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Beulah BBB pushes around Ryan, 65-38

Alex Eisen/MDN Beulah senior forward Jonah Larson (center) posts up Bishop Ryan freshman Conner Thompson (5) in a Class B boys basketball game held Saturday afternoon at Bishop Ryan. The Beulah Miners won 65-38 with Larson scoring a game-high 22 points.

Once accustomed to seeing a running clock work in its favor, the Bishop Ryan boys basketball team suffered another unpleasant setback Saturday afternoon against Beulah.

The Lions (1-3) dug themselves a deep hole early and never recovered for a lopsided 65-38 home loss in Minot. A sporadic running clock in the fourth quarter aided the Miners (4-3).

“As I said before, we play a competitive schedule early on to expose our flaws,” Ryan head coach Jeremy Feller said. “Tonight, it clearly showed that defensively we have to be better. We have been preaching to hold teams to 50-55 points, and Beulah had about 50 by the half. I didn’t really like our energy tonight.”

Beulah took over from the opening tipoff, scoring the first seven points. Then, junior guard Dawson Zuroff sunk a couple of 3-pointers before senior teammate Jonah Larson grabbed the spotlight.

Larson, a 6-foot-6 forward, dominated the paint and strung together nine consecutive points to close out the first quarter.

“We got kids who can shoot around (Larson), and it really opens up for those guys,” Beulah head coach Jeremy Brandt said. “That’s what we have been preaching to our guys, ‘Use Jonah because you guys are going to get more open when we utilize Jonah.’ Our kids did a really good job of that tonight.”

Crashing the boards and taking matters into his own hands, Larson racked up a game-high 22 points with 18 points coming in the first half.

The Lions lacked the strength to slow Larson down.

“Beulah’s big guy (Larson) down there ate us up at times,” Feller said. “We talked about being stronger. I said, ‘I watched you on the football field be strong. Now, within the basketball rules, you got to be a little tougher.’ We are just too nice and let them do what they wanted.”

The Miners led 42-17 at halftime.

“First half, we played really well,” Brandt said. “Our kids came out and made shots. Our energy fed off those early threes and the early scores that we got.”

Beulah sophomore guard Trey Brandt was consistent throughout with 8 points scored in both halves for a total of 16. Zuroff ended up with 13 points, including a trio of triples made.

One of the rare bright spots for the Lions was a fadeaway 3-pointer made at the buzzer by freshman guard Brady Feller to end the third quarter.

Brady Feller led the Lions in scoring with 12 points. Logan Merck added 9 points with 6 points coming in the third quarter.

Ryan also outscored Beulah 11-8 in the final frame but, much like Feller’s desperation 3-pointer, that hardly put a dent in the final score, 65-38.

The defending Region 6 champion Lions have lost their last three games after winning their season opener.

“When you take a couple on the chin like we have, it makes the teaching process a little quicker,” Jeremy Feller said. “District schedule starts next week, and we know what we need to work on. I told the kids that we have all the pieces we need to be successful. We just have to figure out how to use them.”

Next up, Beulah is on the road again at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday against Des Lacs-Burlington while Ryan heads over to Dunseith on Monday for a 7:15 p.m. tipoff as well.

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

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