Senior Ty George and sophomore Mitch Wilkinson combined for 29 points in a 52-39 win over the Northview Wildcats. The Rangers lost last season on the road against the Wildcats, so a big win against them this year was a big step towards staying undefeated in the conference.

“I think it’s a great win because they were 10-3 and we were on the road,” said head coach Ken George. “We won by 13, but I feel like we won by 2. I know no one else feels that like coaches feel that, but that was a really hard fought game against a really good team.”

After sprinting out to a 19-6 lead in the first quarter, it looked like another night of FHC stomping on a conference opponent. But similarly to their last couple outings FHC struggling in the second and third quarters, getting outscored by ten in those two periods.

The Wildcats clawed their way back into the game and got themselves to within three. Ty, Mitch, and sophomore Jimmy Scholler were the final offensive push that the Rangers need to bury the Northview rising danger and put FHC out of reach.

“I’m really proud of my sophomores late,” George said. “Jimmy and Mitch made a couple huge plays late and we just needed someone to make a basket because they were throwing different looks at us defensively.”

Mitch hit his biggest two shots of the season from beyond the arc early in the fourth quarter. After Jimmy and junior Daniel Deindorfer put FHC up 7, Mitch got the ball in the corner and hit twice to put the Rangers up by 11 in a matter of 20 seconds.

“They started to come back in the second quarter and really started to push,” Mitch said. “We came out with a plan and to try to keep up the pace with them trying to slow us down. Our tempo made them uncomfortable, so they couldn’t settle in again after the first push.”

Ty came out and scored big again for FHC, leading the Rangers with 15 points. He averages just over 20 points per game this season, along with 2 rebounds and 3 assists per game through Tuesday night.

Jimmy had another complete night with 4 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. He has grown into one of the most complete athletes for FHC, getting it done passing and on the boards.

FHC remains undefeated in conference play and picked up their 12th win of the season, as they look ahead to Winterfest Friday against the Yellow Jackets of Greenville coming up.

Ty is looking to adjust in practice to eliminate the second and third quarter hiccups that are becoming more prevalent to this team.

“The last three games we’ve come out really hot with a ton of energy, but then have gone into these long droughts,” Ty said. “Most times it’s offensively, but tonight I think it was defensively. We really have to break down our second and third quarters and figure out why those are slow, but once we got back into our press we found ourselves again.”