Sue Sitter/PCT Surrounded by St. John Woodchucks, Panthers forward Brody Schneibel attempts a layup with help from guard Kory Vetsch.

Boys’ basketball Region 4 reigned supreme at the Central North Dakota Conference Tournament (CNDC) held at Harvey High School’s Hornets’ Nest Dec. 16-18.

The Dunseith Dragons defeated a persistent Harvey-Wells County Hornets squad to take the tournament championship 62-57 in a nail-biting overtime period.

The second-place Region 4 Hornets had fought their way to the championship round by overwhelming Rugby’s Panthers in the semifinals Dec. 17. The Panthers finished above competitors from their region when they defeated Region 6 team TGU in the quarterfinals. Rugby finished in fourth place overall. TGU topped Glenburn’s Panthers, another Region 6 team, for seventh place on the final day.

The fifth-place game saw another nail-biting overtime win, this time by the Rolla Bulldogs, who topped New Rockford-Sheyenne’s Rockets 63-61.

After the 63-39 win against TGU’s Titans on the tournament’s opening day, the Panthers seemed destined for the top of the heap. Rugby had won the CNDC in 2018 and 2019. They placed second in 2020, losing to the Dragons.

The Panthers started strong against the Hornets in the semifinals, but an early lead narrowed quickly to 14-12 by the end of the first quarter. The Hornets put their defense on overdrive in quarter 2, putting 19 more points on the board and keeping the Panthers away from the net. The Panthers managed only five points in the quarter, and the half ended with a 31-19 HWC lead. The third quarter saw the Panthers turn their defense up. Rugby limited HWC to only 5 points. Still, the Panthers managed only four themselves. Hornets’ top scorers Tate Grossman and Alex Erikson kept the pressure on in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers limited the Hornets to only eight more points. The Hornets continued to swarm Rugby, however, and the Panthers managed only seven more points. HWC moved on to the final round with a 44-30 win over Rugby. Forward Lathan DeMontigny led Rugby’s scoring drive in the semifinals with 10 points, while forward Brody Schneibel put seven on the board. Erik Foster scored six points, while guards Kory Vetsch and Will Kuntz each scored two points. Forward Bryceton Deplazes also scored two, while center Garrett Sullivan made one free throw shot.

Rugby returned to the Hornets’ Nest Dec. 18 for the third-place game against St. John’s Woodchucks. The Panthers leaped to an early lead, with Schneibel sinking the first bucket of the game. Vetsch followed with a three-pointer. Soon after that, guard Logan Harner sank another three-pointer as Woodchucks defenders worked to keep the Panthers away from the paint. Rugby’s early lead evaporated, much as it had against the Hornets the day before. The first quarter ended with a 17-17 tie. The Woodchucks continued to keep the Panthers away from scoring opportunities. The pressured Panthers took shots when they could, but the ball missed its mark more often. St. John put 18 more points on the board in the second quarter, with six points from free throws on Rugby personal fouls. Rugby’s Vetsch made good on two free throws himself. A three-pointer from Kuntz and one bucket apiece from Foster and Schneibel gave the Panthers nine points. The half ended with the Panthers trailing 26-35.

The fired-up Panthers repeated their performance from early in the game with more three-pointers from guard Jacob Ripplinger and Foster. The Panthers would add 16 more points in the third quarter. The Woodchucks, however, stayed farther ahead, padding their lead with 23 more points. Guard Brayton Baker and center Luke Lunday made good on more free throw shots after fouls from the Panthers. Baker would lead all scorers in the game with 29 for the Woodchucks. Both teams showed depth in the game, with eight players from each side scoring.

In the fourth quarter, Panthers Head Coach Mike Santjer rotated in more players. Forward Jackson Rose, a sophomore, sank a bucket. Ripplinger and Harner landed more three-pointers and Harner made good on a trip to the free-throw line. However, the nine points scored by Rugby did little to stop the Woodchucks, who plowed ahead with 16 more points to win the game 74-51.

After the game, Santjer said the tournament gave the Panthers a good baseline to grow from during the season, which began the week of Dec. 13.

“I think we’re a young team. We don’t have very much experience and we’re a work in progress. It’s a good thing that the season’s a marathon and not a sprint,” Santjer said. “We’re definitely not going to reflect on the CNDC Tournament as our turning point in the season. It’s fun to win it and put your best effort in, but we’re not there yet. We’re too young. We’ll get there. It’s going to need some work.”

Santjer said Region 4 would be one to watch as the season progressed. “The teams in Region 4 with Four Winds, Dunseith, St. John and Harvey, they’re always contenders. They always have good teams in that region. Never when you play a Region 4 team is it going to be a cakewalk. So, those guys have some veteran players,” Santjer noted. “There are a lot of seniors on the (Region 4) teams that are leading. So, they’re at a little different level than we are right now. In Region 4, you’ve got to make sure you’re showing up to play every single night. They’ve got good coaches.”

However, Santjer added, “We’re three games into a long season. We’ll get better. These guys will get back into the gym and work and every game out, we’ll learn a little something and make some adjustments and be better the next time.”

Santjer said some of the work in progress for the Panthers included work on the starting lineup. “We’ve got a lot of guys who are at the same level. So, early in the season, we don’t know what our rotation’s going to look like and who should start,” he noted. “In the locker room just now, I told them, ‘We’re pretty open on playing time, so if you want to get on the floor, earn it at practice. Show you can battle and get after it and we’ll go from there and keep trying until we find the right combination.'”

Santjer said he wouldn’t consider the Panthers’ first tournament of the season to be much of a bellwether for their long schedule of games ahead. “We’ve won the CNDC and things went south on us and we’ve lost it and things have gone great for us,” Santjer said. “So, we’ll be fine.”