As the girls JV basketball team came off of a win against Northern on Friday, it looked to keep the streak alive with a win, but could not get it done against a strong Wildcat squad.

The Lady Rangers faced off against Northview on Tuesday, January 19. The team played with a purpose, but could not avoid falling 50-40 to the Wildcats in a high-scoring game. 

In only her second game on JV, freshman Addison Rueter proved to be a distinguished offensive player, as she again led the team in scoring with 9 points. The scoring production as a team was pretty spread out, though, as most of the athletes scored. 

The young team is in just its second game after combining the JV and freshman teams only a week ago. While players have been able to step up, there is no doubt that the change has had an effect on every player. After losing leading scorer Inara Banks to the varsity team after the combination, many different players have been able to step up and have the “next person up” mentality. One of those players is sophomore Lacey Smith.

“Lacey was huge off the bench for us,” head coach Javontae Ford said. “At one point, we were down 21 points when she checked into the game and she provided a spark for us to go on a run.”

As the game was high scoring, the team needed a player to step up and be able to play some tough defense and also have an effect on the offensive side of the ball. 

“[Lacey] was extremely aggressive on the offensive side of the ball, which is something she has been working on all year,” coach Ford said.

The team looks to bounce back on Friday, January 21, by hosting a conference rival in Grand Rapids Christian.