Kari Gibb/MDN TMCHS Lady Brave Emberlyn Poitra (32) looks for a shot in the paint with Rugby Lady Panthers Lacie Deplazes (23) and Avery Santjer (25) defending in the third quarter of play on Thursday, February 27, in the Region 3 Girls Basketball Tournament championship game at the MSU Dome.

The Region 3 Girls Basketball Tournament had the final two games at the Minot State University (MSU) Dome on Thursday, February 27, as the Lady Royals faced the Bottineau Stars for the right to compete for state qualifying games and the Turtle Mountain Community High School Braves faced the Rugby Lady Panthers for the Region 3 Crown.

No. 4 Rugby 46, No. 2 TMCHS 38

The Region 3 Girls Basketball Tournament Championship game kicked off with the stands loudly supporting both teams. Turtle Mountain fans seemed to occupy more seats and were definitely loudly supporting their Braves.

In the end, the evenly matched contest would depend on the players, not the fans cheering. The little engine that could at the fourth seed edged the fourth seed xx-xx to take the Region 3 Championship back to Rugby with them.

The first quarter of play had both the Braves and the Panthers matching each other shot for shot, miss for miss and mistake for mistake as the No. 4 Rugby and No. 2 TMCHS were tied 12-12 going into the second quarter of play.

Neither team scored often or took the lead to start the second. At the 5:04 mark, with the teams tied 15-15, TMCHS took a timeout and the post players for the Braves tightened the work in the paint on both end of the court.

The inside effort defensively for Turtle Mountain led to outside shot selection for Rugby which meant higher probability of missing shots. The Braves began swapping made 2-pointers for Panthers missed 3-pointers.

TMCHS led 25-17 at the half.

The Lady Panthers took the break at the half to adjust and pulled the momentum to their favor to start the third quarter of play- narrowing the margin to five points with the Braves leading 34-29 to start the final quarter of play.

Neither team could swing or hold the momentum long to start the fourth quarter of play. Rugby kept chipping away with the Braves providing an answer to hold the Panthers at bay. Both student sections took turns shaking the rafters at the Dome.

With 4:41 to play, TMCHS led 36-34 and had possession- Rugby forced a turnover and hit the 3-pointer for the Panthers first lead since the first quarter at 37-36 with just over four minutes to play.

Another missed shot by the Braves followed by another basket by Rugby led to a timeout by TMCHS with the Lady Panthers in front 39-36 with 3:24 to play.

The Lady Panthers made the free throws down the stretch and took the 46-38 win.

Rugby was led by Elise Fahnestock with 15 points for the Lady Panthers. Avery Santjer and Katie Sulivan each added 11 points while Sulivan had 11 rebounds as well. Deplazes and Sara Schmaltz each had eight rebounds in the win for Rugby.

Turtle Mountain was led by Akealyes Azure and Emberlyn Poitra with ten points each in the game. Quinn Laducer and Irelei Zerr each added six points while Zerr had ten rebounds as well in the effort.

No. 1 South Prairie-Max 61, No. 3 Bottineau 33

South Prairie-Max (SPM) started the third place contest with the goal to prove that the semifinal loss to Rugby was an anomaly that would not repeat itself. The first quarter had that effect as the Lady Royals marched to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter buzzer sounded.

The pressure defense applied by SPM forced turnovers while the rebounding efforts by the Royals kept the Bottineau girls from shooting as often as the SPM girls.

The Stars started the second quarter with more energy and had the scoring advantage 12-9 in the first half of the second quarter. The Lady Royals still held the 34-12 score at the half despite Bottineaus’ effort at chipping away at the lead.

The Stars came out from the halftime break with a modified zone defense that forced more effort in passing from SPM. Bottineau also worked the paint harder on the offensive end.

The Royals adjusted to the Stars’ efforts and kept their tempo up along with their stingy defense. Solid passing kept the shooting lanes open for the SPM girls on the offensive end.

The Royals led 48-21 going into the final quarter of play. The 3-point shooting by SPM was the difference going into the final quarter of play.

Bottineau played solid defense, rebounded well and worked the ball into the paint to their post players effectively in the fourth quarter. The difference was in shooting opportunities and the higher percentage of made baskets by SPM in the end.

The Lady Royals were led by Rylee Routledge with 13 points- 3-of-6 from the arc- and nine rebounds. Abby Mikkleson hit for 11 points while Mya Gunville and Skotti Beck each added ten points in the win. As a team, SPM shot 8-for-20 from 3-point range compared to making only one shot in the semifinal match.

The Stars were led by Kyra Beckman with nine points and eight rebounds in the effort. Logyn Simpson added seven points while Karson Allard hit for six in the game.