Submitted Photo Rugby’s Brody Schneibel makes his way through traffic to take a shot in against Nedrose in Rugby High’s Hanneman Gym on Jan. 20.

After three games on the road, Rugby Panthers boys’ basketball team returned to its home gym on Jan. 20 to take on District 11’s Nedrose Cardinals and add a 74-36 win to their record.

The Jan. 20 game was the first of three scheduled for Rugby High School’s Charlie Hanneman Gym. The second game in the series, slated for Jan. 21 against Region 4’s Langdon-Edmore Munich Cardinals, was canceled due to difficult winter travel conditions for the eastern North Dakota team.

“I think our tempo was really good tonight,” Panthers head coach Mike Santjer said after the win over Nedrose. “We’ve done it at times through the season, but we haven’t put it together for 32 minutes and I think that was a big difference.”

Panthers forward Brody Schneibel set the tempo with a three-pointer in the first quarter. Schneibel, along with teammates Erik Foster, Will Kuntz and Lathan DeMontigny racked up an impressive point total in the game.

Scoring first for the Cardinals was forward Mitch Heinert, who would lead his team in points scored with seven for the game.

The Panthers established a commanding lead early and held it throughout the game. With basket after basket landed for Rugby in the first four minutes of play, Panthers left the Cardinals far behind. The first quarter ended with a 22-6 Panthers lead.

Cardinals found its footing somewhat in the second quarter. A three-pointer from Nedrose’s Josh Roberts helped, along with buckets landed by Heinert and Seyth Derheim. Fouls from the Panthers helped, too, giving Heniert and Nedrose guard Ethan Brevid trips to the free throw line for a total of four more points.

Still, Panthers grew its lead. The half ended 44-21 in Rugby’s favor.

More fouls from Panthers gave Cardinals more free throw opportunities in the second half. However, Cardinals’ accuracy leveled off, with only one bucket landed on four attempts. Meanwhile, Panthers kept its rhythm, landing shot after shot to a 67-30 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Santjer went to the bench in the fourth quarter to give more players time on the court. Center Garret Sullivan added one rebound bucket to two points he’d scored earlier on free throws. Ryland Hildebrand, a sophomore, landed a shot for two points.

The Panthers’ defense stayed strong as well, holding Cardinals back to just four points in the fourth quarter.

“We went out and got a lot of easy buckets and I think that made the difference. We need the easy buckets because that’s what we thrive on,” Santjer said.

“And I think our defense was really good. The second quarter wasn’t very good. I think we gave up 15 points in the second quarter, but I like six points, nine points – that’s good for us,” Santjer added.

“It was a good night,” Santjer said. “We were able to play lots of guys tonight, so we didn’t run anybody into the ground. So, our legs should be fresh and we should be ready to go again.”

Panthers used its extra practice opportunity to get ready to face another District 11 opponent — Bottineau Braves — at home on Jan. 25. Results from that game will appear in the Feb. 5 edition.