the Wolves and, in return, the Lions found more open shots on the perimeter.

“We talk about winning small segments of the game,” Feller said. “Down the stretch in the last four minutes (of the second quarter), our stats had us outscored them 21-3.”

Lions extended their lead out to 66-28 after the third quarter despite Ryan’s offense going cold for minutes at a time.

“We definitely have space to improve,” Hedberg said. “The defense is really streaky right now. In the second half, we only beat them by like eight (points). We can do better there. The offense seems to come when we are playing good defense. So, if just focus on that, the offense will come.”

The gap was even closer than Hedberg realized. Ryan narrowly outscored the Wolves 25-21 in the second half. But, with a running clock and a plethora of substitutions in the fourth quarter, Ryan didn’t press too hard to close out the 73-38 win.

Not exactly what Feller wanted to see.

“The second half we kind of played with them and settled,” he said. “We kind of just wanted to finish out the game instead of focusing on getting better.”

The Lions have an early season ranked clash with No. 2 Shiloh Christian on Saturday at Bishop Ryan. The nonregional game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. following the conclusion of the girls game at 2 p.m.

“They are eager,” Feller said. “Shiloh is a tough opponent that we have struggled with. Both me at Our Redeemer’s and Ryan has, so they will be ready to go Saturday. It should be a fun atmosphere.”

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

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