Senior Claire Baguley’s 23-point night wasn’t enough for the Lady Rangers to take down rival Forest Hills Northern last night, as FHC fell 52-43 for its second conference loss. Claire led the team in all aspects last night, not just in scoring, as she had a final stat line of 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 block.

FHN senior Sadie Knee was the main concern for FHC coming into this game, and sophomore Brittney Probst accomplished her given task of shutting this powerful guard down. Sadie would score the first 2 points of the game but wouldn’t find the rim again for the rest of the first quarter.

Claire secured FHC’s first and only lead of the game, 3-2, before Northern took it back three minutes into the first quarter and held it through the entire rest of the game. Freshman Remmie Ingraham made a lot of hustle plays to secure a couple rebounds in the first half, but the Rangers couldn’t seem to find the bottom of the net. The first quarter saw solid defensive efforts from both squads combined with sloppy offenses for a low score at the end of eight minutes; FHN led 8-5.

Junior Ally Ringler took a charge to begin the second quarter to give FHC a little momentum, but the Huskies found some heat from behind the arc. FHN senior Madi Stevenson, the Huskies’ leading scorer with 18 points, hit a dagger from behind the line to halt any potential scoring run from the Rangers. Northern would go on to outscore a cold FHC offense 17-7 to take a 25-12 lead at the half. Sadie only earned 5 points in the half, while Madi went into the locker room with 10 under her belt.

A team that usually has a sluggish third quarter, FHC had the exact opposite last night and secured the most momentum all game out of the locker room. The Rangers went on a small 6-0 run in the middle of the quarter to bring the score to 27-18 with the momentum swinging toward FHC. Claire then came up with a huge block, from which freshman Theryn Hallock secured the ball, went coast to coast, and put the ball in for 2 of her 7 points last night to bring the Rangers within 4, 28-24, with three minutes remaining. The Huskies then pulled away and finished the quarter ahead 37-28.

In the fourth, FHC really started attacking the basket more to draw fouls. The Rangers were able to knock down most of their free throws, but they struggled to take care of the basketball and find the bottom of the net from anywhere other than the free throw line. While the game slipped out of reach in the end, the Lady Rangers continued to play scrappy defense and attack the rim until the final buzzer in this rivalry matchup, ultimately falling 52-43.

This loss puts Central’s record at 7-3 (2-2), and FHC has a stiff test on Friday against the East Grand Rapids Pioneers. Northern was able to beat EGR earlier this season, and the Rangers will have to play to their full potential if they want to come out on top over East.