RANGELY | The Rangely High School lady Panthers traveled to Grand Junction on Friday to take on Caprock Academy for a Western Slope 2A league match-up. The Panthers came out strong and were up 15-4 after the first quarter and were led in scoring by senior Katelyn Brown.
Seniors Halie Elam and Sarah Connor also added in two points each in the first quarter. Juniors Kassidee Brown and Skylar Thacker also helped with three and two points respectively.
In the second quarter the Panthers were able to play a stifling defense and only allowed eight points for 12 total in the first half. Skylar Thacker was able to keep the Panthers rolling in the scoring in the second quarter with six of the Panthers’ 15 points. Junior Mackenze Cochrane also added four points to the mix while being perfect from the charity line.
In the second half the Panthers came out and scored nine of their 16 total points in the opening minutes of the third quarter. They were led by Katelyn Brown who tallied a total of seven of the 16 points. Skylar Thacker continued with her scoring streak of at least 15 points in her last seven games and scored seven points in third quarter. During the fourth quarter many of the reserve players for the Panthers reached the floor and were able to contribute to the scoring as well. Junior Marlena Miller added five points on Freshman Kacie Lapp added a three pointer to help the Panthers. The final score ended up being lopsided in the end with the Panthers coming out on top, 62-21. Katelyn Brown finished with 17, Skylar Thacker with 15, Kassidee Brown with eight, Marlena Miller and Halie Elam with five each, Mackenze Cochrane with four, Kacie Lapp and Alanna Wiley with three each and Sarah Connor with two.
On Saturday, the Panthers hosted the West Grand Mustangs for Parent Night. The Panthers overcame their height deficit to the Mustangs by using their speed and conditioning to tire out their opponents. The scoring seemed to come easy again for the Panthers as they took a 12-7 lead into the second quarter and did not look back from there.
The Panther defense was what was most impressive as the guards were able to dig down on the pot players and cause turnovers that turned into fast break points for the Panthers. The Panther defense also held the Mustangs to less than 10 points in all four quarters. At the end of the quarters the Panthers led 12-7 in the first, 28-14 in the second, 45-22 in the third and 65-31 in the fourth. Senior Katelyn Brown led the Panthers in scoring once again with 25 and is averaging a team high 19.6 points per game. Brown was followed by Thacker with 15, and an impressive 13 points coming from senior Sarah Connor. Connor did a great job on clean-up around the basket to a much taller West Grand defense.
Head coach Jimmie Mergelman praised Connor and her hard work this season by stating, “Connor has shown a lot of growth throughout the season in her post play and plays a crucial role of the ‘sixth player’ which is key to the Panthers’ success this season.” Kassidee Brown finished with eight, and Mackenze Cochrane and Elam added two each. The lady Panthers will travel to Paonia on Friday night for the final league match-up of the regular season.
Currently the Panthers are second in the league tied with the Meeker Cowboys but hold the tie-breaker over the Cowboys as the Panthers defeated the Cowboys 42-37 on Jan. 11 in Rangely.
