Having two Hanson brothers seems like a cheat code at times.

Aiden and Ethan Hanson combined for 39 points and scored 23 of Central McLean’s 28 points in the second half as the Cougars captured the Our Redeemer’s Invitational Tournament title, 71-62, over Ray in the championship game on Saturday, Dec. 20.

“They’re gym rats,” Central McLean coach Joi Anderson said. “They’re in the gym every morning and it pays off in the long run. A lot of people don’t understand that. They work hard.”

Central McLean joins Bishop Ryan as champions in the first three years of the tournament. Bishop Ryan won the first two tournament titles.

Third-ranked Central McLean’s run to the tournament title included top-five victories over No. 1 Our Redeemer’s in the semifinals before holding off No. 4 Ray down the stretch. The Cougars handed both teams their first loss of the season.

“It means a lot,” Ethan Hanson said. “It shows what we can do against good teams. It helps with our confidence so that when we go into games, we’re not scared of other teams and we’ll be ready to play right away.”

Aiden Hanson had an eventful day leading up to the championship game, getting five stitches to close up a gash above his left eye he sustained in Central McLean’s semifinal victory the prior day. The minor medical procedure didn’t slow him down in the least. He played the role of facilitator in the first half, drawing double teams down low and kicking it out to teammates on the wings for open 3s. The Cougars hit 10 3-pointers in the opening half, including one from Aiden Hanson. Ethan Hanson hit two and Jonas Christianson knocked down three from distance.

“I love passing it to him,” Aiden Hanson said of his brother. “I know where he’s going to be all the time. It’s just fun to play with him. We started hot from 3 and was knocking down a lot of shots.”

The Cougars (4-0) seemed poised to run away with the trophy, leading 56-43 late in the third quarter following Ethan Hanson’s third 3-pointer of the game. But five unanswered points by Ray’s Blake Bergstrom cut Central McLean’s lead down to eight entering the fourth quarter.

“They’re a good ballclub,” Anderson said. “They’re going to hit the 3-pointers and I kept telling my guys that we have to cover them. You try to take that away from them, but they also have a pretty good inside game too, just like we do.”

The Hanson brothers proved to be a momentum killer to the Jays down the stretch. Ethan Hanson nailed his fourth trey to open the fourth and matched a 3-pointer from Ray’s Brody Ceynar to give Central McLean a 62-53 lead.

“It was good competition here so it makes it very well worth it,” Anderson said. “We learned a lot. We were tired the whole game. We weren’t so much lazy, but just not sprinting down the floor like we usually do. We shot pretty well again. The offense looked good, but I thought we got too much into a running game and once we slowed it down a little bit we got our breath back and things started working better for us.”

The Jays (3-1) trimmed their deficit to four at 64-60 after a basket from Ceynar and a 3 from Ty Barman, who was battling foul trouble all game. Barman was whistled for his fifth foul, forcing him to be a spectator for the remaining 2:40.

Four points was as close as Ray would get, as Ethan Hanson knocked down a pair of baskets on both occasions to push the lead back to six. His final basket and 10th point of the fourth quarter put Central McLean up 68-62 with less than a minute remaining. The Cougars iced the game at the free-throw line from there, with Bridger Rittenbach and Jase Utley scoring the only three points not from a Hanson brother in the fourth quarter.

Ethan Hanson led all scorers with 24 points, scoring 15 in the second half and 10 in the fourth quarter. Aiden Hanson added 15. Rittenbach joined the Hanson brothers in double figures with 13 points.

Aiden Hanson was named tournament MVP.

Anderson was pleased with his team’s performance over the course of the three-game tournament, but sees areas that need improvement as the season continues.

“We have to be in a little better shape at the end of the year,” Anderson said. “You have to play three games at state or whatever other tournament you go to. You have to be willing to work and maybe I have to go to the bench a little bit more and get some more guys involved. I have some kids off the bench that can play.”

Ceynar led the Jays with 18 points. Jace Becker (13), Barman (12) and Bergstrom (10) also finished in double figures. The two teams combined to knock down 21 3-pointers.

Central McLean plays Midway-Minto at Bismarck State College on Monday, Dec. 29, while Ray goes from one tournament to another, traveling to the Mandan to play Grant County/Mott-Regent in the opening day of the Mandan Holiday Tournament on Monday, Dec. 29.

In other games of the day, tournament-host Our Redeemer’s bounced back in a big way following its first loss of the season, routing Trinity Christian, 90-31, to finish in third place. Nolan Schmidt led all scorers with 26 points. Sam Zaderaka added 14. The Knights jumped out to a 24-4 lead at the end of the first quarter and built a 55-15 advantage going into the half.

South Prairie-Max won its final two games to finish fifth, defeating Parshall, 58-46, on Saturday. Surrey ended its tournament showing on a positive note in the seventh-place game, going out winners with a 61-28 victory over Tioga. Gavin Vollmer (20), Tyler Dalby (14), and Bennett Nelson (11) all finished in double figures for the Mustangs.