Robert Brewer/MDN Bishop Ryan’s Chinelo Udekwe drives to the basket during the opening moments of Monday night’s home win over Lewis & Clark Berthold. She ended the game with 16 points.

On Monday evening, the Bishop Ryan Lions picked up their eighth straight win with a 69-53 triumph over Lewis & Clark Berthold at home.

Berthold got off to a strong start and led the ballgame early on at 8-3. From there, Bishop Ryan fought back as a baseline jumper from eighth grader Tochi Udekwe made it 8-5 in favor of the visiting Bombers. Later in the period, the Lions evened things up at 10-10 after a bucket from freshman forward Alena Johannsen. The score would be tied again two more times in the quarter before a fastbreak layup from Lions sophomore Chinelo Udekwe gave Bishop Ryan the lead at 16-14 heading into the second.

The Lions expanded on their advantage in the next quarter. More than halfway through the period, senior Sydney Upton connected on a three ball which made the score 24-19 in favor of Bishop Ryan. In the process, Upton surpassed the 1,000-point plateau in her varsity career. From that point, the Lions outscored the Bombers 7-2 until halftime and took a 31-21 lead into the locker room.

The Lions continued to dominate action for most of the third, especially from the charity stripe. Bishop Ryan led by as many as 18 points on two occasions, but Berthold closed out the quarter on a 9-2 run. After five consecutive points from senior guard Ashley Seaver in the closing seconds of the third, the Bombers trimmed the deficit to 51-40 heading into the fourth.

As it turned out, that would be as close as Berthold would come for the remainder of the game. Bishop Ryan maintained a double-digit lead throughout the final quarter en route to a 69-53 victory. Upton led the way offensively for the Lions with 20 points, including four makes from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Mya Neshem led all players with 23 points in defeat for Berthold.

Next up on the calendar, Bishop Ryan plans to travel to Surrey for its next contest on Thursday while Berthold will try to snap its losing skid on the road at Glenburn on Thursday.