Rugby High School sophomore Kasen Halvorson looks to slip past a Stanley High defender in the quarterfinals game of the 2026 NDHSAA Region 3A Boys Basketball Tournament. Mathan Beitler/MDN

Tuesday night’s semifinals matches of the 2026 NDHSAA Region 3A Boys Basketball Tournament saw thew top four teams in the region duke it out for a chance at the region championship game. The fourth-seeded Rugby Panthers and the first-seeded Turtle Mountain Community High School Braves took to the court first.

Coming off of their close victory against the Stanley Blue Jays in their quarterfinals match, the Panthers were looking to work their way past the semifinals after falling last season.

Last season’s Region 3A Tournament saw the Panthers and the TMCHS Braves face off in the semifinals as well. Falling to the Braves 51-37 last season, the Panthers were ready for a second go at a post-season bout.

With the way the first quarter of the game was going, it looked like the Panthers would have their revenge. The Braves scored the first basket of the game and took an 0-2 lead, but the Panthers quickly responded with a basket of their own. From there, the Panthers took and kept the lead, creating as much as a seven point deficit over the Braves before the end of the first quarter. By the end of the first quarter, junior Kiefer Fritz already earned half of the Panther’s score on his own. The Panthers outscored the Braves 14-10 after the first eight minutes of play.

TMCHS came out of the gates in the second quarter looking to make things even. They scored the first goal of the quarter once again to get the game within one possession. The Panthers held off the Braves and drove up their own score through most of the quarter, but a late scoring run culminating in the team’s first three-pointer of the game tied the score for the Braves at 21-21 as the first half ended.

The Braves outscored the Panthers in the second quarter 7-11. Fritz was still leading the Panthers with nine points.

Heading into the third quarter of play, bot the Braves and the Panthers fought hard to maintain dominance.

Turtle Mountain Community took their first lead of the game since their 0-2 lead at the beginning of the game to start the third. The Panthers were able to tie the game and eventually take their lead back just a few possessions later. The rest of the quarter was much the same. The teams battled back and forth, tying the score and trading the lead back and forth until the dust settled with the Braves leading at the end of the quarter for the first time that game.

The Braves out-scored the Panthers for the second quarter in a row at 11-13. In a bid to try and quickly even the score, the Panthers made some easy errors towards the end of the quarter, costing them the lead heading into the fourth.

The fourth quarter was just as hard-fought as the third. Both teams scored back and forth, trading places until the Braves took a definitive lead with just over two minutes remaining. The Braves kept their lead and ended the game with a 50-55 victory over the Panthers, defeating them in post-season region play for the second year in a row and advancing to the Region 3A championship for the second year in a row.

The second-seeded Bottineau Braves and the third-seeded Dunseith Dragons took to the court for the last match of the night. Unlike the Panthers/Braves game early in the afternoon, the Dragons had a solid handle of the lead through the entirety of the game. The Dragons dominated on the court through all four quarters and ended with a 66-49 lead over the Braves at the end of the game.

Dunseith and Turtle Mountain Community will face off in the finals of the 2026 NDHSAA Region 3A Boys Basketball Tournament while Rugby and Bottineau face off in the tournament’s third-place match for the second year in a row beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Mar. 12.