Alex Eisen/MDN Bishop Ryan junior guard Jaxon Feller (right) has a shot swatted away by Langdon Area/Edmore/Munich senior guard Jackson Delvo (left) in a Dale Brown Classic game held Saturday at the MSU Dome. LAEM won 67-43.

Balanced scoring and a fast start propelled the No. 9-ranked Langdon Area/Edmore/Munich boys basketball team to a 67-43 victory Saturday evening over Bishop Ryan at the MSU Dome.

“We want to play teams like this,” Ryan head coach Jeremy Feller said. “They expose (our flaws), and they score points. Sometimes you play an easier schedule and (the other team) throws the ball away or doesn’t score layups, but that doesn’t reinforce (our mistakes).”

This was the Lions’ second loss against a ranked opponent this season. They dropped a 75-60 decision against No. 4 Shiloh Christian on Dec. 21.

“The Shiloh loss and this loss — and however many more it takes — will help us figure out that we have to five guys who can compete on defense,” Feller said. “Hopefully, we will figure it out sooner than later.”

The fifth game of the Dale Brown Classic was effectively decided in the opening minutes.

The Cardinals (4-1) raced out to a 17-4 lead after the first quarter. The Lions (1-2) turned to a full-court press to regain some stability and prevent LAEM from putting the game out of reach in the first half.

“Once we got down a little bit, we thought we had to do something to get the momentum,” Feller said. “We tried mixing between two presses, but it comes back to competing. It felt like we had two guys on the wrong side of the floor about every other possession. Guys weren’t getting to the spot they needed to be in.”

Langdon led by a dozen, 33-21, going into the locker room after Ryan junior guard Lance Pitner drove to the basket and converted a hard-fought layup for the Lions’ last bucket of the half.

The Lions hung around for a while but weren’t able to get the deficit down to single digits. It reached 10 points twice at 41-31 and 43-33.

“We talked about getting two stops and getting it into single digits,” Feller said. “Unfortunately, they were the more veteran team and got the two stops and stretched it out to 15 (points).”

Five Cardinals finished in double figures: Simon Romfo (14), Ordale Morstad (13), Jagger Worley (13), Grant Romfo (11) and Jackson Delvo (10).

LAEM pulled away late in the third quarter after triples made by Delvo and Worley, plus a fastbreak layup from Grant Romfo.

The Cardinals shot 52.8% from the field with eight made 3-pointers. The Lions came in at 39.5% and went 0-for-10 behind the arc. Ryan also only shot 50% from the charity stripe (9-for-18).

“We had a lot of good small stretches,” Feller said. “We have to find a way, as we mature throughout the season, to make those become longer.”

Despite Worley fouling out with 3:10 remaining, LAEM doubled up the Lions 16-8 in the fourth quarter to secure a 67-43 win.

Freshman forward Conner Thompson led Ryan with a team-high 13 points and eight rebounds. Jaxon Feller chipped in 12 points.

“Both Logan (Merck) and Nick (Sanders) are coming off ankle injuries, and we didn’t even know if they were going to play until warm-ups,” Jeremy Feller said. “We have had a lot of guys playing different spots. Hopefully, over the next week or two, we can figure ourselves out before we get into the district schedule.”

Ryan returns to the court on Jan. 6 on the road at Dunseith.

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