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Alex’s Tale of the Tape #2,142, Date: Nov. 26, 2019

Putting the pressure on, the Minot State women’s basketball team forced Valley City State into 30 turnovers to win its final non-conference game of the season, 70-57, inside the Minot State Dome.

The Beavers had their own struggles but still managed to come away with their third consecutive victory. A sloppy first half featured a combined 31 turnovers and just 18 made shots from the field.

Breaking down VCSU’s 2-3 zone, Mariah Payne drained a couple of triples on her way to a game-high 20 points. Anna Counts ended up fouling out with 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. Reina Strand chipped in with 10 points, as well.

Relentless MSU ball pressure throughout the evening was provided by Bethany Theodore, Danielle Rizzari and Raegan Sanchez.

“It doesn’t wear us out,” Sanchez said. “We have been conditioning for this, and I think we have enough guard play that we do really well when we pressure the ball.”

Alex’s Tale of the Tape #1,841, Date: June 18, 2019

Keegan Stenvold and Trent Greek both tossed one-hitters, and the Minot Metros racked up 27 combined runs across two games to sweep the Dickinson Volunteers in a Class A American Legion baseball doubleheader at Corbett Field in Minot.

Behind the masterful performances on the mound, Minot won the first game 15-0 in five innings and then took the nightcap 12-0 in five innings as well.

“Keegan (Stenvold) and Trent (Greek) threw a lot of strikes, and that’s what they needed to do today,” Metros head coach Fred Nelson said. “Not too many walks and one hit apiece. I mean, you can’t ask for much more than that.”

The Metros ended up with 15 runs on 10 hits, and were aided by five Dickinson errors, in the first game of the doubleheader.

Five errors, an RBI single for Braedon McCarty and a two-run single for Tyler Johnson had the Metros up 7-0 after the top of the first inning in Game 2 — Minot was playing as the road team on home turf.

Later, the final two runs were scored off a balk and an RBI single by McCarty.

Alex’s Tale of the Tape #949, Date: Feb. 13, 2018

The Bishop Ryan wrestling team prepares for the state tournament.

No. 2-seeded Conner Ledoux, Region 3 winner at 113 and placed seventh at state the year before, held Ryan’s best seed with a 46-3 record. The Lions also had three other state place winners returning to the big stage in No. 4 Corbin Okeson at 182 (eighth in 2017), No. 6 Kersey Harris at 132 (second at 106 in 2017) and No. 6 Kaleb Beeter at 145 (sixth at 138 in 2017).

While lacking some depth compared to previous seasons, Ryan believed they had the guys to pull off upset at the state tournament.

“If we can wrestle above our seeds and get some of the guys that aren’t seeded on the podium, then that’s what it’s going to take for us to break into the top 5,” Ryan head coach Steve Lipp said. “We aren’t as strong as last year with some of those horses that we had who made the finals and won state titles. So, points are hard to come by at the state tournament, and you just got to be ready to go.”

Ryan finished with four placewinners: Okeson (third), Ledoux (third), Harris (sixth) and Wesley Harvey (seventh).