Lori Gronvold for the Tribune Rugby’s Isaiah Bundy-Smith shoots while being swarmed by Braves defenders Tuesday in Bottineau.

After taking an “L” last weekend on the road, the Rugby Panther boys bounced back in a district win in Bottineau Tuesday night.

“We talked about tonight… nobody’s going to work harder than us; they can’t be tougher than us; and we gotta play a full 32-minute game instead of just playing a half and settle for that,” said Panthers coach Mike Santjer. “So we did that a little bit better tonight.”

The trio of Devan Michels (19 points on the night), Jaden Hamilton (21 points) and Trace Goven (18 points) netted a combined 30 points between the three of them in a 34-12 first quarter that heavily favored the Panthers.

The second quarter would not be the same result. Rugby would hold the Bottineau Braves to just 12 more points while adding 19 more for a 53-24 advantage at halftime.

Three-point shooting which helped give the Panthers as big of an advantage as they had in the first half allowed the Braves to have a bit of a resurgence in the third quarter, with guards Adam Monson (19 points) and Brandon Brudwick (6 points) hitting 12 of their squad’s 18 points on the quarter from outside the arc.

The Braves would outscore the Panthers by a razor thin 14-13 margin in the fourth quarter. However the game was in hand by that point, as the Panthers’ 27 points in the third quarter set the stage for a running clock fourth.

In the loss to Carrington, the Cardinals got to a 13-9 lead by the end of the first quarter.

The Panthers battled back, outscoring the Cardinals 23-8 for a 32-21 lead at halftime.

Carrington outscored the Panthers in the third quarter by a razor thin 18-17 margin, tying the game 39-39.

Then Carrington would outscore the Panthers 20-12 with the final score 59-51 in favor of Carrington.

“I think the biggest thing was our lack of toughness at times our mental toughness, our physical toughness,” said Santjer. “Carrington kind of took advantage of us that way.

“We settled. Carrington fought back and they took it to us at the end.”

Two days before the loss to Carrington, the Panther boys whopped on the Nedrose Cardinals, 64-30.

The Panthers worked up a 19-6 lead by the end of the first quarter. They then widened the gulf 41-15 by the end of the first half.

The Cardinals had a brief resurgence in the third quarter, however the Panthers would outscore them 13-11 for a 54-26 advantage.

The Panthers would hold the Cardinals to a mere four points in the fourth while adding 10 more to their own total.