Panther forward Madison Uhlenkamp goes up for a shot against Knights defender Cara Steede Tuesday at the Minot Municipal Auditorium. The Panthers lost to the Knights, 51-50, in the Region 6 Girls Basketball Tournament semifinals.

Tuesday evening was a battle of two teams with opening games in the Region 6 Girls Basketball tournament that ended in victories.

And between the Our Redeemer’s Christian School Knights and the Rugby Panthers, it ended in a 51-50 heartbreaking loss for the latter.

On Monday evening, the Panthers sailed past Glenburn (who are also the Panthers), setting up a 30-point lead going into halftime. Glenburn would more than quadruple its first half scoring output in the third quarter thanks to well-connected makes from Sierra Hansen, Latasha Dean, Randi Long and Anna Zelinski. But it wasn’t enough to negate the 20 points Rugby scored on the quarter to send the game into a running clock fourth quarter.

The Knights meanwhile ended Monday evening in a 55-40 victory against the seven-player Westhope-Newburg Sioux.

The Panthers struck first Tuesday evening with center Breanna Thompson in the post. The Knights and the Panthers would be neck and neck, ending the first quarter in a 15-15 tie.

Panther forward Karsyn Hager then opened the second quarter by making her third of five boomers on the night. Seconds later the Panthers had a four-point lead thanks to a 1-for-2 trip to the foul line for Madison Uhlenkamp. The Knights then took the lead back with shots from Cara Steede, Karlee Zablotney and Tessa Olson. The Panthers then took the lead back again with well-placed shots from Whitney Gronvold and Uhlenkamp. Three-pointers from Hager, as well as Karolynn Winger for the Knights, put the Panthers ahead by three at halftime.

After both sides were scoreless for nearly two minutes in the third quarter, Lauren Hendrickson and Winger with another boomer put the Knights ahead again. Thompson would respond in kind for the Panthers, but then Morgan Olson put the Knights up again. The Knights would go on to outscore the Panthers 16-9 on the quarter.

With a three-point make from Winger, the Knights looked like they would continue their hold on the lead. But the Panthers would then go on an 11-3 tear to put the score at 50-49 in the Panthers’ favor.

With just 16 seconds on the clock, Steede then scored in the post. A last-second miss saw the Panthers on the other end of a 51-50 loss.

The Panthers faced the Bishop Ryan Lions on Thursday for a chance at third place. The Lions were sent to the battle for third on a 48-37 loss to the Velva-Sawyer Aggies.

– Tribune Staff Report