Bismarck Bound

The closing line of 1980 Team USA Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks' fabled speech in "Miracle" to his team before they took on the Soviets rang true for the Medina/Pingree-Buchanan Thunder.

"This. . . is your time. Now go out there and take it."

Sawyer Wanzek's three-pointer from the left wing with three seconds remaining, and a defensive stop on the following possession, triggered bedlam on the floor from M-P-B players and supporters as they executed an improbable 57-56 win over favored Ellendale in the Region 3 Boys' Basketball Tournament at the Jamestown Civic Center Thursday night, March 9.

The Thunder earned a trip to the State Class B Tournament at the Bismarck Event Center March 16-18 with the win, their first under the M-P-B co-op agreement. It will be the first appearance for Pingree-Buchanan since 2006 as the P-B-K Rebels, and for Medina since 1981.

"This year, we had an up-and-down year, but battled through all the adversity and played our best basketball at the end," said an almost-shocked Thunder Coach Bob Young. "And now, we're on our way to Bismarck."

After falling to the Cardinals twice earlier in the season (results later overturned by forfeit due to the Cardinals playing an ineligible player), M-P-B knew they had to take the tempo to Ellendale right away.

They did so with a 5-0 run to the start the game, but EHS came back with a run of their own to pull within one. A three-point play by Josh Moser at the first-quarter horn put M-P-B up four, 14-10.

Young's charges kept up the pace in the second quarter, keeping Ellendale from making any statement runs. It looked as if the Thunder were going to go into halftime up by two, but Rylen Wick was fouled on a buzzer-beater attempt from 30 feet.

The junior forward hit all three free throws, and M-P-B went in with momentum and a 31-26 lead.

In the third quarter, Ellendale decided to take a more aggressive and direct approach to the basket, making use of their speed off the dribble to go to the rack for numerous layups.

It was also an opportunity for Mason Molan to heat up from the outside. Molan would hit three of his four trifectas in the third quarter, giving Ellendale a 20-10 advantage in the period and a five-point lead at 46-41.

"Our game plan was to guard them with the matchups that we thought could best benefit us," said Young. "We were going to live with them making tough, contested threes, and hold them to one shot."

"It seems like everytime we've played them, we're down 10 to start out, and we wanted to run our best stuff to prevent that, and it worked."

Down the stretch, junior Gage Magstadt hit five key points, including a three, and Wick had two three-pointers during the comeback.

Wick would finish with 20 points (four three-pointers) and Moser 11, and Young had praise for their play as team leaders.

"They make our entire team better every day. If not for their performances, we wouldn't be where we're at, but because of their teammates, we've been able to develop as an entire group.

Riley Thorpe had 17 points to lead Ellendale, who had just three losses on the court this season but finished at a 14-10 official record. Molan had 14 points, and Anton Geller and Levi Reis scored nine and eight points.

One of the Cardinals' glaring weaknesses at the end was their foul shooting. They went just 3-for-8 at the line in the second half (5-for-11 in the game), including a few crucial misses that could have helped them pull away.

"We didn't really make many adjustments, we just made certain that we were boxing out and holding them to one shot," said Young. "When [Ellendale] did make their runs, we wanted to have offensive possessions that made their defense work harder, instead of panicking and taking quick shots. It ended up playing into our favor."

In postseason honors, Thorpe was named the Region 3 Senior Athlete of the Year. Coach of the Year went to Kevin Strobel of E-K-M.

Nowhere to go but up

Wanzek's heroics to give M-P-B the stirring one-point win, and the team effort it took to reach the pinnacle, were just one small part of the story.

To fully appreciate the momentous occasion of

M-P-B's first trip to the State 'B', it helps to remember the journey on which they've traveled.

Just four years prior, in 2019, the Thunder had just slogged through a winless 0-20 season, won just two games the year before in 2018, and were mired in a 29-game losing skid before breaking through with a 59-56 double-overtime win over Carrington on January 4, 2020.

"Four years ago, we were largely a junior high team, with only four guys 9-through-12, and it was really tough," Young said. "I was starting two junior high players, and bringing one off the bench."

That victory started Young's program back on the road to respectability, and they would finish at 7-15 in both 2020 and 2021, and rebounded for a 15-7 campaign the following year before the 21-4 breakthough in 2023.

"[That 2019-20 team] had three seniors we lost to graduation, but they really helped to change our culture, even though we were still small and young," the coach said.

In the nine years of the M-P-B co-op's existence, the boys have achieved 72 total victories, with 36 of those coming in the last two seasons.

Next up: Beulah

M-P-B (21-4) was placed in one of the three random draw slots for non-seeded teams as part of the 2023 Class B boys' tournament field.

The others are surprise Region 4 qualifier Warwick (19-6), a sixth seed in that tournament making their third-ever state tournament appearance after eighth place showings in 1989 and 1996, and Powers Lake/Burke Central (19-4) out of Region 8.

The Thunder faced the third-seeded Beulah Miners, the Region 7 champions, in the second first-round game of the day on Thursday, March 16.

Coach Jeremy Brandt's Miners, 20-4 this season, took a 65-55 win over Bowman County at Region 7 to advance, and are making their 14th state tournament in Class B (champions in 2012). They had an additional Class A appearance in 2000.

"I just know that they're very-well coached, have great playmakers on the perimeter, and two big kids that can score and rebound down low," said Young of Beulah. "They can play a number of different styles and every player on the floor can score, so we're going to have to play our best basketball. I think we can find ways to match up with them, and give them a battle."

The Miners have three wins over teams in the state tournament field, those coming against PL/BC, 71-60, on December 27, Des Lacs-Burlington, 51-41, on January 3, and a 51-46 victory over Shiloh Christian 10 days later.

Other first round games matched up second-seeded Shiloh Christian (20-4) against PL/BC in the opener, top overall seed and undefeated Central Cass (23-0) versus Warwick in the first game of the evening session, and the #4/#5 game featured Thompson (17-7) taking on DL-B (19-6).

Region 3 Boys' Basketball

Tournament, Jamestown

Championship

M-P-B 57, Ellendale 56

Ellen. 10 16 20 10 56

M-P-B 14 17 10 16 57

M-P-B: Rylen Wick 20, Josh Moser 11, Sawyer Wanzek 11, Mark Thomas 6, Gage Magstadt 5, Adam McClellan 4. Totals: 21-46 FG, 7-10 FT, 12 fouls. Three-pointers: Wick 4, Thomas 2, Wanzek, Magstadt.

Ellendale: Riley Thorpe 17, Mason Molan 14, Anton Geller 9, Levi Reis 8, Jack Bommersbach 6, Cole Saylor 2. Totals: 22-46 FG, 5-11 FT, 13 fouls. Three-pointers: Molan 4, Thorpe 3.

M-P-B Additional Stats

Rebounds: Wanzek 10, Moser 8, Magstadt 6, Thomas 2, McClellan 1.

Assists: Wick 5, Moser 3, McClellan, Thomas and Wanzek 1.

Steals: Moser 3, Wick 2.

Blocks: Magstadt and Wanzek 1.

Ellendale Additional Stats

Rebounds: Geller and Reis 8, Molan 5, Thorpe 3, Bommersbach and Kade Schimke 2.

Assists: Reis and Thorpe 2, Geller 1.

Steals: Bommersbach 4, Geller, Molan and Reis 1.

Region 3 Senior Athlete

of the Year

Riley Thorpe, Ellendale

Region 3 Coach of the Year

Kevin Strobel, E-K-M

State Class B, Bismarck

Thurs.-Sat., March 16-18

First Round - Thursday

Game 1: #2 seed Shiloh Christian (20-4) vs. Powers Lake/Burke Central (19-4)

Game 2: #3 seed Beulah (20-4) vs. M-P-B (21-4)

Game 3: #1 seed Central Cass (23-0) vs. Warwick (19-6)

Game 4: #4 seed Thompson (17-7) vs. #5 seed Des Lacs-Burlington (19-6)