In one of those games that a team just has to chalk up to lesson learned, Velva beat Rugby 42-36.

“We just didn’t shoot very well,” said Coach Mike Santjer. “with the one exception of Jason Goetz.”

Goetz made over half the team points with six field goals and four three-pointers.

Rebounding was another area that could be improved. Andrew Hershey took up some of the slack there by making six rebounds.

Dave McAtee contributed a three-pointer and two field goals for a total of five points. Jarett Lovcik and Mitch Roerick were able to add four points each to the scoreboard. The only freethrow for Rugby was made by Riley Olsen

It was an off night for the Panthers. For the most part, the shots just weren’t going in.

“We played pretty good defense, commented Santjer. “We won’t change anything defensively. We’ll be working on shooting and free throws.”

“We’ll use what we learned to our advantage,” he added. “Hopefully, we’ll meet Velva again in districts.”

The team will be gearing up for a big game on Monday, January 17 which is another home game. The Panthers will play North Star who is rated #1 in the polls.

In the meantime, there will be a whole lot of shooting going on in practice.