Kari Gibb/MDN Ray freshman Jace Becker (0) looks for a lane to pass as Velva senior Ben Schepp (23) defends the paint in the third quarterfinal game of the Division B Region 3 Boys Basketball Tournament on Monday, March 10, at the Minot Auditorium.

The season is winding down on the Division B boys basketball teams. Regular season games are fading into the past. District games have come and gone.

The final step before the 2025 NDHSAA Division B Boys Basketball State Tournament that is scheduled for March 20-22 at the MSU Dome are Region tournaments for the chance to go to the state tournament.

The Division B, Region 3 Boys Basketball Tournament tipped off at the Minot Auditorium Monday, March 10, with four games in the tournament quarterfinals.

The Semifinals will be a District 6 reunion for both the upper and lower brackets of the Region 3 Tournament.

Our Redeemer’s will face Westhope-Newburg in the upper bracket semi finals today while Velva will battle Bishop Ryan in the lower bracket.

D6-1 Our Redeemer’s 70, D5-4 Kenmare-Bowbells 27

The last time the District 6 champions played the District 5 fourth seeds from Kenmare-Bowbells was in early January at Our Redeemer’s resulting in the home team posting the 75-44 win over the visitors.

The Knights controlled the tip and scored the first points in the game. Our Redeemer’s applied the full court zone press to start the game as well. The 15-0 run to start the game for the Knights set the tone for the first quarter of play.

Our Redeemer’s led 19-6 to start the second quarter of play.

The second quarter of play was a continuation of the first. The Knights outscored the Honkers by 13 points in the first and 14 in the second for the 39-15 lead at the half.

Our Redeemer’s started the third quarter with a 9-0 run on the way to a 59-21 lead going into the final eight minutes of play. After the 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter of play at the 5:56 mark in the game, Our Redeemer’s ran with the bench players.

The Knights were led by Nolan Schmidt with 17 points while Jace Weekley added 16 in the win.

The Honkers were led by Peyton Helwig with 11 and TJ Lucy with seven points.

D6-3 Westhope-Newburg 74, D5-2 Powers Lake-Burke Central 56

The District 5 second seeds played the District 6 third seeds from Westhope-Newburg over the Christmas break at the Minot State University Dome and the Sioux took the win over the Ranchers 84-51 to celebrate the holidays.

Sioux controlled the tip but Ranchers scored first to start the game. Both teams had start of the game jitters as shots were missed, turnovers occurred and passes bounced off hands and feet.

The inside game for Westhope-Newburg gave the Sioux the edge midway through the first quarter of play. As the Ranchers found their game towards the end of the first, the Sioux began to find the range from the arc.

Westhope-Newburg took a 25-10 lead into the second quarter of play.

The second quarter of play was all about 3-point shooting by the Sioux as they out scored the Ranchers 23-9 on the way to a 48-19 lead at the half.

The third quarter of play showcased the toughness of Powers Lake-Burke Central as the Ranchers out scored the Sioux 20-11 to tighten the gap. Westhope-Newburg led 59-39 with one quarter of play left.

With 4:16 left to play, the lead was squeezed by the Ranchers. The Sioux took the 65-51 lead into the last four minutes of play. Despite the Ranchers best effort, Westhope-Newburg was just too far out in front.

The Sioux were led by Walker Braaten with 22 points and Braden Bailey with 17 points. Dayton Hawkins scored 12 points while Hunter Tolstad added 11 points in the game for Westhope-Newburg.

The Ranchers were led by Kyle Huseby with 17 and Cody Rice with 12 points. Grayson Rystedt also had ten points in the game for Powers Lake-Burke Central.

D6-4 Velva 76, D5-1 Ray 65

The lower bracket quarterfinal game one featured a rematch of the District 5 top seeds from Ray last faced the District 6 fourth seeds from Velva. The two teams met on February 1 with the Aggies taking the 77-64 win at a neutral site.

Velva controlled the tip and both teams missed first shots. The Aggies scored first and the Jays answered right away. The tempo of the game was fast from the start for both teams.

To start the game the battle was between the speed of Ray against the defense by Velva. With three minutes to go in the first, Ray crept into foul trouble. Steals and free throws led the Aggies to the 19-10 lead going into the second quarter of play.

The second quarter of play Ray kept pace for the first half of the eight minutes of play and then stole the momentum to close the gap. With Velva in the lead 33-32, a buzzer beating drive lifted the Aggies to the 35-32 halftime lead.

Both teams started the third quarter with high energy tempo, trading baskets and turnovers. Rebounding by the Aggies limited the touches by the Jays and kept Velva out in front of the exchanges. Velva led 52-41 with 2:07 left in the third prompting a Ray timeout to adjust.

Velva led 57-45 with eight minutes to play.

The last two minutes of the third and the start of the fourth, the physical nature of the Aggies gave them the edge as the game wound down.

Velva was led by Ben Schepp with 31 points for the Aggies. Reggie Bruner added 14 while Mason McPeak hit for 12 in the game. Reese Steffens added ten points for the win.

Ray was led by Brody Caynar with 16 and Jace Becker with 13 points. TJ Barman had 12 while Blake Bergstrom added 11 points for the Jays.

D6-2 Bishop Ryan 54, D5-3 Alexander 25

As the District 6 second seeds squared up with the District 5 third seeds, the two teams had not faced each other this year. The Bishop Ryan boys entered the quarterfinal game with a 20-2 record on the year while Alexander had a 12-9 mark.

The Lions controlled the tip and scored the first four points in the game. Bishop Ryan started the game with a 7-0 run. With big bodies on each team, the play was physical and each shot was contested both in and out of the paint.

Bishop Ryan used the edge in shooting percentage to hold the 16-7 lead to start the second quarter.

The second quarter the Lions began finding the range from the arc. Strategy by the Comets was inside game and for Bishop Ryan the ball movement and outside shooting. The full court trapping defense caused turnovers and points for the Lions as well.

With 3:30 left in the half, Bishop Ryan held the 30-9 lead and Alexander was in foul trouble. The score was 45-11 at the half. The Lions game tempo and strategy out scored the Comets 29-4 in the second.

Both teams came out from the half cold shooting. Within three minutes Alexander found themselves in foul trouble to start the second half. The Lions found their shooting rhythm and began to hit the hoop again. The fourth quarter lead for Bishop Ryan was 54-16.

The Lions were led by Mack Shean with 14 points and Ramsey Walz with 12 for Bishop Ryan. Jett Lundeen added ten points while Hayden Seay tallied nine in the win.

The Comets were led by Colt Champion with 20 of the 25 game points. Eithan Gillespe had three and Jullian Gant added the final two points for Alexander.