The JV girls basketball team had a very close game on Thursday. Despite their best efforts, the Rangers were not able to take the lead in the fourth quarter, losing to the East Grand Rapids Pioneers 36-33. Although the Rangers might have lost, this was their best game this season.

“If we play like we did in this game for the rest of the year, we’re going to have a very strong finish to our season,” Coach Brandon Yoder said.

The Rangers started the game off on fire. With help from their man and their zone defenses, FHC was able to take a 9-6 lead in the first quarter.

“We came out and we played unbelievably in the first quarter,” Yoder said. “We played amazing defense and we played with the intensity that we wanted. We went into the locker room super excited.”

The fire continued into the second quarter. With explosive passes coming from sophomores Bryn Yoder and Alex Vaughn-Earvin, they were able to score more and more. Alex had an especially great game, finishing with eight points and two offensive rebounds. The Pioneers couldn’t stop their offense. The Rangers went to the locker room up 17-9.

“I think this was a pretty good game because we started off pretty strong and we got up a ten point lead in the in the first half,” said Katie, who had five points. “I feel like this was the best game we have played this year and now we can see our potential.”

During the third quarter, something started to change. The Pioneers started to catch up to the Rangers score quickly and they started to beat the Ranger defense. The Rangers started making some ill-advised passes that the Pioneers were able to get their hands on. The game had a quick turnaround that affected the rest of the game.

“The third quarter we got down and in the fourth quarter we brought it,” said Bryn, who had eight points and five rebounds. “We went out there and played our best and tried to win in the fourth quarter.”

Something clicked for the Rangers, and in the fourth quarter the Rangers took their game back. Freshman Brittney Probst’s defense caused the Pioneers to have multiple turnovers. With 16 seconds left in the game, a player from East Grand Rapids was sent to the line. The Pioneer made both of her free throws, putting the Rangers down by three. FHC took multiple timeouts in the last seconds of the game, but they weren’t able to turn it around.

The Rangers had amazing chemistry. They had crisp passes, tough defense, ongoing tough offense, but they couldn’t make up for the third quarter. This was not a conference game, so their record is still 2-4. They expect to improve their record on Tuesday against the Northview Wildcats at home.

“I think we did really good, we came out strong, super hard, and really aggressive and I felt like we had a chance to win,” Brittney said. “We were down by ten and we only ended up losing by three and I thought we just worked our butts off.”