Bishop Ryan’s Gryphen Leier-Wangler protects the ball from M-L-S’ Grady Nett during the first half of a District 6 semifinal round game at the Minot Municipal Auditorium on Monday, March 2. Mike Kraft/MDN

Going nearly the first six minutes of the fourth quarter without a field goal is typically a recipe for disaster come playoff time, but having a defense like the one the Bishop Ryan boys basketball team possesses, the Lions were just fine.

As it has been throughout the season and especially so through the first two games of the district tournament, the defense was the talking point in Bishop Ryan’s 52-35 victory over Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood in the District 6 Tournament semifinals on Monday, March 2, at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.

Coming off a defensive performance in the quarterfinal round that yielded just 12 points to Surrey, the Lions held the Mavericks to their lowest point total of the season by a hearty margin. M-L-S entered Monday’s contest averaging 72.1 points per game, eclipsing the 80-point mark six times. But against Bishop Ryan’s defense, M-L-S was held under 40 points for the first time all season. The Mavericks’ previous low of the season was 45 points against Our Redeemer’s.

“That’s just what we work on every day since the beginning of our practice and a little bit at the end,” Bishop Ryan coach Broderick Bosch said. “It’s just what we preach. They really buy into the idea that your offense might not always be there and shots aren’t always going to fall, so you got to have something to have your back and for us it’s our defense.”

The win sends the Lions (17-4) to the district championship game for the third straight season under the 3-class system and the fifth consecutive year overall. Bishop Ryan is 3-2 in the title game during that stretch, with its last title coming in 2024. The Lions will face crosstown rival Our Redeemer’s for the championship on Tuesday, March 3, at approximately 7:30 p.m. at the Minot Municipal Auditorium. The two teams met in last year’s title tilt as well, with the Knights coming out on top in overtime.

Win or lose in the title game, the Lions have assured themselves a spot in the Region 3 Tournament as a top-two seed.

“It means a lot,” Bishop Ryan’s Hayden Seay said. “We’ve worked so hard. My teammates have really picked it up. I’ve really picked it up. We’ve all been working together. We have Izaac (Strandlien) and Jack (Passa) – two of the most athletic defenders and shooters in the state – and our big men have really stepped up.”

Seay led Bishop Ryan’s offense, netting a game-high 20 points to finish as one of two Lions in double figures alongside Strandlien, who finished with 13.

It took late into the first quarter, but Bishop Ryan began to find its scoring touch to establish a bit of momentum. Cohen Schneider kickstarted a 12-0 run stretching across the first and second quarters. Strandlien and Seay each knocked down a 3-pointer and Gryphen Leier-Wangler hit back-to-back shots during the run.

The Lions led by as many as 11 in the first half. Seay and Strandlien scored more than half of the team’s points in the third quarter as Bishop Ryan stretched its lead to 43-25 heading into the fourth quarter. Seay had the first and last buckets of the quarter.

“I let the game come to me,” Seay said. “I let Jack and Izaac get me open because they’re obviously great scorers, too. They get downhill and that gets me open and our big guys have done great with getting offensive rebounds and kicking it out to me.”

Bishop Ryan’s offense stagnated in the final quarter, allowing the Mavericks an opportunity to chop into their deficit. M-L-S (17-4) opened the final frame on an 8-0 run to climb back to within 43-33 with five minutes remaining. But the Lions put the clamps down from there, limiting M-L-S to just two points the rest of the way.

“That was probably our biggest game of the year,” Strandlien said. “Holding them to 35 points means a lot. They score 70 points a game, so we had to stop their main guys. We couldn’t let them shoot 3s and make sure we boxed out and held them to one possession.”

The Lions went the first 5:50 of the fourth quarter without a basket until Seay hit back-to-back shots and also took a charge on the other end.

“That’s a big team win, especially on the defensive end. That’s what did it for us,” Bosch said. “Our offense got going a little bit more today, but holding a team like that to 35 is something that I’m impressed with our guys’ effort.”

Bishop Ryan didn’t allow more than 10 points in any quarter to the Mavericks. The Lions held the Mustangs to just seven points in the third quarter.

“They’re very physical,” M-L-S coach John Nilsen said. “They’re in your face constantly. They switch well on screens. They are very, very disciplined and do a lot of things well. We need to be able to finish at the rim. We didn’t shoot the ball necessarily that great. We were pushing in transition well, but we couldn’t come up with those buckets when we needed them.”

Reid Morlock had the best shooting night for the Mavericks. He knocked down three of his team’s four 3-pointers, including back-to-back 3s in the second quarter to get M-L-S to within 19-14. Morlock finished with a team-high 15 points. Eli Undlin had 11.

While the Lions are safely into the Region 3 Tournament, M-L-S will have to play its way in via a regional qualifier against TGU on Tuesday, March 3, at 4:30 p.m.

‘I don’t think they want their season to be done, so I’m sure we’ll definitely get everything they got from them tomorrow,” Nilsen said. “We should hopefully find ourselves in the regional tournament. That’s the goal.”

Mustangs, Titans evade elimination, advance to regional qualifiers

Staring the end of their respective seasons in the face entering their District 6 Tournament elimination contests on Monday, March 2, at the Minot Municipal Auditorium, both Surrey and TGU lives to play another day.

The Mustangs eliminated defending state-runner Westhope-Newburg, 60-52, in the opening game of the day and the Titans followed suit with a 66-42 victory over Drake-Anamoose. Surrey will play Velva and TGU will face Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood in regional qualifiers on Tuesday, March 3.

Surrey (8-14) bounced back from a 12-point performance against Bishop Ryan in the quarterfinals to win its first district game since 2023. The Mustangs had won play-in games each of the last two years, but lost in the first round and the consolation round each time.

Tyler Darby and Gavin Vollmer each had 17 points to lead the Mustangs. Bennett Nelson finished with 11 points. A game after making just five shots total, Surrey knocked down 10 3s, with Darby and Vollmer combining for nine of them.

Surrey trailed 20-17 at the end of the first quarter, but went into the locker room with a slim 27-26 advantage. A big third quarter pushed the Mustangs’ lead to 43-34.

The loss for the Sioux (7-14) ends a string of consecutive regional appearances that started in 2023.

Tiger Lee had 14 points for Westhope-Newburg. Hunter Tolstad and Rocklin Beaudrie each finished with 13.

In the other elimination game of the day, TGU’s Sage Hanson proved to be too much to handle for Drake-Anamoose. The 6-foot-9 senior forward poured in 37 points, scoring at least six points in each quarter. Hanson scored 14 in the third quarter.

The Titans (14-7) led throughout, jumping out to a 17-8 lead after the first quarter and a 30-19 lead at halftime. A 24-point third quarter solidified TGU’s spot in a regional qualifier as the Titans took a 54-25 lead after three.

Brady Hauff had 13 points to lead the Raiders (9-13), who were looking for their first district win since 2021.