Submitted Photo Bishop Ryan senior Ben Bohl (left) puts up a shot as Thompson's Hayden Overby (right) protects the rim during the Lions' 73-57 loss to the Tommies Saturday in the Dale Brown Classic at the Minot State Dome. Photo submitted by Al Christianson.

Frustration.

That’s the best way to describe the look on the Bishop Ryan players Saturday night. The No. 6-ranked Lions (4-2) found themselves in quicksand against the No. 1-ranked Thompson Tommies (7-0) at the Minot State Dome in front of an unofficial home crowd that largely consisted of purple and gold.

The Lions only seemed to sink more with every attempt to claw their way out as they trailed by double digits for most of the game en route to a 73-57 loss.

“It’s definitely devastating,” senior guard Ben Bohl said. “It’s like we were going back and forth, but we never really got a good run going. It’s just hard to get in a rhythm that way.”

After holding a slim 17-13 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Tommies began to land some haymakers in the second quarter. Thompson launched an 11-0 run in the first five and a half minutes that featured four different scorers.

Bohl finally put an end to the madness with a mid-range jumper, but the Lions now found themselves trailing 28-15.

Ryan made multiple attempts to cut into the lead only to see the Tommies respond with a clutch basket to halt any built up momentum. The repeat offender was Thompson’s Hayden Overby.

The 6-foot-6 forward was a menace in the paint, piling up offensive boards and totaling 15 points in the first two quarter to help give his team a 36-25 lead at halftime.

“(Overby) just attacks the rim hard,” Ryan head coach Jeremy Feller said. “(Thompson) has some nice players, and we struggled at times to guard them. We just have to find a way to be more consistent.”

Containing the towering Tommie only got harder in the third quarter when Overby revealed a new trick up his sleeve.

Sensing the added pressure in the paint, Overby expanded his range by pulling up from the free throw line and even sinking a three for good measure in what was an eight-point quarter.

“(Overby) just has a motor that doesn’t quit,” Thompson head coach George Brandy said. “He’s so athletic, and he was pretty dialed in tonight. He just kept making plays for us.”

The dominant display helped cancel out a strong showing from Bohl, who came out of the break with a killer mentality and tallied 10 points in the quarter. Despite the scoring burst, the Lions still trailed, 50-39, entering the fourth quarter.

The final quarter saw no comeback as Thompson secured the 73-57 victory. The Tommies iced the game at the charity stripe, going 9-of-12 from the line in the fourth quarter alone.

Overby finished with a game-high 33 points in the win. Bohl tallied 26 points in the loss, and senior Mason Hedberg added 19 points in yet another impressive showing by the star duo.

“Ben Bohl and Mason Hedberg are phenomenal players,” Overby said. “We know they’re going to get their shots and we can’t totally shut them down, but overall I think we played as good a defense as we could on them.”

For the Lions, they’ll look to learn from the loss as they prepare for regional play. That begins Thursday when the team hits the road to take on TGU at 7:15 p.m.

Justin Martinez covers Minot High School sports and Class B high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @JTheSportsDude.