As the first semester of the school year ends, winter sports are just starting to ramp up. This is true, especially for the Forest Hills Central Girls’ Varsity Basketball team. Here is a little recap of their first four games (not including West Michigan Hoop Summit).
Home Opener: 12/6
The Rangers’ opened their season on the 1st Friday of December against the Reeths-Puffer Rockets. The starters: Juniors Lexy Scarlato and Kenzie Manders and Seniors Jordan Koning, Addison Casten, and Anna Krampe quickly got to work to open up the 1st quarter. Right off the opening tip (which Manders won), Koning got a nice dish from Manders for an easy layup. The Rangers started hot with a 7-0 run but seemed to cool off after just 2 minutes. While the girls were having good looks at the rim, most of their shots weren’t falling. However, the Rangers were quick in transition and played great defense to force many turnovers on the Rockets. To end the 1st, Scarlato came up with two back-to-back breakaway layups to reignite the momentum in favor of the Rangers and put them up 17-7.
The 2nd quarter started slow for both teams until Scarlato hit a 3 at 6:14 to score the 1st points for either team; however, the Rockets quickly answered with 3 points of their own after an and-one layup. The rest of the 2nd quarter went by with minimal scoring by either team. While the Rangers were able to build their lead to 32-14 at the half, there were rarely any consistent scoring runs. The 15 points the Rangers scored were an accumulation of 3s, layups, and free throws hit by Casten, Scarlato, Manders, and Koning.
The 3rd quarter started with a layup for the Rockets, but Scarlato quickly answered with a layup for the Rangers. However, those were the only points the girls scored for a while. The 3rd quarter was littered with mistakes: turnovers, unnecessary fouls, and missed passes. It didn’t help that the Rangers’ shots didn’t seem to fall like they had in the 1st half. The Rockets used this to their advantage and were quick in transition off of rebounds. While Reeths-Puffer certainly didn’t play their best quarter (they were also committing various fouls and turnovers), they were finding ways to get to the rim or get open on the perimeter. The Rockets cut the lead to 10, 36-26, heading into the 4th.
Whatever happened to the Rangers in the 3rd quarter was no longer evident. It didn’t take long to get scoring opportunities as Reeths-Puffer was playing defense sloppily and committing fouls. The 1st points came from Manders, off of a dish from Scarlato, as she was cutting to the rim. However, while the Rockets didn’t put many points on the board, they were finding a way to trap the Rangers from moving the ball. Whatever half-court trap they drew up seemed to work, as many turnovers were committed under pressure. With 5:46 left on the clock and the Rangers due to inbound, something unexpected happened. A technical foul was called on the Rockets. This, combined with both free throws made by Koning, seemed to flip a switch for the Rangers. The girls finished on a 16-7 run and beat the Rockets 56-35.
Grandville 12/10:
The Rangers had their 1st test on the road against Grandville.
Manders won the opening tip to start the game. After some passes up the court and around the perimeter, Krampe found Casten for a deep jumper and the 1st points scored by either team. Within seconds, Grandville answered with a 3 to take the lead. For the next 2 minutes, both teams exchanged unanswered trips to the rim until Casten drove to the rack and found Koning open on the perimeter for a wide-open 3. The rest of the quarter ended with back-and-forth scoring drives. The Rangers would build a small lead, but just as easily as they scored, Grandville would take the lead back. The 1st quarter saw both FHC and Grandville exchange, either scoring droughts or runs. The Bulldogs went into the 2nd up by 2, 14-12.
Right out of the break, after an airball by Grandville, the Rangers reclaimed the lead after a 3 by Casten. Each team seemed to either exchange unanswered trips or turnovers until Grandville reclaimed the lead by 1 with 5:33 left to go before halftime. After a 3 by Sophomore Brooklyn Reuter less than a minute later (assist by Koning), the Rangers reclaimed a 2-point lead. The rest of the quarter finished with very minimal scoring by either team, with a couple of 3-pointers exchanged, but the Rangers finished up 24-22.
The Rangers got the ball to start the 3rd quarter, but they turned it over after committing an offensive foul. Grandville hit a 3 on their first possession to give them a 1-point lead once again. The next 4 minutes of the quarter were a combination of trip after trip down the court by each team that remained unanswered. Each team was in a scoring drought until Casten sunk 2 free throws with 3:02 left to play in the quarter. The next minute consisted of no points until Grandville hit a 3 to reclaim the lead by 2. Going into the 4th, Grandville was up 30-26.
Within 13 seconds of the 4th quarter, Manders was fouled and took a trip to the line. The Rangers got the offensive board, which contributed to a floater by Casten to cut the Bulldog lead to 2. Most of the 4th was without scoring by either team. The only points Grandville contributed were off of a layup and free-throw, and the only points scored by the Rangers were off of a layup by Manders. Time after time, each team put up shot after shot, trying to either keep the lead or claim it. In the end, the Rangers fell short by 1, 33-32.
Thornapple Kellogg 12/13:
The Rangers looked to bounce back from their first loss with a win on the road.
Thornapple Kellogg won the opening tip but quickly gave the ball to the Rangers after airballing a 3. The Rangers were not able to convert, and the 1st minute and a half of the game was scoreless until the Trojans rolled it in for 2 points in transition. The 1st points scored by FHC came very shortly after when Krampe found Manders cutting to the rim for an easy layup. Turnovers and missed opportunities were exchanged over the next 2 minutes before Koning cut to the rim and sunk a floater in the basket. That seemed to open up the scoring for both teams. Following a free throw by TK, Manders was left open at the top of the key and sunk a 3. While the teams continued to exchange layups and some turnovers, Casten found Koning open behind the arc, which gave the Rangers the 12-9 lead going into the 2nd.
Starting the 2nd quarter with the ball, it didn’t take long for the Trojans to turn it over to the Rangers. However, it took just over a minute before TK drove to the hoop to score the 1st points of the 2nd quarter. The Rangers, on the other hand, went 4 minutes without scoring before Koning found Casten in transition for an easy layup. TK then took a 2-point lead for the next 3 minutes until Manders popped in a floater to tie up the score. Koning found Manders under the rim for 2 with 50 seconds left, but the Trojans took the lead into the half, 19-18, after a 3 with 2 seconds left.
The Rangers were on defense to start the 3rd quarter, but they were able to stop TK’s offensive push. When FHC got the ball, it didn’t take long until Senior Elly Teliczan was left open in the corner to hit a 3. After over a minute of a scoring drought from both teams, the Rangers put more points on the board after Koning found Manders open underneath the rim. It took 3:49 until the Trojans would score their 1st points since the half by driving in transition. That seemed like the spark that TK needed because they went on to reclaim the lead by scoring 4 unanswered points. However, it didn’t take long for FHC to tie it with a pull-up jumper by Casten. With 9.5 seconds left, after a 2-minute long tie, Sophomore Katie Schillaci found Manders to take a 27-25.
Up by 2, going into the 4th quarter, the Rangers were determined to extend their lead. Within 30 seconds, Casten found an opening in the corner and drained a 3, which the Trojans quickly answered with a layup. Unfortunately for the Trojans, Casten was open again in the corner and drained another 3 to put the Rangers up by 6. It seemed to be a pattern that Casten would hit a corner, and then TK would answer with a layup because, for the 3rd time in 2 minutes, Casten drained her 3rd of the quarter. The momentum shifted in favor of the Rangers, which helped Reuter get a breakaway layup to put FHC up 38-31 and force a TK timeout. Right out of that timeout, the 2 teams exchanged 3’s (this time by Manders), and 30 seconds later, they repeated with Casten hitting her 4th 3 of the quarter. In the final 4 minutes, TK went on an 8-2 run, including hitting a 3 with 50 seconds left to tie the game. Then, with 43 seconds left, the Trojans stole the ball and broke away to go up by 2. With 33 seconds left for a possession, Casten took matters into her own hands and drove down the lane to force OT. The Rangers unfortunately only scored 4 points and lost a close one, 56-52.
Byron Center 12/17:
In their last game before the break, the Rangers faced off against Byron Center.
The Rangers won the opening tip (thanks to Manders) but quickly turned the ball over on their first possession. The first point of the game came from a free throw made by BC. The Bulldogs rebounded the missed free throw, however, which saw them maintain possession of the ball and hit an open 3. The Rangers quickly rebounded with a good look from Teliczan, and while she didn’t sink the 3, Krampe was left alone under the basket for the easy putback. The next minute and a half of the quarter went by scoreless until the Rangers worked the ball up the court. Koning passed to Casten, who found Krampe on the post. Instead of working inside, Krampe dished it back out to Casten, who hit the open 3. The rest of the quarter was pretty quiet from both teams, as they continued trips up and down the court with minimal scoring. Still, with 1:55 left, the Bulldogs got called for a technical foul. Casten hit 1 of 2 free throws, and the Rangers built their lead to 5. The quarter ended with the Rangers up 12-7.
The Rangers got the ball to start the 2nd quarter, but just like the 1st quarter, they turned it over on the first possession. The 1st minute and a half went by without scoring from either team, but finally, Reuter found Casten open in the corner for the 3. At the 4:48 mark, just over a minute of no scoring, Byron Center scored their 1st points of the 2nd quarter with a post move under the rim. 2 minutes after continuous gameplay with no points put on the board, Manders connected with Koning, who was open from 3. The Rangers were able to swing the ball around quickly and drive to the hoop, confusing the Bulldogs, which helped FHC make the score 22-11 at the half.
Koning inbounded the ball to start the 3rd quarter for the Rangers; however, the quarter started with each team alternating possession after possession down the court with no scoring. The 1st points of the 2nd half came off a 3, made by Byron Center. Then, after a minute of no scoring from either team, the Bulldogs cut the lead to only 5, after hitting another 3. The Rangers remained scoreless in the 3rd until a sequence of events happened with 4:37 to go. BC inbounded the ball right under the rim, Manders blocked the shot attempt and dished it to Koning, who took it fullcourt for the layup in transition. The Rangers got a little sloppy with their passes towards the end of the quarter, but they held a 10-point lead 34-24 over the Bulldogs heading into the 4th.
The Bulldogs started the 4th with the ball, and while they didn’t score on their first possession, they put points on the board not too long after the quarter started. On the other hand, the Rangers weren’t hitting anything. Besides turnovers, which the Rangers had managed to decrease, shots just weren’t falling. That was until they inbounded the ball and brought it up the court. Reuter saved the ball from being a turnover and tipped it out to Teliczan in the corner, who hit the 3 with 4:18 left in the game. Byron Center only managed to score a singular free throw in the last 4 minutes of the game. The Rangers, on the other hand, finished the game on a 7-0 run. To start things off, Koning found Krampe open on the elbow for an easy jumper. Then, with 1:41 left in the game, Koning found Teliczan open in the corner for another 3. 20 seconds later, Manders got a steal at half-court and broke away for the nail-in-the-coffin layup. FHC went on to beat BC by 17.
The Rangers head into the break with a 2-3 record and will look to get their next win against the Ottawa Hills Bengals on January 3rd at home at 7 pm.
