Alex Eisen/MDN Bishop Ryan junior guard Nora Kramer (2) dribbles the ball up the court Thursday evening against DLB. The Lions won 52-32 in the first round of the District 12 Tournament.

The much-anticipated rematch between No. 4-seeded Des Lacs-Burlington (13-7) and No. 5 Bishop Ryan (10-10) tipped off Thursday in the first round of District 12 girls basketball tournament.

These two foes previously matched up on Jan. 30 in Des Lacs, where Ryan escaped with a nailbiting 38-37 victory.

The Lions didn’t have to hold their breath at the buzzer this time around, capturing a 52-32 victory inside the Minot Municipal Auditorium.

“We’ve been talking all year about trying to put four quarters together, and it’s the first time we’ve done that,” Ryan head coach Roger Coleman said. “We have been waiting for that to happen, and it happened at the right time — tournament time. I’m proud of the girls. They played awesome.”

Ryan and DLB came out aggressive in the opening minutes. DLB junior center Brooklyn Benno established her presence down low with an uncontested layup after winning the opening tip.

Ryan sophomore forward Sydney Upton finished at the rim with a contested layup to tie the game at 2-2. It’s becoming a game of mano-a-mano. Ryan scored a 3-pointer, and DLB answered.

Then, the flood gates open.

The Lions went on a 10-0 run, blowing the game open with under two minutes to play in the first quarter.

With the score getting out of reach, Benno decided to take matters into her own hands with uncontested layups on back-to-back possessions.

Benno continued to show her dominance during the opening seconds of the second quarter with another layup, as DLB started feeding the hot hand.

The Lakers cut the deficit to five points, forcing Ryan to call a timeout up 15-10.

“There were a couple of times with our subs and fatigue, (where) I thought they had the advantage inside with some matchups,” Coleman said. “Even though we don’t have the height, our tallest girl is Sydney Upton at 5-foot-9, so we went into a three post look inside on the defensive end to match up. That seemed to slow it down a little bit. That was a great adjustment by my assistant coaches.”

After the timeout, both teams started trading baskets.

Ryan took an 11-point lead into the half, leading DLB 29-18.

At the start of the third quarter, the Lions made some vast adjustments on the defensive end of the floor to slow down DLB.

The Lakers were held to five points in the third quarter and nine points in the fourth quarter.

“We couldn’t find the fire we needed,” DLB head coach Tracy Bonn said. “There were pockets of fire where I thought we were going to get on a roll, but it just wasn’t there. Our intensity wasn’t there. Ryan came out and played really well, and they outplayed us.”

Sydney Upton led Ryan with 16 points. The Lions also received contributions from Maya Wald (9 points), Magee Rovig (8), Nora Kramer (7), Grace Candrian (5), Berkley Lundeen (4) and Sylvie Kramer (3).

Before the start of the second half, Coleman told Upton to keep being physical and aggressive, whether it was offense, defense or taking care of the ball.

“All week we’ve been practicing for this matchup,” Upton said. “We all wanted it so bad. We were so excited to play; we were barely sitting still in class today. We were so focused and confident that we were ready for it.”

Benno finished with a team-high 12 points for the Lakers, followed by Emily DeGree (8 points), Krysta Berard (7) and Shelby Ruden (5).

“We knew coming into the game that DLB would be a tough team to beat,” Upton said. “They lost by one point the last time we faced each other. They were going to have a chip on their shoulder. We knew we needed to work harder than them and want it more.”

Ryan moves on to the semifinals of the District 12 Tournament, where they will face MLS at 6 p.m. this evening. DLB will play in a loser-out contest against South Prairie at 3 p.m. this afternoon.

Both games to be played at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.