M/P-B gives up 23-0 run in 48-31 loss to Beulah at state

BISMARCK — The Medina/Pingree-Buchanan Thunder played well in the first half but the Beulah Miners went on a 23-0 run in the second half en route to a 48-31 win to advance to the semfinals of the North Dakota Class B boys basketball state tournament on Thursday, March 16, at the Bismarck Event Center.

“It did get away from us and we tried in a few different timeouts to come up with some things that work for us and it just didn’t happen,” Thunder head coach Bob Young said. “So, again I gotta give them their credit, our shooting percentage was not high enough to win a basketball game and that’s just the way it is.”

The Thunder (21-5) started the game on fire, sprinting out to a 7-2 lead punctuated by a Josh Moser and-one. The Thunder took an 11-6 lead heading into the second quarter.

The second quarter was all about runs as the Miners (21-4) cut the deficit to 13-12 before the Thunder went on a run and went up 21-12. The Miners responded with another run and had momentum going into the half after Trace Beachamp made a 3-pointer to make it 21-19.

“That was big,” Miners head coach Jeremy Brandt said. “We didn’t have a lot go right offensively the first half and for Trace to hit that three was huge for some momentum going into the second half and to be only down by one. We felt, or at least, I felt pretty good where we were at considering how we had played.”

The Miners kept it going in the second half while the Thunder struggled to put the ball in the hoop. The Thunder took a 27-25 lead on a Rylen Wick bucket with 4:05 to go in the third quarter.

The Miners’ Aidan O’Brien responded with a 3-pointer to give his team its first lead of the game. O'Brien's basket was also the start a 23-0 run for the Miners as they pulled away to take a 48-27 lead.

“Once we hit that three, we had the momentum on our side,” Miners guard Braylen Schirado said. “We came out and coach (Brandt) was like, ‘you guys just gave up eight points in the second half.’ So, really defense is what won us that game because as long as we hold teams to below points we don’t need to score a bunch. Once we hit that three, we started playing good defense and that’s when it really flipped.”

In the second half, the Thunder went 3-for-22 from the field while the Miners shot 57%.

The Thunder return to the floor at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 17, when they take on Powers Lake-Burke Central.

David Samson/The Forum

M/P-B 31, BHS 48

M/P-B: 11 10 6 4–31

BHS: 6 13 20 9–48

Points leaders:

M/P-B: Gage Magstadt 8, Rylen Wick 8, Josh Moser 5

BHS: Braylen Schirado 12, Tarren Larson 11, Trace Beauchamp 10

Assists leaders:

M/P-B: Sawyer Wanzek 1, Jaden Sorenson 1

BHS: Aidan O’Brien 7, Bennett Larson 1, Schirado 1

Leading rebounders:

M/P-B: Wick 8, Moser 6, Gage Magstadt 6, Wanzek 5

BHS: B. Larson 8, Beauchamp 8, T. Larson 7, O’Brien 3

Full Bracket Below:

First Round:

#2 Shiloh Christian 69 vs. RD2 Powers Lake-Burke Central 38

#3 Beulah 48 vs. RD3 Medina/Pingree-Buchanan 31

#1 Central Cass vs. RD1 Warwick, 6:30 p.m.

#4 Thompson vs. #5 Des Lacs Burlington, 8:30 p.m.