Eagles crush Panthers 81-34

RANGELY — The district semifinal game between Rangely and the Paonia Eagles started well for the Panthers but ended in a crushing 34-81 defeat to end the season for the Panthers.
“It was like last year,” Rangely head coach Jeff Paben said. “We played well in the first quarter, then fall apart.”
The Panthers took a 16-13 lead into the second quarter after senior Tim Willis scored 10 points, including two, three-pointers. The Eagles came back and scored 23 points in the second, compared to Rangely’s five, to take a 36-21 lead into the second half.
“Paonia is a good team and if you don’t show up you are going to get beat and beat bad,” Paben said.
Which is what happened as the Panthers were outscored 45-13 in the second half.
“It was the worst game we played all year, unfortunately it was the most important,” Paben said.
Willis led the team with 14 points, Michael Morton added six and Kaden Brady finished with five. Keenan Harvey scored four in the final game, Patrick Phalen three and Lewis Murray had two.
The game closed the high school careers of seniors Tim Willis, Keenan Harvey, Lewis Murray and Mark Hinaman. An injury ended senior Clark Edwards’ season early and classmate Jake Dubbert came back from knee surgery for the game against Paonia, which was Dubbert’s first and last game of the season.
“To lose the way we did, not playing well, makes me anxious to get back out there,” Paben said. “We have a lot of younger talent and should be a better, more consistent team next year.”