Sue Sitter/PCT Rugby’s Savannah McCall looks for a passing opportunity against Velva’s Aggies in Velva Jan. 31.

The Rugby Panthers punctuated an undefeated season of District 11 girls’ basketball with a 61-36 win over Velva’s Aggies in Velva Jan.31.

With the win, Rugby secured the No.1 seed in the district tournament, which continues through today, asturday, Feb. 8, at Rugby High School’s Charlie Hanneman Gym.

The Jan. 31 win came as part of a double-header with the Panthers boys’ basketball squad due to a weather-related reschedule.

Both the boys’ and girls’ squads returned from Velva with wins.

Both games held high importance for the Panthers, and both gave fans possible previews of district tournament matchups.

The win followed a tough loss for the Panthers to Shiloh Christian High School of Bismarck in Rugby Jan. 28.

The Panthers found their footing after Head Coach Jen Brossart reconfigured the starting lineup without forward Mykell Heidlebaugh, one of Rugby’s top scorers. Heidlebaugh had suffered an ankle injury against Nedrose Jan. 23.

Stepping into key roles were guards Brooklyn and Madison Corum and Elise Fahnestock. The Corums, juniors and Fahnestock, a sophomore, joined seniors Joey Wolf, Kendyl Hager, Savannah McCall, Joran Jundt, Peyton Hauck and Megan Buckmeier to give Rugby the win.

The Panthers met a seventh-place Velva team eager to show it was no pushover.

Aggies forward Natalie Nechiporenko led her team with four buckets in the first quarter, each met with a loud cheer from Velva fans. Teammates Olivia Miller, Kaylee Tomlinson and Lyla McCasson each made inroads, landing buckets inside the paint.

Rugby responded with three-pointers shot by Hager and Wolf. Miller and McCall each drew fouls, and each landed 50% of her shots at the free-throw line.

The Panthers seemed unnerved by their close lead and the determined Aggies.

Shots in the second quarter from Panthers began to miss their marks. The Panthers held Velva to just six points in that quarter, but put only nine points of their own on the board.

Landing shots were Jundt, with one three-pointer and rebound, and Hauck. Hager made two of two shots at the free-throw line after a foul against her.

“Tonight, we came out a little rusty in the first half, then we made some different positional changes and some different starters again,” Brossart said after the game.

“In the last half and the second quarter, we started to put on the heat a little bit and cause some turnovers and I thought the third and fourth quarter, we played very well defensively as well,” she added.

Buckmeier landed a three-pointer in the third quarter. Hauck added two buckets to the board, while sophomore Lacie Deplazes added three. The Panthers ended the quarter with more distance between themselves and the Aggies, building on a double-digit lead.

Fahnestock moved quickly to the inside of Panthers territory in the game’s last quarter, landing two buckets. A three-pointer shot by Hager found its mark.

The Panthers put 16 points on the scoreboard for the quarter. Velva scored seven.

The game’s last quarter saw the Aggies up their pressure, leading to a foul that gave Jundt a free-throw point.

Olivia Miller landed a free-throw for Velva on a bucket drawing a foul. A three-pointer landed by McCasson drew another loud Aggies cheer.

However, for all their effort, the Aggies could only manage ten points in the game’s last quarter.

“I’m really just happy we’re getting a lot of girls in right now and if baskets don’t fall, they don’t fall,” Brossart said.

“You can’t dunk every one of them. We had a lot of looks at the rim and a lot of looks at layups this year, and in this game, they didn’t fall for us tonight,” she said.

“But our girls played hard defensively, I thought. In the last half and the second quarter, we started to put on the heat a little bit and cause some turnovers and I thought the third and fourth quarter, we played very well defensively as well,” she added.

Velva wrapped up its regular season as seventh seed in the District 11 Tournament. The Aggies faced second-seed Bottineau in the first round Feb. 9.

District 11 Tournament results will appear in the Feb. 18 issue of the Tribune.

Rugby 61, Velva 36

Velva scorers: Natalie Nechiporenko, 10; Lyla McCasson, 8; Anna Harden, 7; Oilivia Miller, 5; Kaylee Tomlinson, 2; Izzy Slater, 2; Leah Volochenko, 2.

Rugby scorers: Joey Wolf, 11; Peyton Hauck, 10; Joran Jundt, 10; Lacie Deplazes, 8; Kendyl Hager, 8; Elise Fahnestock, 6; Megan Buckmeier, 3; Janikka Miller, 3; Madison Corum, 1; Savannah McCall, 1.