Junior point guard Jimmy Scholler had a career night on the way to leading the boys varsity basketball team to a 91-74 win over East Grand Rapids. Jimmy completely dominated the game from tip to finish, ending with 28 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals.

“Jimmy was great again tonight,” head coach Kyle Carhart said. “He pushed the tempo offensively and made good decisions with the basketball. He also made big shots which I was excited to see because he has spent a lot of extra time recently on the shooting machine.”

The Rangers got off to a hot start in the first quarter, thanks to senior forward Tate Hallock providing a huge spark off the bench. Tate scored 7 of his 11 points and grabbed 6 of his game-high 11 rebounds in the quarter to help pace the Rangers. After trailing 7-6, the Rangers went on a 9-0 run, taking the lead for good. After the hot start from the field, the Rangers led 23-12 at the end of the opening quarter.

“All of our seniors were fantastic tonight,” Carhart said. “Tate played extremely hard and was rewarded for his effort tonight with a double-double.”

The Rangers did not slow down in the second quarter after their hot start, as they scored 23 points in the quarter once again. Jimmy dominated the quarter, scoring or assisting on 18 of the 23 points. Senior big man Dan Deindorfer played tremendously on the defensive end in the quarter, blocking 4 of his game-high 5 shots. The Rangers shot just under 70% from the field in the first half, as they led 46-32 at the break. 

“We just got into a big-time rhythm,” Jimmy said. “Everyone on the team shot well, and the credit goes to all of our coaches [for] getting us prepared and setting up a great game plan.”

The third quarter saw the Rangers cool down a bit from the field, but they were able to outscore the Pioneers by 2, extending the lead to 16 points at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter gave the Rangers the opportunity to play their bench more, including sophomore forward Jacob Ervin, who played very well off the bench for FHC. Jacob had a varsity career-high 7 points, 2 rebounds, and a block.

The Rangers blew past their previous season-high in points scored in a game tonight with 91, with 41 of them coming from players not named Jimmy, Dan, or junior guard Mitch Wilkinson. The Rangers had really struggled to get production out of their role players in the last couple of games and having the likes of Tate, Jacob, and seniors Jake Ball and Josh Wise combine for 34 points was huge for the Rangers.

“Both Wise and JB, along with Erv, did what they’ve done all year tonight,” Carhart said. “Making winning plays and playing extremely hard on defense was huge for us tonight.”

With the win, the Rangers improve to 8-4 on the season and will be back in action Monday night when they host the Lowell Red Arrows in a make-up game from a cancellation a couple of weeks ago.