Sue Sitter/PCT Panthers girls basketball guard Joran Jundt passes the ball to Mykell Heidlebaugh over a crowd of Westhope-Newburg Sioux. The Panthers topped the Sioux 55-38.

Looks can be deceiving. Stats can be, too, at least in the world of high school girls’ basketball.

Rugby Panthers fans filled the Charlie Hanneman Gym at Rugby High School Jan. 7 to see the undefeated Panthers take on the 4-4 Westhope-Newburg Sioux. Many fans thought the game would be an easy win for Rugby.

The Panthers would battle their way to a 55-38 win that was anything but easy.

Rugby came into the gym with fewer players from the start. Forward Joey Wolf was in Denver with her hippology team to compete in a national 4-H championship. In the first eight minutes of the game, forward Kendyl Hager landed from an off-balance jump on her right ankle and then hobbled off the court in obvious pain.

The Sioux, meanwhile, stormed onto the court, scoring the first two buckets in the game. Their defenders surrounded the Panthers in a near-full court press. At the close of the first quarter, Westhope-Newburg led 10-9.

Panthers coach Jennifer Brossart said Rugby’s deep bench of versatile players stepped up the challenge.

Buckets landed by Hager and Joran Jundt, who had suffered an ankle injury of her own against Beulah Dec. 30 added to five points scored by Mykell Heidlebaugh. In the second quarter, Jundt swooshed a three-point shot from beyond the lane. Guard Anna Johnson added two three-pointers to the board. Heidlebaugh scored a three-pointer and two from inside the paint. Freshman Lacie Deplazes and junior Janikka Miller left the bench to land rebound shots. The Panthers’ defense sprang to action as well, holding the Sioux to just eight points. The half ended with a 29-18 Panthers lead.

The Panthers kept their momentum in the third quarter. Johnson put two more three-pointers through the net. Peyton Hauck moved from the bench to the court, fighting through a sea of Sioux to land a bucket. Jundt and Heidlebaugh each landed one before rotating out. Deplazes rebounded for four more points, her second one landing just before the buzzer ended the quarter.

Both Brossart and Sioux Head Coach Bob Beudrie rotated heavily from their benches as fouls racked up for both teams in the battle. The Panthers and Sioux traded steals for steals and batted passes and shots away from their targets.

Beudrie rotated in Karen Solis, who added to a three-pointer and bucket by top scorer Ellie Braaten with six points of her own. Solis would score nine total points in the game.

Still, the Panthers stayed cool and patient under pressure. Heidlebaugh would close out the last eight minutes with four points, while Deplazes and Hauck each landed a rebound. Jundt added to the Panthers’ 10-point total for the quarter, landing a two-pointer through the net.

“There was a lot of pressure for a lot of reasons,” Brossart said of the game. “We didn’t have Joey Wolf. Kendyl went down early. So, I thought our bench did a heck of a job responding and our starters did a heck of a job responding.”

Brossart said the Panthers had been careful not to underestimate the Sioux.

“Beudrie’s got his team from Westhope ready to play every night and they bring it against us. And we knew they were going to. The girls were prepared for this. So, I thought it was a great game to be a gut check for us and for us to handle pressure and handle the press. Because we’re going to see the press down the road and this was a good gut check for us.”

Brossart said the Sioux’s ¾ court press “was very effective to slow us down. That’s what it’s meant to do. So, we’ve got to weather that and get better at that, and we will. But I thought that overall, our girls did well.”

Brossart said the Panthers would prepare for their next game, when they would meet the Drake-Anamoose Raiders in Drake Jan. 10.

“It’s going to be another tough battle for us and we’ll see how it goes,” Brossart said. “We’ll have Joey back on Monday if her flight doesn’t get canceled and we’ll see about Kendyl. First and foremost is we get her healthy, not 50 percent but 100 percent.”