Rugby District 11 boys basketball champs
RUGBY — The Rugby boys basketball team celebrated its third straight District 11 tournament title on Monday.
The No. 9-ranked Panthers (18-3), top seed in District 11, captured the championship over District 11 No. 2-seeded Bottineau, 78-57, on their home court in Rugby.
The Panthers were led by Jaden Hamilton with a game-high 28 points with teammates Trace Goven (23), Devan Michels (13) and Kevin Vetsch (10) also finishing in double figures.
Hamilton made six 3-pointers in the contest.
Rugby led 38-33 at halftime but outscored Bottineau 40-24 in the second half.
Bottineau was paced by Bailey Burcham with 16 points and Ethan Hahn with 15 points. Hahn also pulled down 17 rebounds in the defeat.
In the District 11 regional qualifiers that also took place Monday in Rugby, both games were decided by single digits.
No. 4 Towner-Granville-Upham overcame No. 3 Drake/Anamoose, 49-44. While No. 5 Nedrose topped No. 6 Velva, 52-46, to reach the Region 6 tournament for the first time in the four-year history of the program.
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