Junior point guard Jimmy Scholler once again played a phenomenal game to lead the boys varsity basketball team to a 76-45 blowout win over Ottawa Hills. Jimmy scored 26 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, dished out 6 assists, and had 1 steal and 1 block.

“We didn’t play very well against them the first time,” said Jimmy, referring to the 2-point win the Rangers barely eked out over the Bengals earlier in the season. “We just attacked today and everyone was playing really good defense and shooting it well. When that happens, we play really well.”

The Rangers got off to a very hot start, hitting four of their first five shots. After Ottawa Hills made the game 11-7, the Rangers went on a quick 6-0 run, highlighted by junior guard Mitch Wilkinson dunking over a Bengals defender, forcing an Ottawa Hills timeout. Jimmy and Mitch combined for all 19 of the Rangers’ first-quarter points as well as 5 assists and 6 rebounds in the quarter. FHC outrebounded the Bengals by 8 and shot 76% from the field, as it led 19-11 at the end of one quarter of play. 

“That was definitely the coolest dunk I’ve ever had in my life,” Mitch said. “Getting off to the hot start was huge for us, we’ve been doing that a lot lately which is really good.”

With just over five minutes to go in the half, Ottawa Hills made it a 5-point game at 21-16. From there, the Rangers completely dominated the rest of the game. The Rangers scored on eight of their last nine possessions and finished the half on a 19-4 run. Jimmy had 17 of his 26 points in the first half, and the Rangers led 40-20 at the break.

“That run at the end of the half was huge for us,” Jimmy said. “To get that kind of separation going into halftime was great.”

The second half was more of the same for the Rangers. A three-pointer from Mitch off of a great pass by Jimmy started a 15-0 run for the Rangers to begin the second half. Dating back to when it was 21-16, the Rangers went on a 34-4 run to all but put the game away. The Rangers once again had a great quarter offensively, shooting at an 83% clip, and they led 66-26 after three quarters, allowing the Rangers to go to their bench for the fourth quarter.

With the big offensive explosion, the Rangers’ defense will go unnoticed by a lot of people. FHC allowed Ottawa Hills to shoot just 28% on the night, only making 15 field goals.

With the win, FHC improves to 11-5 and 6-3 in OK White conference play. The Rangers will be back in action Tuesday night when they host their arch rival and 18-0 Forest Hills Northern Huskies.