District champions: A title that the Rangely lady Panthers have not been able to claim since the 2018 season, is once again a label that will reside within the walls of Rangely High School. The lady Panthers captured the 2023 District Championship as the No. 1 seed. They defeated West Grand and Plateau Valley last weekend in DeBeque. The lady Panthers entered the district tournament as the number one seed after winning the regular season league championship with a perfect eight wins, zero losses, 15 wins, and four losses for their overall record of 17-4.
This put the lady Panthers in the position of being ranked in the top 16 teams in the RPI (rating percentage index) used for the regional and state seedings index and the MaxPreps ranking system. Therefore, per CHSAA regulations, if a 2A team is ranked in the top 16 teams in RPI/MaxPreps and becomes the champion of their district tournament, that team will be one of the eight host sites for the CHSAA first two rounds of the state tournament.
To be one of the eight host sites, the Rangely Lady Panther had to win two games to do so. Their first game came against the number four seed, West Grand Mustangs, who stood at 10-6 overall. The Mustangs were determined on defense to slow the lady Panther’s fast start. They were able to as the first quarter ended in a 6-2 lead for the lady Panthers. Juniors Annika Cantrell and Ryann Mergelman scored two points each, and one point from sophomores Emmeree Wagner and Lexi LeBleu.
The lady Panthers then scored 10 points in the second quarter to the Mustang’s six points to bring the halftime score to 16-8 in favor of the Lady Panthers. Sophomore Miah Wren scored five points and five from Cantrell to increase the Panthers’ lead. Going into halftime, the Panthers were encouraged by head coach Jimmie Mergelman to “weather the storm that teams bring against the number one teams.”
With the second-half adjustments in place, the lady Panthers came out, put up a fury of offense, and scored 14 points while only allowing the Mustangs six.
Leading by 16 points at the end of the third quarter, the Panthers only had one thing on their minds. Increase their lead to send a message to the rest of the district teams that they are the team to beat. The Panthers added 11 more points to the Mustangs’ four for the final score of 41-18.
Cantrell led all Panthers in scoring with 15 points and 16 rebounds, followed by Mergelman with 10 points. Wren finished the game with five points; sophomore Kaitlyn Cox scored four; sophomores Miley Chism and Ashlynn Ducey scored three and two points, respectively.
LeBleu and Wagner also added one point each for the Panther’s 41 total points.
With the win, the Lady Panthers played the number three seed, Plateau Valley Cowboys, who upset the number two seed Hayden Tigers following the Lady Panther’s victory over the Mustangs.
This was the third match-up of the season between the two teams, and each team had won one game. So the rubber match was the game to watch for the girl’s side of the district tournament.
The Panthers began the game with an immediate 6-0 lead with their stifling defense that caused two turnovers within the first two minutes. The Panthers converted on both for points. The Cowboys could score six points later in the quarter to bring the score to 11-6. Ashlynn Ducey led all scorers with six points, followed by Miah Wren, her first three-point basket of the game, and Miley Chism with two points.
The second quarter was the match-up people sought between the two teams, as their post-play proved to be the best in the tournament. Cantrell scored four of her 10 total points in the quarter, along with Mergelman and her four points to pace the Panther’s scoring. Wren knocked down her second three-pointer of the game. Wagner scored two free throws to give the Panthers 13 points in the second quarter to the Cowboys’ 11.
After halftime, the Panthers were two quarters from a district championship. They aimed to play the second half better on defense than the first. The Panthers accomplished this by outscoring the Cowboys 10-9 points for a 34-26 lead. Mergelman and Wren led the Lady Panthers in scoring with four points each in the quarter. In addition, Wren knocked down her third three-point shot of the game. Miley Chism added two points for the team’s 10-point third-quarter scoring.
The fourth quarter was proof of what coach Mergelman preached to the Panthers in every game at the district. Everyone will try to bring their best game when playing the number one seed.
This was the case for the Panthers and their fourth quarter against the Cowboys. The Cowboys could outscore the Panthers 12-6 and tie the game up with two minutes remaining. However, Annika Cantrell scored four points late in the last two minutes to put the Panthers up four. With under one minute to play, the Cowboys brought the game within two points, but the Panthers held strong on defense to not allow the Cowboys to tie or win the game on the last shot.
Wren and Cantrell shared the scoring title for the district championship, scoring 10 points. Cantrell added her second of the tournament and 10th of-the-season double-double. Ryann Mergelman added eight points, Ashlynn Ducey six, Miley Chism four, and Emmeree Wagner with two rounded out the rest of the scoring for the Panthers.
With the win, the Panthers are ranked in the top 16 teams in the CHSAA seeding index, and they will play host to the number 26 seed, Elbert High School, at 5:30 p.m. The two other teams that will travel to Rangely to play in the Region 6 location are the No. 10 seed, Akron High School, and the #23 seed, Evangelical Christian High School. The second game will be played at 7 p.m. The winner of the two Friday games will play each other at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 4. The winner of that game will then head to Loveland for the CHSAA 2A State Tournament. The Panthers would love for the Rangely community to show up and support the Panthers as they take on the next round of the CHSAA state tournament
Special to the Herald Times
