By Colt Allred
Special to the Herald Times
RANGELY | The Rangely Panthers had a couple big matchups on the weekend of the Feb. 2 and 3. First the Panthers had to play the Hotchkiss Bulldogs at home in an important league game. From the jump, the game was fast paced and high scoring. The Panthers were able to edge a little bit of a lead and at the end of the third quarter the Panthers were up 16-12. The Panthers continued to attack the basket and work defensively to set up their offense. The game was still pretty close but the Panthers were still in the lead going into the locker room for half time. The third quarter was not the quarter that the Panthers wanted. They turned over the ball several times which lead to Hotchkiss putting points on the board. The Panthers were able to weather the storm however and maintain a one point lead going into the fourth quarter, where the Panthers would have their best quarter of the game by far, scoring 26 points. In the end the Panthers were able to shoot free throws and increase their lead, eventually winning 64-54. Kobe Broome led the team in scoring with 21 points, including five three-point buckets. Behind Broome were Patrick Scoggins with 13 and Cameron Filfred with 12 points.
The next night at Vail Christian did not fare so well for the Panthers. The Panther squad was rearranged a little due to sickness in the team, but the Panthers were ready to make the necessary adjustments. The Vail Christian Saints took the lead very early in the game and from that point forward the Panthers found themselves playing catch-up. The Saints made it difficult for the Panthers to get in a groove shooting from the three-point line, but Patrick Scoggins was able to keep the Panthers in the game by getting to the rim from inside the paint. At the half the Panthers were down 15-25, but came out of the locker room ready for another half of basketball. The Panthers were able to match the Saints in scoring in the third quarter, but were again outscored at the end of the game. The Panthers lost 47-64 at the final buzzer. Scoggins was responsible for more than half of the team’s overall score, putting up 28 points by himself. Kobe Broome scored 10, and Austin Ficken earned six. The loss to Vail Christian is the Panthers’ first league loss. They will play Caprock and West Grand on Feb. 9 and 10.
