“My mindset was just to be aggressive and attack the rim and score in the open court,” said freshman Jimmy Scholler, who led the Rangers to a 58-48 win against a tough East Kentwood team.

Jimmy performed exactly what he preached. Jimmy finished with 22 points and 9 assists and played all 32 minutes. Most freshman would crumble under the pressure of being pulled up to JV, but Jimmy showed no signs of nervousness scoring 8 points in the first quarter.

“There was a lot of pressure before the game, but once it unwinded it went pretty good. I just had fun out there,” Jimmy said.

Head coach James Telman had a lot of faith in all of his players and believed that they could go out and get the win.

“I always have faith that my players are always going to give me their best,” Telman said. “Jimmy is an all around great ball player. He’s great on defense, he can drive, shoot outside and distribute the ball. Jimmy played great tonight. Our team played great basketball, and I believe we can expect that throughout the remainder of the season.”

The Rangers showed great toughness tonight and used their length and speed to get into the passing lanes. This created easy scoring chances, giving the Rangers a comfortable lead the whole game.

“I definitely believe that our length and speed will help play a major factor to our success this year,” Telman said.

Telman credits the tough work that all of these guys have put in during offseason workouts and pre-season practices.

“Winning the first game of the season is something every player and coach wants,”  Telman said. “Getting a win against a very talented team like East Kentwood shows how hard my players worked in practice and how well they listened and prepared.”

Other key players that stepped up in the Rangers win tonight were sophomores Tate Hallock and Adam Tellier. Adam was the Rangers’ second leading scorer and had many steals that led to fast break opportunities.

“Our whole team came together tonight,” Adam said. “We moved the ball very well and overall it was just a very good win for us.”