By COLT ALLRED
Special to the Herald Times
RANGELY | The lady Panther basketball team was able to get two big wins against the Hotchkiss Bulldogs and the Vail Christian Saints on Feb. 2 and 3. The girls started by hosting the Bulldogs at home and the game started as a defensive dogfight.
At the end of the first quarter the Panthers were up 6-4 in the low scoring matchup. However, in the second quarter the Bulldogs were able to fight back and gain a two point lead over the Panthers.
Coming out of the locker room at the end of half time the game continued to be neck and neck, and at the start of the fourth quarter the game was all tied up. That’s when Skylar Thacker came to life, scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter alone. This helped pull the Panthers a safe distance ahead of the Bulldogs and win the game 46-37.
Thacker was the leading scorer for the Lady Panthers with 15 points. Thacker was followed by Katelyn and Kassidee Brown who had 14 and eight points respectively.
The next night in Vail Christian the lady Panthers came out swinging. At the end of the first quarter, the Panthers were up 18-2 against the Saints. In the second quarter the Saints would regroup and start to score for themselves, but the Panthers were able to not only maintain their lead, but improve it.
The Panthers were up 36-23 at the final buzzer of the first half. In the third quarter the Panthers had their lowest scoring quarter of the game but were still able to outscore the Saints, topped off with another half court buzzer beater from Katelyn Brown.
The fourth quarter was hard fought, but the lady Panthers were able to hold off their opponent for a 68-50 win over the Saints. For the second night in a row Thacker was on top of the Panthers scoring charts, this time with 22 points. Thacker again was followed by Katelyn Brown who had 19, and Kassidee Brown who had 13.
The Panthers are now 13-3 on the season and 7-1 in league play after the weekend. The Panthers will play in Caprock on Feb. 9, and will then play their final home game of the regular season against West Grand on Feb. 10.
