RANGELY | When the Rangely Lady Panthers boarded their bus heading to Edwards, Colorado, to take on the Vail Christian Saints, they had one goal on their mind: win. They did just that, securing their outright Western Slope Conference championship victory for the first time in 20 years. The lady Panthers last shared the league crown back in 2018 with Meeker and Soroco, so it was a main goal of the girls to win the league outright. Downing the Saints 60-25 was the icing on the cake for the Panthers as they had already locked in the number one seed and a bye in the first-round heading into the District 8 basketball tournament.
The lady Panthers secured the Western Slope Conference championship victory outright for the first time in 20 years. They will enter the District 8 tournament this weekend with a first round bye. | COURTESY PHOTO
In the first quarter, the lady Panthers took a commanding 14-4 lead on the Saints. Junior Ryann Mergelman and sophomore Ashlynn Ducey led the scoring with five points each. Junior Annika Cantrell added four points to the mix to give the lady Panthers 10 points in the quarter.
The Panthers increased their lead in the second quarter from a healthy barrage of their usual fast paced play and tight defense. Ducey paced the Panther offense with nine points to add to her five from the first quarter for a team-leading 14 points in the first half. The Saints did not have an answer for Ducey’s front court speed and transition offense. Mergelman added three points for her eight point total in the first half. Junior Kastyn Dembowski and sophomore Miah Wren scored two points to round out the Panthers 30 points for the half.
Starting the second half with the same offensive intensity as the second quarter was the Panthers’ goal and they accomplished that with a 21 point quarter. Wren led with nine points, knocking down two three-point shots from deep and then converting her free-throw after making her shot while being fouled by a Saint player. Ducey continued to use her superior speed in transition while scoring six points in the first two minutes of the quarter before succumbing to a nose injury for the rest of the game. Sophomore Lexi LeBleu scored her only two points of the game along with Mergelman and Cantrell adding two more to their total.
The fourth quarter moved very quickly for both teams as the Panthers went up 56-19 within the first two minutes of the quarter to enact the mercy rule with the running clock. Sophomores Emmeree Wagner, Kaitlyn Cox, Miley Chism and Miah Wren all scored two points in the quarter followed by Cantrell for one. The Panthers finished the game with the final score of 60-25 securing their outright 2A Western Slope Conference Championship.
The Panthers finished undefeated in league play on the season and will enter the District 8 tournament with a first round bye. Rangely will play the winner of the Vail Christian vs. West Grand game that was played on Tuesday, Feb. 21 in Kremmling, Colorado. The Panthers will play at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24 at DeBeque High School in DeBeque, Colorado. If the Panthers win their game, they will play on Saturday at 1 p.m. for the District 8 championship game.
Special to the Herald Times
