Ray’s Jace Becker and Medina-Pingree-Buchanan’s Tason Kinzell (1) wrestle for possession of the basketball while Medina-Pingree-Buchanan’s Gage Hofmann also defends during the third-place game at the Class B state tournament on Saturday, March 21, at the MSU Dome Mike Kraft/MDN

While they would have preferred ending their season on a win in the state title game, three other teams at the Class B state tournament finished their years on a high note.

Ray, North Star and Midway-Minto all won their respective placement games on Saturday, March 21, at the MSU Dome. Ray took third with a 77-69 victory over Medina-Pingree-Buchanan, North Star grabbed fifth place by defeating Nelson County, 64-48, and Midway-Minto took down Bishop Ryan, 75-56, to finish seventh.

In the first game of the day, the Mustangs (23-5) put up their fourth-highest point total of the season, netting 22 points in both the first and fourth quarters. Midway-Minto shot 54.2 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from behind the 3-point line. Trenton Sitzer led all scorers with 26 points, knocking down five 3s. Ezra Robinson and Elijah Robinson also finished in double figures for the Mustangs with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Ezra Robinson was named to the all-tournament team.

The Mustangs held a 39-25 edge on the glass. Sitzer pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.

Bishop Ryan Broderick Bosch used the seventh-place game as an opportunity to give all his players some playing time. Fifteen Lions saw time on the court in their final game of the season.

Hayden Seay led the Lions with 16 points, hitting 4 of 7 shots from distance. Jack Passa poured in 14.

Bishop Ryan finished the season 19-9.

In the fifth-place game, North Star used a big second quarter to create some separation from Nelson County. The Bearcats (22-7) outscored the Chargers, 22-8 in the second half to grab a 38-25 lead at halftime. They entered the second quarter trailing 17-16.

The Bearcats stretched their lead to 20 with 5:49 left in the third quarter. North Star capitalized on 16 Nelson County turnovers, converting those into 19 points.

Kade Mitchell led the Bearcats with 27 points on 11-for-20 shooting. Ian Westlind added 16. Mitchell and Westlind hit seven of the team’s 10 3-pointers.

The Chargers (19-9) had three players finish in double figures, led by Rider Schmidt with 15. Jaxon Joramo and Brody Rainsberry finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Joramo had a game-high six blocks. Schmidt finished one rebound short of a double-double.

Mitchell and Schmidt earned spots on the all-tournament team.

In the final game before the championship, Ray bounced back to claim third place, as their offense returned to form after being held to a season-low 51 points against Our Redeemer’s in the semifinals the day prior.

The Jays shot 52.1 percent from the field. Four Ray players accounted for all but two of its points, led by 23 from Jace Becker and 22 from Ty Barman. Brody Ceynar and Blake Bergstrom each finished with 15.

Ray (26-2) scored 21 points from the free-throw line, as the Thunder (22-6) were whistled for 17 fouls. Barman was a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe.

The Jays never trailed, leading for all by 15 seconds of the contest. They jumped out to a 22-11 lead after the first quarter and stretched their advantage to 50-33 at halftime. The Thunder rallied a couple times in the second half to trim the deficit down to single digits, but Ray always had a counter.

Ray turned 13 M-P-B turnovers into 24 points and outscored the Thunder 26-4 in transition points. The Thunder held a 15-3 edge in second-chance points, pulling down 15 offensive rebounds. Trevin Behm had a double-double for the Thunder, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds – five on the offensive glass.

Gage Hoffman had a team-high 20 points for the Thunder. Drew Hoffman added 16 and Chase Ova and Terek Kinzell had 12 and 11 points, respectively. The Thunder shot 40.9 percent from the field.

Bergstrom, Barman and Gage Hoffman were named to the all-tournament team.