From the moment FHN won possession off the tip, the Rangers were relentless defensively. All five floor players were exploding to the ball, contesting every shot, and creating a fast and up tempo offensive attack that allowed their shooters to get open and control the game.

Freshman boys basketball toppled the Huskies 48-28 in a high flying and intense game at Forest Hills Northern High School. Guards Jackson Clay and Trevor Lewis kept the Huskies on their heels when attacking, denying the ball, and working hard to body the ball carrier and prevent him from opening anything up. Chris Junkunc, FHC’s starting center, worked hard collecting boards on both ends of the court. He also came away with eight points in the game. It was Jay Wiener, however, who put on a show defensively for FHC. Jay was monstrous at the rim and had three blocks on the night. One came just before halftime, as the Huskies had a breakaway with only seconds remaining. It seemed like a certain layup for FHN, but Jay flew up the court and met the Husky player at the peak of his shot. The Ranger bench began to explode in a series of cheers and clapping.

Jay was very satisfied with the way his side was playing defensively.

“We worked really hard as a team and played good help defense,” Jay said. “Whenever someone got beat, we always had another guy behind him to help out. We made it really tough on them.”

On the other side of the court, the Rangers were having a comfortable scoring night. John Corey, who led the team in points with fourteen, twelve of which were from three’s, noted that the offense was taking it’s time and getting good open looks. The Rangers scoring power kept the Huskies chasing for most of the game.

“I just started getting open looks, and things kept on going from there,” John said. “We were doing a good job of getting open, and our guys spread the ball well.”

For head coach Kevin Banner, a comfortable win against a rival like FHN is always a huge confidence boost. He mentioned, though, that the team treated it like it was any other regular game.

“Our energy level was very high, and it was an awesome team win,” Banner said. “We dug down deep defensively and that fueled us on the offensive end, so we got rewarded for it. It’s always a different game situation against Northern. Our last two or three weeks of practice have been very intense with high energy, and it has really been showing in our games. It wasn’t just this game, it’s been the past three weeks of practices that have been really good. It has translated perfectly onto the court on game days.”

Banner is upbeat on how the rest of the season is looking for his boys, and he wants to continue to develop every single one of his players.

“We want to keep getting better,” Banner said. “We gotta keep growing everyday and see how we end up finishing. We’ll take each day as it comes and make improvements no matter what.”