Matt Scoggins Photo
RANGELY | Last Tuesday the lady Panthers traveled to Vail Christian for the first round of the district tournament, going in as the No. 5 seed.
“We did a nice job coming out strong especially in the second quarter outscoring them 15-4,” said head coach Jimmie Mergelman, adding, “The Panthers finished the game out strong.” We were led by Thacker with 22, Wilkie with 16, Miller with six, Scoggins with four and Lapp with two. With that win, we secured ourselves a spot into regionals the following weekend.
Friday the Panthers would advance to the semifinals playing Meeker. “We knew this would be a good game and it proved to be just that. Our defense came out strong and we handled the pressure well going into halftime down three, with a score of 25-22,” Mergelman said.
The third quarter was another defensive battle with the Cowboys scoring just one field goal and Panthers with one free throw. The Cowboys outlasted the Panthers by a score of 37-24. Miller finished with a double-double, scoring 10 points and 10 rebounds leading the way. Lapp and Wilkie finished with four each and Thacker, Wiley and Cochrane finished with two each. With this loss we would go into the third/fourth place game on Saturday vs. Hotchkiss. The Panthers got down in the first quarter by nine and just did not make it up. They lost 55-40, finishing fourth in the district tournament. Wilkie finished with 20, Thacker with 13, Wiley, Cochrane, Zoey Peck each with two points and Scoggins finished with a free throw.
“This weekend we travel to Ignacio to take them on Friday at 6 p.m.,” Mergelman said. “If we win we will play the winner of Burlington and Wray on Saturday. This could be a re-match of the first round of the 2018 State Tournament.”
Special to the Herald Times
