RANGELY I The Rangely High School girls’ basketball team played three tough games last week beginning with the barn burner against Meeker on Tuesday night.
Coach Quinton Kent said “This was a hard-fought game. I was pleased with the effort.”
The Panthers struggled shooting the ball as some close shots didn’t fall, and they missed some key scoring opportunities late in the game.
Kent added “I was proud of the way we fought back in this game,” he said. Rangely trailed by as many as 11 going into the fourth quarter and managed to fight back and cut the lead to three.
Kent said, “It was what you expect in a rivalry game with each side playing hard and not backing down.”
Sarah Connor led all scorers with eight followed by Lindzey Thacker and Katelyn Brown with seven, Katye Allred and Kaylalle Wyman each with four points and Sidney Shaffer rounded out the scoring with three.
The Panther girls traveled to Baggs on Friday to play a fast-paced Little Snake River team.
“We came out flat and spotted them a quick 10 points,” coach Kent said. “From there, we dug in and slowly clawed our way back into it.”
The team brought the game to within four points in the final period, showing tremendous heart as well as an exciting offense led by Katelyn Brown with 26 points. Katye Allred added four, Sarah Connor a three and Linzey Thacker had two.
Coach Kent also said, “This was our Annual ‘Charity Stripe’ event with Little Snake River. Both teams collected pledges for made free throws during the game. We made 13 of our 16 free throws and Little Snake River made 14 of 25 free throws.
“For every made free throw, we are donating 100 percent of our pledge earnings to the mammogram program at Rangely District Hospital. For the three misses, we are donating 20 percent of our per free-throw earning to Little Snake River’s Charity called Walk-For-Life, which helps fund hotel and transportation costs for people who have to travel for cancer treatment.
“We are still collecting our pledges, so we don’t have a set amount yet, but it is looking like a combined amount of about $2,000 was made, with Little Snake earning the most because they shot a lot more free throws.
“However, it balances out though because they missed a lot, so they will be donating a significant amount to our charity. We only missed three, so we won’t be sending much to their charity, rather we will be sending most of our earning to the mammogram program. I am proud of my players for being willing to go out and raise money for such worthy causes.”
The Panthers hosted Plateau Valley on Saturday and won the game 50-46.
The girls came out controlling the first quarter 13-10 and didn’t let up as they were up 26-18 at the half.
Kent said, “This was definitely a game of runs. We jumped out to a quick lead and then they came right back. We regained the lead by half.”
The third quarter belonged to the Cowboys as they outscored the Panthers 13-7, but Rangely had a big fourth quarter, scoring 17 points and holding their opponent to 15 for the win.
The team had much better offensive balance in this game as seven players scored. Katelyn Brown had another big night scoring 20 points, followed by Sarah Connor with 10, Lindzey Thacker added eight, Kalalle Wyman had seven, Halie Elam and McKenzie Webber each added two points and Sidney Shaffer added a point.
Rangely travels to Cedaredge on Friday night and will play in Hotchkiss on Saturday afternoon.
