MATT SCOGGINS PHOTO
RANGELY | On a cold Friday, the Rangely lady Panthers embarked on the road again for their fourth out of five games to take on the hosting Telluride Miners. The girls brought their stifling defense and 3-1 record against the Miners 1-2 record. The Panthers continued their great defense but their ability to convert on offense and turnovers stifled the score. The first quarter ended with a score of 2-2 and senior Zoey Peck was the lone scorer for the Panthers in the first quarter.
The lady Panthers couldn’t find their offensive groove in the second quarter as the shooting woes continued. “In that type of situation, I only could encourage the girls to keep shooting and reassure them that the ball will fall eventually,” head coach Jimmie Mergelman stayed positive about the Panthers shooting by explaining that if the Panthers stop shooting their offense will not improve. The Panthers were executing well on defense with outstanding rebounding by Hannah Wilkie and Kacie Lapp who stayed in pace with their season averages with 10 and seven rebounds respectively in the first half. The defensive side of the game is something that the Panthers want to be known for in the 2A Western Slope League and the lady Panthers take this very seriously. The defensive side was not the issue for as the second quarter ended with an 8-5 lead. What appeared to be a slow game fueled by turnovers and missed shots for both teams was the apparent adjustment at halftime.
When the third quarter opened up the Panthers looked for that series of made shots that allows a team to exhale and settle into the game. Coach Mergelman urged the girls at halftime to “hunt the paint” because the Panthers were not converting on their outside shots. Junior Kacie Lapp came out and made two free throws and added another basket along with sophomore Mary Scoggins adding five points and Adelynn Halcomb putting in three points in the third quarter and pushing the Panthers to 16 points overall. As the girls began to find the bottom of the basket, so did the Miners. The Miners added seven points to keep the game in check and end the third quarter. The third quarter did prove to be beneficial for the Panthers as they put the Miners into foul trouble and forced them to sub into their bench.
The fourth quarter was more successful offensively for the Panthers. As a team they scored 20 points in the quarter. The 20 points were four more points than the first three quarters combined. The message of “keep shooting” from coach Mergelman proved to be fruitful for the Panthers as the baskets started to fall in the fourth quarter. The Miners continued to find themselves in foul trouble. Three of the starting five ladies fouled out before the end of the game and the Panthers were able to exploit the mismatch that was left. Hannah Wilkie led all scorers in the fourth quarter with six points, Kacie Lapp added four, Mary Scoggins converted four, Shauna Lapp three and Adelynn Halcomb four points. The Panthers ended the game victorious, 36-17. “You always want to score 20 or more points per quarter, but for our girls to show their resilience and fight through adversity is great to see early in the season,” Mergelman said.
The lady Panthers were led in scoring by Mary Scoggins with 10, Kacie Lapp with eight, Adelynn Halcomb with seven, Hannah Wilkie with six, Shauna Lapp with three and Zoey Peck with two. The Panthers will finish out the 2018 portion of their schedule by hosting the Plateau Valley Cowgirls on Friday, Dec. 20. The JV game will be played downstairs at 4 p.m. and varsity will play at 5:30. The Cowgirls will bring their record of 4-0 in against the lady Panthers who are 4-1 on the year. The Panthers are looking forward to a good match against the Cowgirls to see where the team needs to improve moving into the holiday break.
Special to the Herald Times
