BISMARCK - The Rugby boys basketball team can retire the runner-up tag it was stuck with this season after coming in second at the North Dakota Class B state tournament a year ago.
The Panthers are now champions.
Rugby defeated Four Winds-Minnewaukan 54-40 in the championship game before 10,921 fans Saturday at the Bismarck Event Center.
“It is a great feeling,” said Rugby senior forward Brad Heidlebaugh, who finished the game with 23 points. “We hit rock bottom last year (losing to Fargo Oak Grove), but right now we are top on of the world. (The championship) is a culmination of all the hard work we put in. We deserve all of it and it means so much.”
Heidlebaugh, a University of North Dakota football signee, won the North Dakota Mr. Basketball award, Class B Senior Athlete of the Year and tournament most valuable player honors after the game.
Rugby last won a boys basketball state championship in 1962 while competing in Class A. The School also won a pair of Class B titles in 1940 and 1941.
Rugby fans showed up in droves all weekend in Bismarck and Rugby head coach Mike Santjer called the turnout a “sea of orange.”
“It is an awesome feeling for these guys,” Santjer said. “I don’t think it has sunk in yet. It is pretty fresh and pretty exciting.”
The Panthers grabbed control early starting the game on a 14-2 run that was fueled by two 3-pointers from Heidlebaugh.
Rugby led 16-8 after the first quarter.
“After the first TV timeout (Heidlebaugh) came to bench screaming ‘get me the ball I’m on fire,’” Santjer said. “We knew he was going to battle through it all. He is a gamer and in big games, big players step up.”
The Indians rallied in the second quarter going on a 10-1 that senior center Oliver Gourd capped off with a layup to give Four Winds-Minnewaukan an 18-17 lead – their first of the game.
There were three lead changes after Gourd’s layup and the Panthers held a 25-20 halftime lead by closing out the first half on a 5-0 run.
Rugby started the second half much like the first – getting shots to fall.
Heidlebaugh scored the Panthers’ first 11 points of the third quarter to help Rugby enter the final eight minutes of the game with a 41-30 lead.
Four Winds-Minnewaukan and Rugby were seeded No. 1 and No. 2, respectively entering the tournament and tied for the No. 1 ranking in Class B in the final poll released during the season.
The Panthers and Indians played a game in Fort Totten during the regular season that Four Winds-Minnewaukan won 61-60 on Feb. 10.
Saturday, Rugby’s defense held the explosive Indians offense – which averaged 81 points per game entering the tournament – in check. Sophomore guard Tronis McKay led the Indians with 16 points and eight rebounds.
“We were closing the gap and we had opportunities, we just couldn’t make a dang basket,” Four Winds-Minnewaukan head coach Rick Smith said. “I thought our shot selection wasn’t bad. We got to the free-throw line and couldn’t make those. We had nice looks at the basket. We battle, got offensive rebounds and we had good looks. The ball just wasn’t going in.”
All-Tournament Team
Daniel Prince, Sr., New England
Zach Miller, Sr., Rugby
Carter Kretchman, Sr., Fargo Oak Grove
Deyondre Simpson, So., Parshall
Tanner Bernhardt, Sr., Rugby
Andrew Hartman, Sr., Shiloh Christian (unanimous)
Anthony Olson, Sr., LaMoure-Litchville-Marion (unanimous)
Christian Adams, Sr., Fargo Oak Grove (unanimous)
Trayvon McKay, Sr., Four Winds-Minnewaukan (unanimous)
Brad Heidlebaugh, Sr., Rugby (unanimous)
Tournament MVP
Brad Heidlebaugh, Rugby
Class B head coach of the year
Luke Powers, New England
Class B senior athlete of the year
Brad Heidlebaugh, Rugby
