MATT SCOGGINS PHOTO
RANGELY | The Rangely Panthers dropped three games at the WREA Cowboy Shootout in Meeker, losing to Rifle 21-45 on Thursday, Soroco 34-45 on Friday, and Dolores 44-52 on Saturday. While it wasn’t the start they wanted, there were some bright spots for the Panthers throughout the weekend. Defensively, Rangely held Rifle, the eventual tournament champions, to 14 points in the first half of play. CJ Lucero proved he could contribute on the defensive end, and Dylan LeBleu showed up big for the Panthers on Saturday against Dolores.
According to Panthers head coach Kyle Boydstun, rebounding and scoring were Rangely’s “Achille’s heel.” “While our defense needs to be more consistent, it was our inability to secure boards that ultimately did us in. I expected the scoring to be slow going as this is a completely new group of starters from last year—our ability to score did improve each game and should keep improving. But boxing-out and rebounding has to improve immediately,” coach Boydstun stated. Leading the Panthers in scoring on the weekend was Micah Zenner with 38 points, Marshall Webber with 17 and Sydney Cole with 13. The trio also led the team in rebounding with 16, 15 and 14 boards, respectively. Micah Zenner and CJ Lucero led the team in steals for the weekend with six total and Drew Brannan followed with five steals. The Panthers play at the Manila, Utah, tournament next Friday and Saturday, Dec. 14-15. They’ll open with Manila on Friday at 7 p.m. (JV at 5:30 p.m.) followed by Intermountain Christian School on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. (JV at 11 a.m.).
Special to the Herald Times
