The Rugby Panther boys basketball team netted a huge win following their first loss.

The Panthers won 76-41 at home Tuesday over the Velva Aggies.

Rugby got to an early lead and put on the gas, scoring 30 points (15 of them coming from Jaden Hamilton) while holding the Aggies to eight in the first quarter. The second quarter saw the Panthers add 15 more points to their lead while holding the Aggies to nine.

The third quarter would be huge for Panthers Trace Goven, Cole Slaubaugh and Devan Michels, as each would contribute multiple buckets in the Panthers’ 24 points on the quarter. The Aggies would see post Kaden Chadwick match his first half scoring output, along with a 1-for-2 trip to the line added on, for nine of the Aggies’ 16 points on the quarter.

The fourth quarter was the only quarter in which the Aggies outscored the Panthers, albeit by a razor thin 8-7 margin. Goven and Slaubaugh would be the only Panthers who scored on the quarter. The Aggies saw Chadwick tally six of his team’s eight points.

Panthers head coach Mike Santjer credited ball movement and sharing for the victory.

“This group is probably one of the better teams when they share the ball they are so tough to stop. And when they play unselfish like that and find the open guy it just puts a lot of pressure on the defense to guard guys,” Santjer said.

Last week the Shiloh Christian Skyhawks handed the Panthers their first loss of the season, winning 66-64.

The Skyhawks netted three three-pointers to take a 17-9 lead at the end of one quarter. The Skyhawks outscored the Panthers 22-20 in the second to take a 39-29 lead by halftime. The third quarter saw the Skyhawks outscore the Panthers 17-14.

The Panthers started to come back in the fourth quarter, opening with a six-point run and adding at least two points for every single point scored by the Skyhawks. The Panthers would later be in a situation in the final seconds where they brought the ball down the court and after a timeout with 5.1 seconds left in regulation was on the receiving end of two fouls on inbounds. Goven was sent to the line to shoot with half a second on the clock. Goven made the first free throw and attempted a hard miss on the second, but it was discounted due to a line violation.

The day before, the Panthers deflated the Towner-Granville-Upham Titans in an 81-39 road win.

The Panthers took the lead on a 15-2 run, and later added eight more points while holding the Titans to a 2-for-2 trip to the line for Cody Frounfelter.

The second quarter saw Cy Luna take the lead in all scoring for the Titans with 13 points on the game/quarter – nine of them coming from outside.

The Panthers added 22 points to a considerable lead, with the score 45-22 at halftime.

Much like in similar fashion to the first quarter, the Panthers would have a huge third quarter – netting 23 points while holding the Titans to single digits. In the fourth, the Panthers scored 13 while holding the Titans to eight.

The Panther boys traveled to Drake on Friday to take on the Raiders.

On Tuesday, Feb. 11, the Panthers will host the no. 1-ranked Four Winds-Minnewaukan Indians.