RANGELY | The Rangely lady Panthers secured their sixth and seventh straight victories with wins over Little Snake River (Baggs, Wyoming) and Caprock Academy. Avenging a loss earlier in the season to Little Snake River was the goal since the Lady Panthers lost to the Rattlers on Jan. 19 in Rangely. The Rattlers made a three-point shot with time expiring to win 37-36. That was the only loss in the last 10 games for the lady Panthers.
Sophomore Miley Chism (23) shows off some great balance with a sure-footed catch. The lady Panthers are in the running for the league title. | MATT SCOGGINS PHOTO
Since the loss to Little Snake River, the lady Panthers have had the game at the top of their team discussions with the only intent of winning. The Lady Panthers did that when they traveled to Baggs, Wyoming, for the game on Friday, Feb. 10. The Lady Panthers could jump to a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
Leading the Lady Panthers in the quarter was junior Annika Cantrell with six points. Sophomores Ashlynn Ducey and Miah Wren scored four points and two points, respectively.
The second quarter saw the lady Panthers step up their defense and hold the Rattlers to only four total points. Wren led the lady Panthers in the quarter with four points, along with sophomore Emmeree Wagner, who scored four. Junior Ryann Mergelman scored two points with four assists in the quarter to put the lady Panthers up 22-14 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Rattlers came out in a stifling full-court press that hindered the lady Panthers for the quarter. The Rattlers doubled the lady Panthers’ score by scoring 14 points to the Lady Panthers’ seven. Mergelman led the lady Panthers in scoring with her lone three-point shot, followed by Cantrell with two points, and Wren sunk two free throws for the lady Panthers.
This put the game back to a one-point lead in favor of the Lady Panthers, 29-28, going into the fourth quarter.
Both teams wanted to be independent of the other, as each team scored 15 points in the fourth quarter. Luckily for the Panthers, their effort in the second quarter proved to be the difference maker as they came away with the victory 44-43. Miah Wren made two crucial free throws with only seven seconds left to put Rangely up one point. The two points and a three-point shot by Wren made her the leading scorer in the quarter with five points. Sophomore Kaitlyn Cox came off the bench in the second half, played great defense, and added four points in the fourth quarter with a three-point shot and a free throw. Ashlynn Ducey scored three points in the quarter, Cantrell with two, and Mergelman with one point.
The leading scorer for the lady Panthers against Little Snake River was Miah Wren, who scored 13 points with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Annika Cantrell upped her streak of double-doubles to six in a row for the junior on the season with 10 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Ashlynn Ducey ended the game with seven points, four rebounds and two steals. Ryann Mergelman scored six points and secured five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
The rest of the scoring for the lady Panthers was Kaitlyn Cox with four points and Emmeree Wagner with four points as well. The win pushed the lady Panthers’ overall record to 13-4 since the game was a non-league contest.
Following the high energy game in Baggs the lady Panthers played host to the Eagles from Caprock Academy. A win against the Eagles would secure at least a share of the Western Slope League crown for the lady Panthers. This would be the first time the Panthers held at least a share of the league crown since the 2017-2018 season.
The Panthers came out strong against a very determined team from Caprock looking to upend the league standings. Scoring 18 to the Eagles’ 13, the Lady Panthers held a first quarter lead.
Annika Cantrell continued with her dominance of the paint area by scoring eight points in the first quarter. Miah Wren led the Panthers in outside shooting as she made two three-point shots in the quarter for six points. Sophomore Lexi LeBleu scored three points on three free throws, and Ryann Mergelman made one of her two free throws for one point to round out the scoring.
The second quarter saw the lady Panthers tighten up their defense. Cantrell asserted her dominance again around the basket with seven more points. In this game, Cantrell had 15 points at halftime. Kaitlyn Cox and Ashlynn Ducey scored four points in the quarter, followed by Mergelman with two and LeBleu with one to bring the Panthers’ score to 36 and the Eagles’ 21. With the 15-point lead, the Lady Panthers did not look back in the second half to secure their seventh straight and seventh league win. The win guaranteed the lady Panthers the number one seed at the Western Slope 2A district tournament, which will be played in DeBeque, Colorado, on Friday, Feb. 24, and Saturday, Feb. 25. The Panthers will close out their regular season play with a league game in Edwards, Colorado, against the Vail Christian Saints on Saturday, Feb. 18. A win in that game will give the lady Panthers an outright league title for the 2022-2023 season.
Special to the Herald Times
