As a fifth grader, Ramsey Walz cried as he watched Ben Bohl and Bishop Ryan lose in overtime to Hillsboro/Central Valley in the 2018 state title game. Seven years later, the Bishop Ryan senior center shed tears of joy, as the Lions roared past the defending state champion Westhope/Newburg Sioux, 52-33, to win the 2025 NDHSAA Boys Basketball Division B State Championship.

“I was so glad when I heard Ben was coaching for us this year,” said Walz. “I already had the intention to with the state championship, but with him on the staff and trying to get what he couldn’t do.”

The game was never in question, as the Lions jumped out to a 7-0 lead and extended it to 14-4 at the end of the first quarter, led by senior Jett Lundeen’s ten points. The Lions defense stifled the Sioux all night, holding the to just 39.6% from the floor, while forcing fourteen turnovers and recording three blocks and five steals.

Bishop Ryan led by 10 points at the half, and outscored Westhope/Newburg 16-8 in the fourth quarter to seal the win. The Lions never trailed.

Walz, named tournament MVP, closed out his career with 11 points and 16 rebounds to pace the Lions. Lundeen led Bishop Ryan in scoring with 14 points, and senior Macksen Shean finished with 13. Jack Passa finished with 11 rebounds. Hayden Seay had eight points, while Passa scored four and Izaac Strandlien added two.

Walker Braaten, named the Division B Senior Athlete of the Year, led the Sioux with 18 points and nine rebounds, but few other Sioux players were able to break through the Lions defense.

“We haven’t won a state championship in basketball since 1994, so it’s just surreal,” said Walz.

Adding another year to the championship banner became a rallying cry all year with “’94 no more” becoming a manta.

“All I could think of was that dumb banner at Bishop Ryan and the last thing it says was ’94,” said Lundeen. “We had that as our screen saver for a long time because we wanted to change it.”

With all the Bishop Ryan has been through in the past several years, Walz acknowledged the larger impact the title run has had on rallying the Lions’ community.

“The past two, three years have been tragic. We’ve had so many family members, and even students and teachers, either pass away or get hurt in a car crash. So it just means so much for the school to finally bring home something as surreal as a state championship, I’m so happy.”

Head coach Broderick Bosch spoke to the impact his senior class of Boden Erck, Lundeen, Sheen, Walz had on the program.

“This has been their goal,” said Bosch. “We thought we would do it a year or two earlier. Didn’t happen, but they kept grinding, kept working, so they really, really deserve this. With Ramsey, it’s not just scoring. I think he has over 50 rebounds through the state tournament, which is unbelievable. It’s crazy to have that many rebounds when you’re the focus point of every shot going up, and then you get boxed out. It just shows that he’s willing to do that dirty work.”

Bosch added that the win will give the younger players the itch.

“Whether it’s next year or five years, all the kids that saw what happened wants to do something like this. That’s the impact this has made.”

Bishop Ryan finished the season with a 27-3 record.

1 2 3 4 Total

Westhope Newburg 4 10 11 8 33

Bishop Ryan 14 10 12 16 52