Kari Gibb/MDN Rugby Panthers Lacie Deplazes (23) blocks a shot by South Prairie-Max Royal Rylee Routledge (1) in first half action of the first Region 3 Girls Basketball Tournament semifinal game at the MSU Dome on Tuesday, February 25, for the chance to advance to the final on Thursday.

The two semifinal games in the Region 3 Girls Basketball Tournament left no doubt as to the desire for winning with both games filled with excitement and some upset minded efforts.

The No. 4 seed Lady Panthers took the upset win over the top ranked South Prairie-Max Lady Royals to move into the Championship Game on Thursday against Turtle Mountain Community High School after the South Prairie-Max and Bottineau play at 6 p.m. in the consolation bracket at the Minot State University (MSU) Dome.

No. 4 Rugby 48, No.1 South Prairie-Max 31

The Rugby girls team started the semifinal game against the top seeded and top ranked team in the state with high energy and a ‘we have nothing to lose’ attitude that continued for all four quarters of play.

The story of the first half of play was the shooting woes for South Prairie-Max (SPM) combined with the out rebounding by Rugby. The Lady Panthers hit for 12-of-30 shooting to start the game while the Lady Royals were 7-for-27 from the field- 0-for-9 from the arc.

Rugby had 25 rebounds to start the game- 16 defensive boards- that limited the second chance attempts and points for South Prairie-Max in the first half of play. Rugby was 6-for-8 from the free throw line while the Lady Royals were 3-for-9 from the charity stripe.

Rugby led 31-17 at the half.

The story of the second half of play was similar to the first half. There were only eight points scored in the third quarter between the two teams. Pesky defense and shooting woes continued for SPM while rebounding and the high energy play by Rugby was the theme.

The first five points scored in the fourth quarter for the Lady Royals were from the free throw line as the Lady Panthers were in foul trouble early. As the time wound down, the defense for SPM tightened and the desperation 3-point attempts increased for the Lady Royals.

In the end, Rugby had 49 rebounds- 32 defensive boards- to keep the attempts down for the Royals. SPM was 1-for-17 shooting from the arc, 8-for-15 from the free throw line and shot just over 20-percent from the field all game.

Rugby was led by Elise Fahnestock and Lacie Deplazes with 11 points each while Katie Sullivan added eight points in the win. Sara Schmaltz had ten rebounds while Deplazes added nine boards for the Panthers.

The Royals were led by Brianna Rose with nine points while Rylee Routledge scored seven and Azjiah Trader added six in the effort. Routledge also added seven rebounds as did Skotti Beck.

The Lady Panthers will face xxx in the Region 3 Girls Basketball Championship Game on Thursday, February 27, at 6 p.m. at the MSU Dome.

No. 2 TMCHS 60,

No. 3 Bottineau 58

The second seeded Lady Braves from Turtle Mountain Community High School (TMCHS) started the second semifinal game of the night on Tuesday, February 25, at the MSU Dome on fire from 3-point range.

As a team, the Braves shot 7-for-15 with Aubree Jeanotte leading the charge with 3-of-5 shooting from the arc.

The Bottineau Stars had the same type of start as with Nedrose in the quarterfinal match- Bottineau found themselves playing the oppositions game plan and tempo and had to fight and claw their way back into the action. Rebounding is what kept the Stars in the game in the first half of play.

The Lady Braves led 38-37 at the half.

The second half of play was evenly matched and had lead swaps the entire half. TMCHS led 46-45 to start the fourth quarter of play. Bottineau led 54-53 with 3:06 to play. The Lady Braves led 55-54 with 2:08 to play. The Stars led 56-55 with 2:00 to play.

With 20.9-seconds left in the game, TMCHS held the 58-56 lead with the Stars in possession and on a timeout call. Bottineau would need a score to tie or take the lead. With 10.8-seconds to play,

Bottineau was at the free throw line to tie the game. And they did 58-58 with TMCHS in possession and called timeout with 7.1-seconds to score or start overtime.

The Lady Braves hit the winning layup as the buzzer sounded to send Turtle Mountain Community High School to the final against Rugby with the 60-58 win.

TMCHS was led by Quinn Laducer with 14 points in the win. Maddison Patneaud and Aubree Jeanotte each had 12 points in the win as well.

Bottineau was led by Kyra Beckman with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Karsyn Allrad added nine points while Josie Wintermute, Logyn Simpson and Lydia Lafromboise each added eight points in the effort.

South Prairie-Max will play Bottineau at 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 27, at the Dome for the right to participate in state qualifying play-in games for the state tournament.

Turtle Mountain Community High School will take on Rugby in the Region 3 Girls Basketball Tournament Championship game at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at the MSU Dome as well.