On Tuesday, February 14th, Rangerball took on local foe Grand Rapids Christian in hopes of making its record a winning one, but unfortunately, the boys could not pull through on that promise, falling to the Eagles 46-34. This loss comes as especially saddening for the Rangers, as this game marks their third loss in a row. However, even with the negative outcome, there were positives everywhere in the game-most tangible in the first quarter.

The first quarter was when the boys jumped at the chance to form a lead for themselves and did so exceptionally. Effective offense and defense propelled them to garner more points than their opponent, as well as Grand Rapids Christian’s lackluster offense during this time. Dono Thames, a star player on the Eagles’ side was unable to perform due to ankle problems, taken advantage of by Rangerball. Jonas VanderWoude and Ty Hudkins were notable scorers for the Ranger cause in this quarter.

The second quarter followed similarly to the first, with the boys holding onto their lead for the entirety of it. A continuation of the positives for Rangerball from the first quarter allowed this. However, Grand Rapids Christian fought to shorten their trail slightly by effectively utilizing their star center, which made the score 21-17 Rangers as halftime began. For now, the Rangers had the lead in this intense game.

The second half was less fortunate for the Rangers. Possibly motivated by their trailing, Grand Rapids Christian’s defense improved during the third quarter, causing the boys to falter slightly in their scoring. Based off of their opponents’ fifteen points garnered compared to Rangerball’s six, it was evident that luck favored the Eagles more now-as the fourth quarter began, the boys were now down 32-27.

Unfortunately, Rangerball could not gain back momentum nearing the end, mostly due to the Eagles’ improved defense in the second half. The fourth quarter darted away from the team’s hands, and as the final buzzer rang the score was 46-34 Eagles.

“These past losses have really forced us to consider our team chemistry and how we can improve upon that going forward to be a more unified force against Greenville and those we see in playoffs. We believe it’s not a lack of effort on our end but rather a lack of connectedness that we will work to develop through practice and adversity in the coming weeks before playoffs. We will also take these losses as motivation to work hard for a chance to beat Greenville on Friday,” states junior Adam Gray.

Senior Jake Koning continues, “We played well defensively but couldn’t get anything going on the offensive end. I think we have a lot of things we need to sharpen up in practice.”

This loss is not a representation of the hard work put in by Rangerball as of late, however, and they look to end a negative streak in their next head-to-head against Greenville, on Friday, February 17th, at 7:00 p.m., at home.