Justin Martinez/MDN Bishop Ryan senior Ben Bohl (3) rises above Lewis & Clark-Berthold’s Thomas Burke (10) during the Lions’ 62-47 win on Monday in a region qualifier game of the District 12 boys basketball tournament at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.

With just 16 minutes remaining, the Lions had to dig deep.

The District 12 boys basketball tournament was thought to be merely a formality for the Bishop Ryan boys basketball team, who came into the postseason as the third-ranked team in the state. And yet the Lions sat in their locker room on Monday at the Minot Municipal Auditorium just two quarters away from seeing their season come to a screeching halt.

No. 1-seeded Ryan found itself trailing No. 2-seeded Lewis & Clark-Berthold, 32-24, at halftime of its region qualifier match. The Bombers outshot and out-hustled the Lions for the first 16 minutes to put the favorites on the ropes.

It was time to wake up.

“We weren’t ourselves,” Ryan head coach Jeremy Feller said. “I said (at halftime), ‘You need to go out there and make better decisions or you’re going to be paying six bucks to watch the regional tournament.'”

Message received.

Now trailing 36-24 in the third quarter, the Lions made their move. Senior Chinaza Udekwe got the comeback started by draining a long-range bomb, and sophomore Logan Merck matched it with a three-pointer of his own on the next possession to make it a 36-32 contest with 5:15 on the clock.

The Lions got to within one point with three seconds left in the quarter, and Ben Bohl did the rest.

The senior caught the pass in the left corner, put a move on his defender and nailed a stepback triple at the buzzer that ignited Ryan’s sideline and gave the Lions a 45-43 edge entering the final frame.

“My teammates just gave me the ball, and I threw up a prayer,” Bohl said. “I’m just glad it went in.”

Now that the Lions had the lead, they had no intentions of giving it back to the Bombers.

Udekwe kicked off the fourth quarter by capitalizing on an open 3-pointer from the top of the arc, and fellow senior Mason Hedberg followed it up with a steal on the next defensive possession that he took all the way back for an easy layup.

The steal was one of three takeaways forced by Hedberg in the quarter, as he anchored the Lions defensively. Ryan shut down the Bombers’ offense in what was a 12-0 run to start the final frame.

“Nothing would be worse than missing regionals, so that kind of got to us,” Hedberg said. “It was just unbelievable how we flipped the switch and started D-ing up. Our press gave (Berthold) fits, and we stuck with that. We just gave it our all.”

It wasn’t until the two-minute mark that Berthold senior Thomas Burke sank a pair of free throws for his team’s first points of the quarter, but the damage had already been done. Ryan now led 57-45.

The dagger came 45 seconds later when Bohl struck again from deep and nailed a contested triple to push the Lions’ advantage to 60-45. Ryan full-court pressed all the way until the final buzzer sounded to secure the 62-47 win and advance.

Burke finished with a game-high 28 points in a loss that marks the end of both the Bombers’ season and senior guard’s illustrious high school career.

“I’ve known Burke since I was a fourth-grader, and he’s an unbelievable player,” Bohl said. “He’s so creative, he can shoot the ball, obviously, and he can get to the rim. Hats off to him and Berthold, but we just came out on top.”

Three different Ryan players broke double-digit points in the win: Hedberg (17), Bohl (15) and Udekwe (15).

For Ryan, the close call at the district tournament has given the team a newfound edge as it now prepares for the Region 6 boys basketball tournament next Monday at the Minot State Dome.

“I think we kind of took it too lightly at first,” Hedberg said. “This kind of woke us up a little, so now we’re a little more grateful because we know a season can end any minute. We’re just ready to bring it during regionals.”

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