After an impressive, perfectly executed game against rival Forest Hills Northern, Rangerball traveled to Bulldog Country on Tuesday, February 7 in hopes of collecting another win against Byron Center. Previously, the boys triumphed over them in a thrilling 58-56 overtime game but could not produce the same result this time around. This alters the Rangers’ OK White record to 5-3.

Byron Center is known to have an acclaimed team, with effective plays and players for both offense and defense. That makes an increased challenge for the team, and that was evident in the first quarter. Right off the bat, simply due to a slow start for the boys, the Bulldogs managed to grasp a lead due to their effective offense early on. Four minutes in, the score sat at 10-4 Rangers, then became 18-7 as the first quarter ended. The first quarter was not pretty for the boys; it was characterized by slightly sluggish offense and defense for them.

The second quarter told a slightly different story, it was now a back-and-forth struggle for points and rhythm. Possibly fueled by their trailing of Byron Center, the team began to fight back a little. Halfway through, the score read 24-17 Rangers; they were able to draw closer due to sheer willpower and a slight turntables of momentum. However, Byron Center echoed with a similar response, and the score became 32-25 Rangers as halftime began.

Unfortunately, the third quarter was anything but good for the boys. Unable to produce much to counteract Byron Center’s performance at this time, Rangerball found themselves staying behind the Bulldogs as gameplay went on. That made for the Bulldogs to lead the Rangers 41-26 halfway through the third quarter, then 46-31 as the fourth quarter began. Bad luck reigned for the team, which was an unprecedented trend for them.

The fourth quarter fared similarly. Rangerball fought hard in an attempt to cut down its opponent’s lead, but to no avail-that night, Byron Center’s offense performed too well and the Rangers simply struggled at times to score the same way. With four minutes left, the score was 55-40 Rangers, then 60-51 as the game drew to a close.

But this loss does not take away from the successes found by Rangerball as of late. As we all know, losses are a great motivator-and there is no doubt the boys will take lessons learned into their next game on Friday, February 10 against Northview at 7 pm.