It looked like it was all going to eventually come together for the girls varsity basketball team last night, but in the end, the Rangers ended up losing in the opening round of the district playoffs to the Lowell Red Arrows 58-49. It was a back-and-forth game for the whole 32 minutes, but as the clock ticked down to triple zeroes, the Red Arrows pulled out a late run to seal the game. 

“We came out strong and prepared, and so did Lowell,” junior Theryn Hallock said. “It was back and forth, and Lowell could not miss.”

Because the regular season ended on a crushing loss to Byron Center, the Rangers looked to avenge an early-season loss to Lowell in the opening round of the district playoffs by coming out of the gates prepared to face a red hot Lowell squad. It was clicking on both sides of the ball for much of the game with neither team wanting to give up any ground.  

As the game tipped off, both teams were trading baskets. There were a couple of nice perimeter shots from Theryn and senior Zoe Lipke, along with senior Ava Metaj adding some good finishes at the hoop. On the opposite side of the floor, Lowell could not miss either. With each team trading off what seemed to be the same shots every single possession, the first quarter ended with the Rangers deadlocked at 13 with the Red Arrows.

The second quarter rolled around, and it was the same story as the first quarter, with each team going back and forth each possession. As the time was winding down on the first half, Lowell seemed to go on a little run. After the Rangers didn’t hit a shot for a solid two minutes of game time, the Red Arrows found themselves up by eight at one point. Theryn got a good shot to go in right before the break, and FHC was down 29-23 looking for a way to mount a comeback.  

As both teams came out of the locker room to start the second half, they both had a look of vengeance on their faces with the Rangers and the Red Arrows looking to score in bunches. It was all Lowell to start out the second half, with its version of the fab five getting everything to fall at the beginning of the third quarter. The game saw some good shots go in for juniors Remmie Ingraham and Theryn, as the Rangers looked to cut the deficit. As the third quarter came to a close, the Rangers were cutting the gap between themselves and victory but were still looking for more momentum.

As the fourth quarter came around, the Rangers finally found their groove with a small run. As they cut the deficit to within five, it had seemed like everything was going right for FHC, until the persistence of the the Red Arrows kicked in resulting in their own little run. Lowell seemed to hit every shot yet again on the late game-sealing run that would put the dagger in the Rangers. The final score was 58-49, ending the Lady Rangers’ season with a 7-6 record.

“Knowing that this could be the last game of the season is what I think fueled both teams,” Zoe said. “It sucks that we were the team who ended its season tonight, but we gave great effort and just had to go out there and play our hardest.”