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Surrey strides to win over Bishop Ryan

Sean Williams/MDN Bishop Ryan’s sopohomore forward Alena Johannsen (5) and Surrey’s senior forward Harli Dickman (5) operated as key contributors for their teams in Thursday night’s snowy District 12 showdown.

Jockeying to make a final push up the District 12 rankings as they gallop down the final furlong of the North Dakota high school girls’ basketball regular season, the Surrey Mustangs traveled to Bishop Ryan on Thursday evening with both teams on a mission to collect a final batch of wins heading into the postseason.

Besting the late afternoon snow that canceled several high school sporting events in the area, the showdown between a Surrey Mustangs (9-7 overall, 4-3 District 12) squad fighting to break out of a four-game losing skid saw them brave the unsavory conditions to notch a 50-41 victory over a surging Bishop Ryan Lions (5-11 overall, 2-5 District 12) team riding a wave of momentum after wins against Glenburn and Berthold in the past week.

On the heels of a jazzy saxophone rendition of the national anthem by Bishop Ryan band director Paul Nason, Surrey seniors Amelia Hoffman and Harli Dickman opened up a 6-0 lead for the Mustangs, converting turnovers generated via full-court pressure into high-percentage shots in the early minutes of the contest.

Keeping the Lions in the mix throughout much of the first quarter was sophomore forward Alena Johannsen, whose four points off mid-range jumpers laid the foundation for Bishop Ryan to stay within striking distance of the Mustangs as the first eight minutes of action closed with Surrey ahead 18-10.

Nevertheless, the Mustangs successfully applied even more tourniquet-tight offensive pressure in the second quarter, spearheaded by Dickman as she added to the Surrey lead via a successful and-1 conversion that initiated a tidal wave of buckets for the Mustangs as they swelled their lead to 25-12 at the 4-minute mark.

Hunting for a spark to kickstart the Lions scoring machine, junior forward Peyton Beeter’s deep three with 2:30 left until halftime left little time for Bishop Ryan to build upon momentum-wise, as the Mustangs carried a double-digit, 29-19 edge into the locker room.

Focused on more efficient play on the offensive side of the ball to start the second half, Bishop Ryan stormed into the first six minutes of the third quarter by generating a rapid dose of points courtesy of freshman forward Claire Fegley, senior Magee Rovig, and Johannsen to eventually narrow the Surrey lead to 37-32 entering the final eight minutes of battle.

With the stage set for an explosive fourth quarter, a composed Surrey unit quickly put their poise on display for those on hand, once again ballooning their lead to double-digits before a locked-in Rovig and Beeter connected on consecutive 3-point baskets from deep for the Lions to shrink the Mustangs lead to two possessions at 44-38 with just three minutes left in regulation.

However, despite both teams proceeding to trade punches and Rovig dialing in another 3-point connection with 40 seconds left in play, Surrey’s continued use of their tenaciously suffocating full-court press throughout the closing moments of action would ultimately seal the Mustangs’ 50-41 District 12 victory.

In the win for Surrey, Amelia Hoffman and Melissa Dougan would collect 12 points apiece, in addition to seven points for Harli Dickman, six points each for Amanda Severson and Sienna Klimpel, five points for Mia Aberle, and two points for Ava Keller.

Magee Rovig’s 16 points and Alena Johannsen’s 13 points led the way for Bishop Ryan, along with eight points for Peyton Beeter and two points apiece for Tochi Udekwe and Claire Fegley.

Speaking on the significance of Thursday night’s victory, Surrey head coach Ron Aberle emphasized, “We haven’t won here in quite a while, so this gives our team a bit more momentum heading towards the District 12 tournament.”

Aberle added, “We played good, balanced basketball tonight, with our press and rebounding heavily contributing to our success.”

Edging closer to the end of regular-season Region 6 play, Surrey will host TGU at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, while Monday sees Bishop Ryan welcome Nedrose for a 5:45 p.m. tip-off.

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