Lady Panthers beat Debeque, North Park

By COLT ALLRED
Special to the Herald Times
RANGELY | The Lady Panthers had a big weekend, winning both games against Debeque and North Park.
The weekend started off with the Debeque Dragons coming to Rangely for a league game. The Panthers came out swinging and scored 23 points in the first quarter alone, while holding the Dragons to only four points. The Lady Panthers continued with their fast-paced offense and strict defense bringing in another 16 points in the second quarter.
At the half, the Dragons had only managed to find the basket for six points, which is mostly a credit to the Panthers defense. Coming out of the locker room the Panthers continued to roll on, creating lots of opportunities for fast break layups through their defense by forcing turnovers. The final score was 63-14 in the Panthers favor. The Panthers were able to keep the Dragons from scoring more than four points in any given quarter. Senior Katelyn Brown once again led the Panthers scoring drive with 28 points. Skylar Thacker was next in line with 11 points followed by Sarah Connor who had seven.
The week continued with the Panthers traveling to North Park for another league matchup. The Panthers started the game strong once again, managing to outscore the Wildcats 15-7 in the first quarter. However, things got very rough for the Panthers in the second quarter.
First, Katelyn Brown took a hard fall on the baseline that resulted in her having to sit for the remainder of the half. Shortly after, Skylar Thacker, who is also a starter, had to come out of the game due to an ankle injury. At the point of her accident, Thacker was leading the team in scoring.
With two key players out of the game, the Panthers became flustered and North Park was able to score six points in the final minute of the first half. With the momentum on the side of the home team the Panthers went to the locker room with a 27-20 lead.
Unfortunately, the second half did not start how the Panthers had hoped and for a minute the Wildcats took the lead in the third quarter. The Panthers quickly regained composure however and took back the lead. Brown had come back into the game and was able to hit a half court shot to close the quarter, and set the tone for the rest of the game.
The final quarter of the game picked up for the Panthers, and they once again took control of the court. The Panthers once again came out victorious despite some adversity, with the final score of 54-37. Even having to sit out due to her fall, Katelyn Brown led the team with 19 points followed by Halie Elam who was next in line with 14 points. Skylar Thacker didn’t even play for a full two quarters, but was still able to score 13 points. After this weekend, the Lady Panthers have an overall record of 10-3.