Sophomore Zoe Lipke’s return to the starting lineup after a knee injury was the spark FHC needed, as she helped lead the girls varsity basketball team to its third conference win over Greenville 53-42. This two-year varsity player had a solid all-around game, finishing with a final stat line of 8 points, a team-high 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

“It’s nice to have another ball handler and someone that understands the game,” head coach Kristina Prins said. “Having Zoe back was key [to this win].”

Greenville took the lead from the tip to go up 11-4 halfway through the first quarter. The Yellow Jackets had much more energy from the start, and the Rangers struggled to find the basket through Greenville’s tight zone defense. FHC also struggled to rebound, allowing the Yellow Jackets to earn many second-chance baskets.

Zoe earned her first 2 points in over a month, while senior Claire Baguley scored 6 of her team-high 18 points in the first quarter. Greenville’s offensive star, senior guard Adele Kemp, earned a respectable 7 points to pace herself for 26 total on the night.

“We don’t play players like [Adele], and every year she’s been so good,” Prins said. “She’s just smart; she gets the game, and I feel like that as a senior she’s super confident. I just hope that our young players can kind of look up to that.”

For freshman Theryn Hallock, this game was a family affair, as she played against her older cousins, senior Lexy and sophomore Zoe Hallock, on Greenville’s squad. Theryn quarded Zoe Hallock for a majority of the game, effectively shutting her down as a scoring threat.

“[Playing against my cousins] was weird, but it was good,” Theryn said. “They’re both athletic and smart on the court, but they’re both also really aggressive. I think I was quicker in some moments, so I got past [Zoe], but she did really well on defense.”

In the second quarter, Claire was assigned the task of face guarding Adele Kemp. With Claire holding the Yellow Jackets’ main offensive threat to minimal scoring, FHC outscored Greenville 11-6 to substantially close the score gap. The Rangers went into the locker room trailing 23-21.

“I think that going into halftime we were upset because we were down,” Zoe said. “Coach and Claire gave us a good pep talk, and we came out and had probably the best third quarter all season.”

Zoe would earn the go-ahead point on two free throws, giving FHC its first lead of the game at 26-25 with 6:30 left in the third. From there, the Rangers went on a 12-0 scoring run that was largely due to their defensive stops and a couple steals. FHC held the lead at 45-34 after three quarters and would not fall behind the rest of the game.

“We’re such a good defensive team that I feel like it fuels our offense quite a bit,” Prins said.

The Rangers played much smarter on offense in the fourth quarter, as they didn’t force shots and had many great passes through the defense. 5 of FHC’s 7 assists and 5 of the Rangers’ 6 total team steals came in the second half. With one minute remaining, the Rangers were able to pass the ball around and run the clock to zero, winning 53-42.

Sophomore Katy Majick was a spark off the bench for the Lady Rangers, as she knocked down a couple shots from behind the arc to give FHC momentum at key points in the game.

Freshman Remmie Ingraham had a great presence all night to earn 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 assist. Matched up with Lexy Hallock in the paint, Remmie was able to outwork the senior opponent and come away with many key boards.

FHC moves to 8-4 (3-2) on the season and snapped a two-game losing streak with this victory. The Lady Rangers go on the road to Cedar Springs on Friday night.

“It was good to win another conference game,” Theryn said. “We just have to keep on going and keep our heads up no matter if we win or lose, but this is definitely a good win.”