Picture yourself dribbling down court with ten seconds on the clock and two people on you. Your team is behind fourteen to sixteen. You fake out one of the defenders and run past the next, you look up at the hoop, shoot, and just as the ball swishes through the net, the buzzer goes off.

What is it about the game that these girls love so much? Is it the feeling of pride you get after each win or basket made? The pace the game moves at? Or just because of how fun it is?

“I like basketball because the game moves so quickly and it is such a team game, and no one person can win the game individually,” sophomore Emma Yoder said. “I also like the running aspect of basketball because it helps to relieve stress, and for a period of time I’m active and focused on something other than school. I love how fast the game moves and I love when the team comes together and we play as a united team,.”

This year’s basketball team has three captains: Mackenzie Yob, Jessica Fuller, and Rhea Thornton. These are also three of the seniors that are on the team. Many of the team’s seniors, including the captains, have known each other since first grade and have been playing together ever since.

“I think my team shows strength in our chemistry because we are able to do things that no other team can do,” Thornton said. “We are able to see the floor much better than anyone else can. I think this is because most of the team has played together since we were in first grade and through all that experience we have been able to learn how we each play.”

Every team needs some sort of tactic or special game plan, a key needed during games that the team focuses on. Fuller claims that key to basketball is that “defense wins championships.” Without defense, you cannot win games. Defense is said to be the hardest thing to do on the hardwood, but if done with intensity for the entire game, there is no way that team will lose. Defense is the key to basketball.

“Right now we are really doing well defensively,” Fuller said. “I think maybe on the offensive end we need to work through running our plays more and just making sure we’re going through everything the way we’re supposed to be doing them and how the coach is telling us to.”

A couple weeks ago, our Lady Rangers took on Lowell at home. The game went into overtime from a buzzer shot made by the Lowell team. In the end, the girls were able to recollect themselves after they made that buzzer and just pull out the win.

“It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster ride but I think through the ups and downs, we’re learning a lot of lessons that will help us succeed,” said Fuller.

Just like many sports teams and clubs at FHC, the girls basketball team is a family. The team spends the majority of the week together either practicing or playing games. Their main goal and focus all season that they have been working hard on has been to get to the state finals.

“We are able to read each other much better and work together at a higher excellency than the opponents we have been playing,” Thornton said. “Also, we have a dog fight that no other team has. We have been playing hard until the very end and no one else has worked until the last second of games which has only prepared us for the post season.”

Through everything, the girls have worked hard and tirelessly. In the end, the team can agree they’ve experienced a season to be proud of.

“Being a Lady Ranger to me means taking pride in the Ranger community,” said Fuller.  “[It means] working hard and being the best you can be every time you put on that jersey.”