Girls varsity basketball preview: Lowell Red Arrows
After yet another weather cancellation Friday night, the 8-4 (3-2) Lady Rangers will host rival Lowell Tuesday night for a fierce matchup with the 4-8 (3-4) Red Arrows.
While they have a losing record so far this season, the Red Arrows cannot be counted out in this one, as they are very talented and scrappy. Last season, Lowell went 16-5 (11-1) on the year and claimed the top spot in the OK White; however, FHC was the team to hand the Red Arrows its sole conference loss.
Lowell was dominant the first time these two met last year, as it handily defeated the Rangers 50-32 after leading the whole game. The second matchup was a completely different story. FHC played nearly a perfect game to shatter Lowell’s undefeated conference record and win 45-38. Every player for the Rangers last year seemed to be on in the matchup, and free throws ended up being the key to the victory. The last 7 points—the difference in the game—came off of free throws.
The Red Arrows have been competitive in nearly every conference game this season. Lowell lost to the front-runner in the OK White, Northview, by 9 and 12 points this season. The Red Arrows were able to beat Ottawa Hills by 16, Greenville by 12, and Cedar Springs by 2. Lowell then fell short of Forest Hills Northern by 2 points with a buzzer-beater from the Huskies. FHC, in comparison, lost to Northview by 9 in overtime, beat Ottawa Hills by 14, Greenville by 11, and Cedar Springs by 9. The Rangers also lost to FHN by 9. On paper, these two teams look rather evenly matched, despite the differences in record.
The main threat that FHC will have to contain from Lowell is senior guard Regan Coxon. She is a talented shooter and can pound her way to the rim, as well as play solid defense. Disrupting Regan’s play can unravel the whole squad, so the Rangers will certainly look to shut down Lowell’s best player.
The key to this game for FHC, in addition to shutting down Regan, will be avoiding the cursed third quarter. The Rangers have given up halftime leads many times this season, but in their game against Greenville last Tuesday, FHC played one of its best third quarters all season. The team has yet to play a game without a slump either to start the game or to start the second half, but it has been working on stringing together four cohesive quarters in order to pull out big wins down the stretch.
FHC will have to be physical on both ends of the court against Lowell but especially on offense to combat the scrappy Red Arrow defense. When the Ranger offense can get going behind top-scorers senior Claire Baguley and freshman Theryn Hallock, this team is very hard to beat. Big games from those two, in addition to the usual physicality from junior Ally Ringler and freshman Remmie Ingraham on the boards, will be key for high offensive production.
While Lowell is having a small rebuilding year after last season’s success, FHC will have to play an entire game of basketball to full potential and not allow this scrappy Red Arrows team to come back. If the Rangers can put Lowell away early and maintain a high level of play, look for FHC to take this rivalry game and move to 4-2 in the OK White.
Molly is writing for the FHC Sports Report for her second year, and she has taken over the Sports Editor in Chief role. She is excited to be part of another...
