The freshman basketball team this year has had its share of ups and downs. However, the boys have continued to learn during these games and the hard work may be starting to pay off. On Tuesday, January 24, the freshman team faced off against Lowell. 

The first quarter started off with the Rangers and the Red Arrows in a stalemate, there was a lot of sloppy play and bad turnovers. As the quarter went on though both teams seemed to settle in, Lowell more settled than FHC though. The Rangers continued to fight hard and ended the first quarter on a positive note with a bucket from Will McClain. At the end of quarter one, the score was 8-5 in favor of Lowell. 

The freshman came out on fire in the second quarter holding Lowell to only one bucket until later in the quarter.  Will played his heart out in the first two quarters of this one, causing mishap after mishap from Lowell. He also set the tone for the freshman for the rest of the game. Later in the quarter, Lowell came surging back with a couple of threes to put them up by three at the half.

Freshman Rangerball really seems to be a second-half team and that narrative continued for them in this one with Naveen Ram scoring an easy layup out of the half almost right away. From then on our Rangers really put themselves into another gear on offense and defense. On offense, the Rangers scored easy bucket-after-bucket as well as making a few triples. On defense, the Rangers held Lowell at 15 for the entirety of the third quarter and half of the fourth.

The energy and the fight were there for the Rangers in this game, in contrast to previous games this season. “We played well on the defensive end causing turnovers and this let us perform better on offense,” explained Matthew Murdock.

The fourth went much the same for the Rangers as the third and they eventually started to pull away. While the game was low scoring it was a thriller, the final score was 33-24 for a Ranger win.

Regardless, the past games at Greenville and at Northview have not gone as planned and the Rangers lost both of them. To Greenville in heartbreak fashion by two, and to powerhouse Northview by 15. The Rangers will look to add to their newfound confidence and success at home on Friday against East Grand Rapids at 4:00 PM.