Robert Brewer/MDN Bishop Ryan senior forward Berkley Lundeen (left) gathers the ball before absorbing contact in the paint during Tuesday night’s season opener against Westhope-Newburg. She ended the game with eight points for the Lions.

The Bishop Ryan girls basketball team opened up their 2021-22 campaign with a 48-39 home loss to the Westhope-Newburg Sioux on Tuesday night.

In the first quarter, Bishop Ryan trailed early 4-0 to the visiting Sioux, but quickly found an offensive rhythm after that. Bishop Ryan reeled off seven straight points to take a three-point lead. Then a steal by freshman guard Olivia Demars opened up a fastbreak opportunity for the Lions which resulted in a pair of freethrows for Demars.

She connected on the first attempt, but misfired on the second. However, senior forward Sydney Upton corralled the offensive rebound and eventually knocked down a three pointer to give the Lions a four-point possession and an 11-4 advantage on the scoreboard. With offensive success in the paint, as well as from the outside, the Lions ended the period with a 15-8 lead.

In the second quarter, Bishop Ryan led by as many as 12, but offensive execution issues from the Lions allowed the Sioux to get back in the game. Westhope-Newburg went on an 11-2 run which cut into Bishop Ryan’s lead at 24-21. With less than a minute before halftime, an inside bucket from Upton proved to be the last field goal of the quarter as the Lions went into the locker room with a 26-21 advantage.

At the outset of the third, points were hard to come by for both teams as the two clubs totaled only three field goals five and a half minutes into the quarter. The Lions maintained a 31-25 lead before an Upton layup extended Bishop Ryan’s lead to eight inside of two minutes to go. With the help of strong interior defense, Bishop Ryan managed to stop Westhope-Newburg from scoring at the third quarter buzzer and took a 33-27 advantage into the final period.

The fourth quarter saw Bishop Ryan’s offense struggle mightily while Westhope-Newburg played with superior confidence on both ends of the floor. A layup from Sioux freshman guard Ashley Tabarez with 5:50 to go gave Westhope its first lead since the opening moments of the game at 35-34. From that point on, the Sioux went on a 13-5 run to close out the game and finish off Bishop Ryan. Tabarez led all players with 17 points while Bishop Ryan’s Chinelo Udekwe scored a team-high 14 for the Lions.

Next up on the schedule, Bishop Ryan plans to play New Town on Friday at the Minot Auditorium. Start time for that game is slated for 1:15 p.m.