Rugby’s Brody Berndt dunks the ball during the second half of the Class A Region 3 third-place game against Bottineau on Thursday, March 12, at the MSU Dome. Mike Kraft/MDN

Since joining the ranks of Class A three years ago, Bottineau was a riddle the Rugby boys basketball team couldn’t solve.

Entering Thursday’s Region 3 Tournament third-place game, the Panthers were 0-5 in Class A against the Braves, losing all three regular season meetings as well as last year’s third-place contest and the quarterfinal round in 2024.

Kiefer Fritz and the Panthers finally cracked the code, with Fritz delivering the game-winning layup at the buzzer to give Rugby a 56-54 victory over Bottineau at the MSU Dome to ensure at least one more game this season. The Panthers advance to a state qualifier against Region 4 runner-up Beulah on Saturday, March 14, at the Minot Municipal Auditorium at 3 p.m. It’s the first time the Panthers have made it to a state qualifier.

“This is the first time in eight games I’ve beaten Bottineau,” Fritz said. “I’ve never beaten them in my high school career including C squad or JV. To beat them in the most important game of my life brings a smile to my face and all my teammates. I’m just the lucky one who makes the game-winner, but I couldn’t do it without all the guys around me.”

Bottineau’s Emerson Marum tied the game at 54 with 20 seconds left, giving the Panthers one final possession in regulation to win the game. Austin Duchsche drew a double team and found Fritz in the corner. Fritz drove to the basket and laid it in as the horn sounded to send Rugby on to a chance to play for a spot in the state tournament.

“Our point guard – Austin – who runs our offense really well, he was coming up the sideline and my guy goes to double him and hopefully get a turnover and Austin sees me and I get it and I just drive to the rim and hang there and put the ball in the hoop,” Fritz said. “Easier said than done, but it’s just an amazing feeling.”

The Panthers (15-9) had one timeout remaining, but head coach Travis Risovi elected to keep it in his pocket as the play began developing.

“If we would have stopped in the corner when we got the ball I would have called a timeout, but since we ran a little weave action and we were still attacking toward the basket, I let them go,” Risovi said. “We were going to take the last shot and the worst thing that was going to happen was going to overtime.”

Rugby’s victory erases years of frustration at the hands of the Braves (14-10). Some of the games have been close, while others have been more lopsided. Bottineau blew out the Panthers, 62-40, in the third-place game at last year’s region tournament. The year prior, Bottineau eliminated Rugby in the quarterfinals in a much closer 46-42 contest. In their regular season meeting this year, the Braves came away with a 59-48 victory, but the Panthers felt as if that performance was far from their true potential.

“When we played them during the year, we were pretty disappointed in ourselves,” Risovi said. “We didn’t play a very good game. We didn’t think we played to our capabilities. As we watched film and prepared for this game, we saw a lot of mistakes that we were making and we knew that if we cleaned those up, we give ourselves a chance and that’s what we did.”

Thursday’s contest was close from the opening tip to the final buzzer, with neither team leading by more than six points. The fourth quarter featured four ties and two lead changes.

Rugby grabbed a 47-41 lead on a bucket from Brody Berndt midway through the fourth quarter, but the Braves responded with an 8-0 run to recapture the lead. Marum had six of the eight points and 13 in the quarter. Marum and Landen Solberg accounted for all 19 of Bottineau’s fourth-quarter points.

Marum finished with a game-high 22 points, while Solberg added 14.

Lucas Wentz put the Panthers back in front with a 3-point play with 1:59 left and pushed the advantage to 52-49 with his final basket with just over a minute remaining.

“This game was neck-and-neck,” Wentz said. “Those guys know how to compete. It was a really physical game, really intense game going back and forth. We were able to get some big buckets in the fourth quarter and that’s what led us to victory.”

Wentz finished with a team-high 14 points, 11 of which came in the second half.

“Lucas is our Mr. Steady,” Risovi said. “He’s been that way all year. Every time we need a big play, every time we need a big basket, Lucas has been the kid. When it comes down to it and everybody seems to be getting nervous, Lucas wants those moments and we were able to get him the ball around the basket and he is a good finisher.”

Despite their season being on the line and their lack of success against the Braves in the past, Rugby didn’t let the pressure get to them.

“I don’t think too many of us were feeling much pressure,” Wentz said. “We had nothing to lose. We were the lower seed and we just wanted to keep our season alive and we did everything we could to do that.”

The Panthers led throughout the opening quarter, taking a 14-11 lead. Despite 11 first-half turnovers, the Braves were able to stay within arm’s reach of the lead thanks in part to their 3-point shooting. Bottineau hit five 3-pointers in the opening half. Marum hit a pair, while Connor Guss, Clint Seykora and Dawson Guss each knocked down one each.

An 8-0 run late in the second quarter gave the Braves their first lead of the game at 21-20 with 1:08 left. Bottineau took a 24-23 lead into the half and stretched the lead to six with five unanswered points to open the third quarter.

After going the first 3:20 of the second half without a point, the Panthers rallied with a 10-2 run, started by Fritz. Wentz followed with a basket, Brayden Solem hit a 3 and Levi Wentz converted a 3-point play to cap the run.

The Braves committed 18 turnovers, leading to 15 points for the Panthers. The 18 turnovers were twice the number they had in their semifinal loss to Turtle Mountain.

“Eighteen turnovers is too many to have,” Kevin St. Claire said. “We have six the first night, nine the second night and now all the sudden you double that to 18, you can’t win games when you turn the ball over 18 times. For the younger kids, hopefully they learn from this, take something out of this game and learn from it.”

The Panthers won the battle of boards, outrebounding the Braves 34-23. Rugby grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, leading to 15 second-chance points. The Panthers held a 32-20 edge in points in the paint.

“We shot ourselves in the foot there and down the stretch you have to make plays,” St. Claire said. “How many times do you get second and third opportunities to keep them in the game? That’s the basics of basketball: boxing out and the little things. That’s what cost us. We didn’t do the little things right.”

The Panthers will look to qualify for the state tournament for the first time since 2021.