Shooting over 50 percent from the floor and forcing 21 turnovers, FHC had their best first half not only of this season but arguably in a long time. The Rangers throttled the Wildcats of Northview 75-40 Tuesday night.

“It was probably one of the better first halves one of my teams has played in ten years,” Head coach Ken George said. “In terms of sharing the ball, defensive purpose, and emotional input into every situation it was our best. That’s a 6-1 team that just beat FHN by 25. It’s just one game, but it’s one of the better first half performances in my career.”

FHC got off to a hot start from seniors Ryan Dunn and Andrew Tebeau. Senior Ty George then added another seven points to round out a 21-10 first quarter. The Rangers had a combined shooting percentage of just over 69 in the first quarter and overwhelmed Northview on both ends of the court.

Seven of Andrew’s nine total points came in the first quarter.

“They just got overwhelmed tonight,” said Andrew, who also had five rebounds. “We just came out fast. They really try to slow their opponents down while we love to play fast and we have a lot of fast guys on our team.”

The Rangers came out and moved the ball the most efficiently they had all season. It was an unselfish performance with a season-high of 26 assists as a team.

“You see the ball pop around like that, it starts up top,” George said. “It’s Ryan, our point guard, who is so unselfish and just shares it with shooting threats standing on the arc. It’s just hard to defend.”

Sophomores Jimmy Scholler and Mitch Wilkinson combined for 15 points, nine of those points coming from beyond the arc.

“Our defense pushed the ball and guys were being super unselfish,” said Jimmy who finished with nine points. “Ty was finding me with great passes, Tate the same thing. We were getting out early in transition and getting easy looks. When our guys drive the lane like they did, it leaves me in the corner and all I have to do is shoot.”

After FHC outscored Northview 23-5 in the second quarter alone, the Rangers took a 29 point lead going into the second half. Seniors Brennan Bouma and Matis Butlevics alongside juniors Jake Ball, Jay Shields and Josh Wise all jumped into the action, scoring 13 points combined.

The defensive effort stayed in place as the fourth quarter wound down.

“As a team defensively, we played like none other,” Matis said. “We’ve been working so hard in all facets of the game this week in practice, but especially defense. We were all over them and I think we really wanted that tonight.”

FHC now moves on to face the Greenville Yellow Jackets on the road Friday night with a new and improved conference record of 1-0. The Jackets have struggled this season, winning their first game but dropping the next four after that.

It was a rocky start to the season for FHC with two heartbreaking losses, however, this team has made a complete turnaround and has picked up for wins in a row. The chemistry of this team has become like no other.

“We all play so well together,” Andrew said. “It’s not a one-man show. The team chemistry is just unbelievable now, we all feel like we’re out there and it’s a band of brothers. It’s a night and day difference from when we came out game one and played East Kentwood. I just love how we’re playing right now.”