The Lady Rangers’ last 8 points came off of free throws, as they effectively iced the game from the line to walk away with an ugly 40-31 win over Cedar Springs last night.

In the third game of the week, FHC had an extremely sluggish start to make just one shot from the field. After these 2 points in the first minute of play, the Rangers could only muster a couple free throws and trailed the Red Hawks 6-4 after the first.

With a very shallow bench due to missing players, the Rangers had to play consistently with seven. This matter wasn’t helped by the fact that two starters both picked up their second fouls early in the second quarter.

After a key offensive rebound and layup from junior Ally Ringler, the teams found themselves tied up at 14 with two and a half minutes to play. Sophomore Zoe Lipke then sunk a long jumper assisted by freshman Theryn Hallock, who had a team-high 3 on the night, to take a 2-point lead for FHC. After both teams exchanged baskets and the Red Hawks’ hot hand hit a three-pointer, the Rangers barely led 18-17 at the break. FHC shot just under 30% accuracy in the first half and heavily struggled on the boards.

After the third quarter saw four lead changes and three ties, a pair of free throws from senior Claire Baguley would put the Rangers ahead for the remainder of the game with 15 seconds on the clock. Claire grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast to coast for a fade-away jumper at the buzzer to put the Rangers up 29-25 after three quarters of play.

Senior Kaitlyn Piontkowsky was a big spark off the bench for FHC with multiple hustle plays; she both started and ended a 12-0 run for the Rangers across the third and fourth quarters with her free throws. Kaitlyn scored all 5 of her points from the line in addition to grabbing a pair of rebounds and a steal.

Within the Rangers’ dozen straight points, Claire went on her own 8-0 run and earned a huge block on the defensive end to put FHC up 32-25 halfway through the fourth. Claire led the team in rebounds with 9 and made 7 of her team-high 20 points off of free throws. The team as a whole shot 75% from the line and was able to clear the bench with a minute remaining for the 9-point win.

The 12-5 (7-3) Rangers will head to Greenville on Tuesday and Forest Hills Northern on Thursday of next week to round out the regular season. Two wins, especially against FHN in the season finale, would be huge for FHC’s momentum headed into Districts.