Our Redeemer’s needed two overtime periods to finally edge Bishop Ryan in the championship game while Velva and Westhope-Newburg won their region play-in games to continue their seasons.

No. 1 Our Redeemer’s 62, No. 3 Bishop Ryan 57

The title game was not between unknown foes for the District 6 Boys Basketball Tournament. In a continuation of the Minot version of the ‘Holy War’ between the top seeded Our Redeemer’s Christian School Knights and Bishop Ryan Lions, the players are very familiar to each other.

The teams swapped leads, scores, defensive moments and hustle for the first quarter of play. The Knights hit one more basket than the Lions for the 14-11 lead as the buzzer sounded to end the first quarter of play.

Kari Gibb/MDN Knights Nolan Schmidt (14) fights for inside position to shoot while Lions Jett Lundeen (31) and Ramsey Walz (42) defend against him in the paint.

The second quarter started where the first ended. The Lions held the inside game edge while the Knights had the outside shooting lead. The Knights had more fouls due to the inside play of Bishop Ryan. Our Redeemer’s called the timeout at the 4:59 mark with the game tied 14-14 in the second quarter.

As the clock ticked down towards halftime, the Lions inside game held up over the outside shooting by Our Redeemer’s boys. Bishop Ryan took the 26-21 lead into the break.

The third quarter was very much like the second- Lions inside game versus the Knights outside shooting. Bishop Ryan held the edge and the lead until the final seconds of the quarter when Our Redeemer’s hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer for the 36-36 tie to start the fourth quarter of play.

The final quarter of play came down to which team would Impose their game play and tempo of play on the other for the win and district title. With 5:19 in the game, Our Redeemer’s called timeout with Bishop Ryan holding the 41-38 lead.

Lead swaps and 3-point shooting by both teams highlighted the scoreboard as the time ticked away. Our Redeemer’s again called timeout with 3:12 to play and Bishop Ryan clinging to the 46-44 lead.

In back to back possessions, the Knights had the ball roll out while the Lions had a free throw roll in as Bishop Ryan maintained the 48-46 lead as the time wound down.

The Knights worked for an inside shot that tied the game 48-48 and the Lions called timeout with 1:27 to play in the game. Following the timeout, Our Redeemer’s forced a turnover and took the 50-48 lead. Bishop Ryan called a timeout with 21.7 seconds left in the game and possession.

The Lions made the layup, were fouled and tied the game 50-50 with a free throw to take the one point lead. 17.6 seconds left to play. Bishop Ryan missed the free throw but got the rebound and missed the shot.

Overtime was needed.

With the score tied 56-56 Our Redeemer’s held possession and called timeout with 45.3 seconds left in the first overtime period. The Knights missed a 3-pointer with 15.4 seconds left. Bishop Ryan took their turn with a timeout and a plan to make the basket and win the game.

A second overtime was needed.

Bishop Ryan missed a 3-pointer while Our Redeemer’s fought for rebounds and made a pair of inside shots. With the 60-57 Knights lead, the Bishop Ryan fouling started with 50.7 left in the second overtime period.

Our Redeemer’s was led by Wyatt Weekley with 25 points- ten in the overtimes- for the win. Jace Weekley added 14 while both Andrew Eby and Nolan Schmidt tallied seven each for the Knights.

Bishop Ryan was led by Isaac Strandlien scored 24 points while Ramsey Walz added 22 in the effort by the Lions.

No. 4 Velva 71, No. 7 Harvey-Wells County 61

In the fall football season, the Aggies beat the Hornets 44-13 in the quarterfinal match enroute to Velva-Drake-Anamoose winning the state championship. Harvey-Wells County remembers and plays to seek revenge for ending their season on the gridiron.

The Aggies ended the season on the hardwood for the Hornets as well as the Harvey-Wells County season ended with the loss.

The Hornets held the lead prior to the halftime break, but Velva turned up the shooting to tie the game at 33-33 to start the second half of play and never looked back. The closest the game got was a seven point difference with 1:17 left and the 68-61 Velva lead.

The Aggies were led by Ben Schepp with 18 points. Mason McPeak added 17 points in the win. Reese Steffens and Hank Bodine each had eight while Reggie Bruner and Mason Kraft both added seven points apiece for Velva.

The Hornets were led by Tyler Swang with 19 points in the game. Noah Ziegler added 14 while Avery Williams and Jaxon Feist each scored seven in the effort for Harvey-Wells County.

No. 2 Westhope-Newburg 57, No. 5 Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood 29

Westhope-Newburg started the region play-in game with an 8-0 run and outscored Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood (MLS) by 14 points in the first quarter and seven points in the second for the 32-11 lead at the half.

The taller Mavericks made the inside game difficult for the Sioux, so Westhope-Newburg used the outside shooting to their advantage. The Sioux also had the definite edge in disruptive defense to start the game.

The Sioux also used press defense to force turnovers and steals that led to more Westhope-Newburg points. Shooting woes for the Mavericks slowed down the scoring despite the edge in rebounding.

The second half was nearly a carbon copy of the first with one exception- the 3-pointers fell for the Sioux more often than in the first half of play. With 1:46 to play in the third quarter of play, Westhope-Newburg led 44-18 and outscored the Mavericks 17-12 for a 49-23 lead with one quarter to play.

Westhope-Newburg rotated bench players in with just less than three minutes to play and the 57-27 lead. MLS did the same less than a minute later.

The Sioux were led by Will Artz with 18 points- four from the arc. Hunter Tolstad and Dayton Hawkins each added nine points in the win. Walker Braaten had eight points with six from 3-point shots.

The Mavericks were led by Reid Morlock and Carson Nett with seven points from each in the game. Austin Lakefield hit for five points for MLS in the effort.