BISMARCK, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) The MPB Thunder led by as many as nine points in the first half, but the Miners outscored the MPB Thunder 20-6 in the third quarter and get the victory 48-31 in the quarterfinals of the 2023 State Class B Boys Basketball tournament on Thursday afternoon. MPB drops to 21-5 overall, the number three seeded Miners improve to 21-4 overall.

After the first quarter, Medina/Pingree/Buchanan (MPB) led 11-6, and at halftime, 21-19. The Beulah Miners came out strong in the third quarter, with help from Freshman Braylen Schirado, who scored seven of his total 12 points in the third quarter, and they took the lead 39-27. MPB shot only 22% from the field, Beulah 44%. Leading the way for the Miners was Schirado with 12, Tarren Larson added 11 and Trace Beauchamp with 10 points. MPB was led by Rylen Wick and Gage Magstadt with eight points each. Josh Moser, who averaged almost 17 points per game during the season, was held to just five points.

Next up for the MPB Thunder will be Friday afternoon at 1pm against the Ranchers of Powers Lake/Burke Central in the consolation round. Thunder Country 98.3 and newsdakota.com will broadcast the game starting about 12:50pm pregame.