Jamestown, N.D. (NewsDakota.com)—-Sawyer Wanzek drilled a three pointer with 4 seconds left in the game giving the Medina-Pingree-Buchanan (MPB) Thunder a 57-56 win over the Ellendale Cardinals to capture the Region 3 boys basketball championship. Ellendale would get a final shot off from just outside the three point line as time expired that wouldn’t fall giving the Thunder a trip to the state Class B tournament in Bismarck next week.

Linton-Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock (LHMB) defeated Edgeley-Kulm-Montpelier (EKM) 68-66 in overtime to take the third place trophy. Head coach Dan Carr picked up career win 801 with the victory in his 44th year as a head coach.

Championship

MPB Thunder  57     Ellendale Cardinals  56

The Thunder led 31-26 at halftime but would trail 46-41 after three quarters. Rylen Wick helped the Thunder outscore Ellendale 16-10 in the final quarter for the 1 point win. Wick hit a pair of deep threes in the final frame and had a game high 20 points overall. Wick added a game high 5 assists and finished with 2 steals. Josh Moser finished the night with 11 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Wanzek, along with his game winning three pointer had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Gage Magstadt scored all five of his points in the final quarter including a big three pointer and added 6 rebounds. The Thunder made 7-10 from the free throw line aiding the win.

Ellendale was paced by Riley Thorpe with  17 points, including three-3 pointers, 2 assists, 3 rebounds. Mason Molan added 14 points and 5 rebounds. Anton Geller added 9 points and 8 rebounds. Levi Reis also added 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists. The Cardinals had some untimely miscues late in the game, committing 4 of their 9 turnovers in the final quarter and made just 2 of 6 from the free throw line in the final quarter, a couple misses on the front ends of one and ones. The miscues and missed opportunities gave the Thunder hope late and Wanzek’s three sealed the win. Ellendale wraps up it’s season at 14-10 (21-3) and MPB improved to 21-4.

Third Place

Linton-HMB Lions  68     EKM Rebels  66  OT

The Rebels scored the first 4 points of the overtime period, but the Lions scored the final 6 points for the 68-66 win. Grant Bosch scored all 6 overtime points for the Lions and finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. Jace Jochim added 15 point, a game high 10 rebounds and 3 assists. Gentry Richter added 11 points and 7 rebounds. The Rebels were paced by Jacob Nitschke with a game high 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Joe Kramlich added 14 points, 6 rebounds, and a game high 4 steals. Dylan Carlson added 12 points and 6 rebounds. EKM finished the season 13-11 and LHMB finished at 15-9.

The Region 3 senior athlete of the year went to Riley Thorpe of Ellendale (District 5). Thorpe won the award over the District 6 senior athlete Trenton Erbele of Napoleon-Gackle-Streeter.

Kevin Strobel of EKM was voted the Region 3 coach of the year.

MPB will advance to the 2023 State Class B tournament next week in Bismarck and all Thunder games will be aired on 98.3 FM and www.newsdakota.com