Lori Gronvold for the Tribune Rugby’s Jaden Hamilton goes up for a shot while Bishop Ryan’s Brady Feller (no. 3) tries to contest.

For the past five years, the Rugby Panther boys hadn’t had a win over the Bishop Ryan Lions.

The Panthers snapped that streak Tuesday night at Bishop Ryan High School in Minot, winning 64-34 over the Lions.

With the tallest Lions starters each being 6 feet tall (Conner Thompson, Nicholas Sanders and Brady Feller), Bishop Ryan was at a height disadvantage from the tipoff, as all of the Panthers’ starters were 6 feet and higher – with Isaiah Bundy-Smith (10 points on the night) and Jaden Hamilton (21 points) being the tallest starters at 6’6″ and 6’7″, respectively.

The Panthers struck first with a bucket from Trace Goven. Logan Merck provided a rebuttal for the Lions less than a minute later. The Panthers would then score six more points before the Lions could get on the board a second time. The Lions would answer four of those points with buckets from Thompson. The Panthers answered those four with buckets from Devan Michels (9 points) and Cole Slaubaugh (6 points). At the end of one, Rugby would have a 14-8 lead.

The second quarter would see Hamilton take the lead in scoring for the Panthers, scoring eight of the Panthers’ 14 points on the quarter. The Lions would be held to seven for a 28-15 Panther lead going into halftime.

In the third quarter, Thompson and Feller combined for 11 of the Lions’ 13 points scored on the quarter. Rugby meanwhile scored 17, the last five of which would start a run that would continue into the next quarter.

The 5-0 run would grow into a 16-2 run by the 4:22 mark of the fourth quarter. The Panthers would then tack on six more points, for which the Lions answered four. Goven (18 points) would score the final two points on a 2-for-2 trip to the foul line.

The Panthers finished the regular season last night in Dunseith.

– Tribune Staff Report