Junior Theryn Hallock led the girls varsity basketball team last night as she scored 22 points. Her heroic outing wasn’t enough though, as the Rangers lost their game to East Grand Rapids 75-42. Even if the Rangers did lose, it was a great performance in the first half against one of the best teams in the state in the Pioneers.

“The girls played really hard,” head coach Kristina Prins said. “Going up against the number one team in the state is never an easy feat, and I’m proud of them for staying in it as long as they could.”

As the Lady Rangers came off of a loss at the hands of Byron Center this past Tuesday, they were looking for a statement win in this game. Going up against the number one team in the state, the East Grand Rapids Pioneers have firepower from everywhere on the court. Their main star is senior Jillian Brown, a Northwestern women’s basketball signee who is in the running for Ms. Basketball. If the Rangers wanted to win this game, they would have to stop her along with the Pioneers’ incredible perimeter shooting game. 

As the first quarter started, the Rangers were looking very solid. Between the great passes from Theryn to seniors Zoe Lipke and Ava Metaj and the mid-range swishes from senior Brittney Probst, the Rangers came out with a quick offensive attack to counter the Pioneers’ electric playmakers. The Rangers were also looking great on the defensive side of the ball with most of the Pioneers’ points coming from tough contested shots outside of the paint.

“We played really well defensively,” Zoe said. “We got several rebounds and steals, giving us a few good transition buckets.”

As the second quarter came around, the Rangers were looking a bit more sluggish on both sides of the ball with this game being a lot of running back and forth on each side of the ball. The Pioneers’ offensive attack finally got rolling, and they were hitting a lot of good shots from inside the paint and beyond the three-point arc. Even if the Rangers were letting up some points on the defensive end, they never threw in the towel. Junior Remmie Ingraham also got her shots going, as she hit some great three-point and mid-range shots before halftime to keep the Rangers’ deficit within 12. 

After halftime, the Rangers came out looking for better looks on the offensive end to boost their chance of pulling off a major upset. While the Rangers attempted to force the Pioneers to settle for some contested looks, it was to no avail, as the Pioneers came out red hot in the second half. Every shot seemed like it was going in for EGR, and they were getting some good looks near the basket as well.

“The biggest takeaway was they got a lot of second-chance points,” Zoe noted. “We needed to get better at our defensive rotation in the second half.”

The fourth quarter was finally around the corner for the Rangers and the Pioneers, and everything seemed like it was going in for EGR. They were getting a lot of offensive rebounds that gave them a lot of second-chance points, and the Rangers just could not keep up with their offensive firepower. In the end, the Rangers fell to the Pioneers 75-42 with a lot more to prove after two losses in a row.

“This game was a big motivator for us because we wanted to show up and show them who we are, but in the second half, we were just a lot more tired and had a lot of miscommunications,” Theryn said. “Overall, we played really well.”

The Lady Rangers are now 3-3 on the year and will look to snap their losing slump against the Lowell Red Arrows this Saturday, February 27th at 10 AM. After Lowell, they will meet up with Greenville again next Thursday.