Our Redeemer’s junior forward Nolan Schmidt drives to the basket against Bishop Ryan’s Cohen Schneider during the second half of the Class B boys state tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, March 19, at the MSU Dome. Schmidt led the Knights with 26 points. Mike Kraft/MDN

The old sports adage states that it’s difficult to beat a team three times in the same season.

The challenge is even greater when said team is your crosstown rival and you’ve played them eight times in the last 15 months to the point where you know each other’s tendencies and there are no secrets.

And it was difficult, but the Our Redeemer’s boys basketball team accomplished the feat and secured a 57-32 victory over Bishop Ryan in the Class B state tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, March 19, at the MSU Dome for its third victory of the season against the Lions. In the process, the Knights ended Bishop Ryan’s hopes of a championship repeat, something that hasn’t been accomplished since Hillsboro/Central Valley did it in 2017 and 2018.

“Ryan is very good,” Our Redeemer’s coach Brock Teets said. “That’s a very good defensive team. They are well-coached and well-prepared. You play a team eight times in the last 15 months like we have with multiple overtime games, it’s going to be really, really tough.”

In a game that was much closer than the final score indicated, the Knights dominated the fourth quarter to finally create some breathing room against the Lions. Our Redeemer’s outscored Bishop Ryan 19-3 over the course of the final quarter, shooting 69.2 percent. Despite trailing for all but 1 minute, 9 seconds, the Lions were always within striking distance of the lead through the first three quarters, never trailing by more than nine points.

The Knights (25-2) opened the fourth quarter with six quick points from baskets by Nolan Schmidt, Jayden Marshall and Payten Lindbo to push their advantage to 15 at 44-29 before Bishop Ryan’s Peyton Seay knocked down his team’s only bucket of the quarter. Our Redeemer’s countered with nine unanswered points, capped off by its lone 3-pointer of the game, fittingly belonging to Schmidt, who led all scorers with 26 points.

“We moved the ball and made them guard us,” Schmidt said. “In the first few quarters, shots weren’t really falling and that’s going to happen and we had to rely on our defense. We just know how good we can be. When your shots aren’t falling, you know percentages are usually going to work out and they worked out in our favor as the game went on.”

The Lions shot 11.1 percent from the field over the final eight minutes and 21.7 percent for the game.

Bishop Ryan and Our Redeemer’s have now split their last 32 meetings, with both having won a game against one another at the state tournament. The Lions got the better of the Knights in the state tournament semifinals last season in overtime. Our Redeemer’s has won four of the last five meetings.

“It feels like we’ve played them 20 times over the last two seasons,” Schmidt said. “We knew what we had to do. They are an incredible defensive team. We really have to try and move the ball and move around players to open things up.”

In a battle of two of the top three defenses in Class B, it was no surprise that it was a defensive struggle in the first half. Neither team found much success trying to penetrate their opponents’ stingy defense. Our Redeemer’s entered the state tournament with the second-ranked defense, limiting opponents to 43.3 points per game. The Lions ranked third at 44.3 points per game.

The teams combined for 13 points in the first quarter, with the Knights holding a slight 7-6 edge. Our Redeemer’s stretched their lead to 21-15 at halftime.

“Early on, it was a grinder for sure,” Teets said. “Both teams just know each other so well. Ryan is so good defensively and we just had too much juice early. There was a lot of travel calls with guys catching the ball and shuffling their feet. Just a little bit overjuiced. We just had to settle in. In the second quarter we settled in a little bit and as the game went on we settled into our game. We just had to take a breath and play basketball.”

The Knights grew their lead to nine early in the third quarter before Izaac Strandlien brought the Lions back with back-to-back 3-pointers. After missing six of his first seven shots, Standlien found his shooting touch in the second half, knocking down three of his four 3s in the game.

“He stuck with it,” Bishop Ryan coach Broderick Bosch said. He missed his first few shots and everybody’s telling him to keep shooting and that’s what he did. Once he sees one go in he’ll go on a run and that’s what he did. He started attacking and kept attacking and that’s why he’s such a good player.”

Strandlien was the lone Lions player in double figures, finishing with a team-high 13 points.

The Lions (20-7) got as close as three points of the lead a couple times, but the Knights’ two most experienced players on the roster in Schmidt and Wyatt Weekley took over from there. The pair of juniors have started in each of Our Redeemer’s three consecutive appearances at the state tournament and scored their team’s next 13 points to give the Knights a 40-29 lead early in the fourth quarter.

‘We just had to get our movement going,” Weekley said. “Bishop Ryan has a great defense and getting into our flow helped us a lot. For me personally, moving around and setting screens for other people like we did a couple ball screens for Nolan, so getting Nolan downhill and letting him do his game and his play, I was fine with spacing out. I’ll do whatever my team needs me to do.”

Weekley finished with 14 points. Both Weekley and Schmidt grabbed seven rebounds each as the Knights held a 34-25 edge on the boards. They outscored the Lions by 32 points in the paint and held a 13-0 advantage in points off turnovers.

It was only a quarterfinal contest, but it had the atmosphere of a championship game with the two local representatives matched up against one another. More than 2,100 fans came out to watch the latest chapter in the friendly rivalry.

“It was crazy,” Weekley said. “We’re in the Minot Dome with two Minot teams in the state tournament going at it and Bishop Ryan is such a good team. Some say they are our rivals, but we’re all friends and it was a great atmosphere. It was crazy being on the court.”

With the win, the Knights advance to the state semifinals for a second consecutive season. They will play Ray in a rematch of the Region 3 Tournament championship on Friday, March 20, at 1 p.m. The Jays handed the Knights just their second loss of the season. Our Redeemer’s is looking for its second title game appearance in program history, with its first coming in his first time at state in 2016.

For the Lions, their quest to repeat as state champions ended, but it doesn’t take away from the season they put together in a year that many viewed as one that would require a bit of a rebuild.

“I’m so proud of this team,” Bosch said. “Getting here is such a challenge in our district and region. To come back from the team we had last year and having a lot of new faces in the lineups, it’s something our hard work really showed in us getting back here.”

The Lions will play North Star in a consolation semifinal game on Friday, March 20, at 6:30 p.m.