Sue Sitter/PCT Panthers forward Lacie Deplazes fights her way through a crowd of Beulah Miners at the Girls Basketball Shootout held in Minot Dec. 30.

Despite a last-minute coaching change and an injured player, the Rugby Panthers didn’t miss a beat when they defeated the Beulah Miners 60-37 at the Girls Basketball Shootout Dec. 30 in Minot.

Assistant Coaches Jeremy Johnston and Danny Schneider filled in for Head Coach Jennifer Brossart in the tourney at Minot Municipal Auditorium when Brossart was called away by a death in her family. The Panthers took the court ready to battle against the Miners in the last of six games in the shootout.

Miners forward Harys Beauchamp landed the first bucket in the game. The Panthers defense sprang into action, keeping Beulah at bay. Both teams battled for the ball, trading steals. Shots missed their mark. Finally, the Panthers found their footing, thanks to a three-pointer shot by forward Joey Wolf. Mykell Heidlebaugh sank two 2-pointers. Joran Jundt and Lacie Deplazes each hit their marks for two points each. Deplazes drew a foul from Beulah’s Kinsey Zurogg and added another point with a free throw. Zurogg fought her way through the Panthers’ defense for a bucket of her own after Beauchamp landed her second basket. But the Panthers kept the pressure on. The first quarter ended with a 12-6 Panthers lead. The Panthers would keep their lead until the game’s end.

Zurogg managed to land three buckets in the second quarter. Beauchamp added another, along with Shea Barron and Jenna Koppelsloen. Although the Miners doubled the points they’d put on the board in the game’s first eight minutes with 12 more, the Panthers added 17 with two 3-pointers from Heidlebaugh, one 3-pointer from Anna Johnson and buckets landed by Kendyl Hager and Jundt. Both Jundt and Heidlebaugh drew fouls and made two points each on free throws. After Jundt sank her one-point shots, she lost her footing as she jumped for a rebound, injuring her ankle. Jundt limped off the court and cheered her team on from the bench as the tournament’s trainer applied ice. The half ended with a 29-18 Panthers lead.

The third quarter saw the Panthers continue their effortless transition from defense to offense. Rugby held the Miners to nine points. For the most part, the Panthers stayed out of foul trouble, although they allowed Barron one trip to the free throw line. Meanwhile, Hager and Heidlebaugh each sank two 3-point shots. Heidlebaugh and Wolf each sank buckets from inside the paint.

Panther fans cheered Jundt’s return onto the court in the fourth quarter. Jundt landed a 2-point shot for her team, along with Mya Geisinger and Janikka Miller. Deplazes made another bucket, drew a foul from Beulah’s Paige Miller and sank a free-throw. The Miners fought until the end, slapping the ball away from the Panthers’ offense. Barron drew a foul after landing a 2-point shot. Paige Miller sank the Miners’ only 3-point shot for the game. However, the Panthers moved far ahead, extending their lead to 23 points by game’s end.

“The girls got after it. From the get-go, they put it to the floor and I think our transition game kind of helped us a lot kind of sparked us and got us going,” Johnston said after the win.

The 60-37 game was the sixth win by more than 20 points the Panthers had seen so far in their season. When asked if he saw a pattern forming, Johnston said, smiling, “We like what we see but we never look too far ahead. We look as far as the next game. It’s a great win for our team.”

“That’s a quality Beulah team. We need to keep seeing those quality teams if we’re going to get better this season,” Johnston added. “But right now, our focus is the start of the district season, which means TGU next week.”

The Panthers would take on the TGU Titans in Towner Jan. 4. Results from that game and their next district game against the Westhope-Newburg Sioux will appear in the Jan. 15 Tribune.