RANGELY I The Lady Panthers were kind of stuck last week.
Stuck on 52, anyway.
In its first of three games last week, Rangely scored almost 52 points in a 51-48 win Jan. 19 over Moffat County’s junior varsity in a non-league game.
Then, in league games against North Park and West Grand, the Lady Panthers hit the 52 mark both times, losing to North Park 57-52 last Friday and beating West Grand 52-48 last Saturday.
All three games were decided by five points or less.
“Everything has been close it seems like,” said Rangely coach Jimmie Mergelman.
The Lady Panthers could have made it 3-0 for the week, but came up short against North Park, even though they had the lead going into the final quarter. But then the wheels came off. Rangely was outscored 23-9 in the fourth period.
“We’ve got to figure out how win and finish a game,” Mergelman said.
The Lady Panthers finished strong against West Grand, with a 17-10 scoring advantage in the final quarter.
“I thought our second half against West Grand was pretty good,” Mergelman said. “It’s just a matter of being consistent and putting 32 minutes together.”
Audrey Hogan scored 16 to lead the way against West Grand, while Marie Morton added 12, Torie Slagle 11 and Brittany Babineaux eight.
Now 8-6 overall and 2-2 in the league, Mergelman said the Lady Panthers are still in the thick of the league race.
“I think we’re right there in it, but we can’t afford to lose anymore, really,” she said.
Rangely has two league games on the schedule this week, both on the road. The Lady Panthers play Vail Christian on Friday and Hayden on Saturday.