Despite a tremendous defensive effort in the first half, the boys varsity basketball team lost to arch-rival Forest Hills Northern 66-53 in the District Semifinals.

In the first quarter, the Rangers’ plan was evident. They wanted to slow the game down as much as possible, trying to limit the high-powered Huskies’ offense as much as they could. Offensively, FHC tried to work the ball around, making smart passes and cutting without the ball to find open lanes. For the most part, the game plan worked perfectly in the first quarter.

The Rangers limited FHN to just five field goal attempts in the quarter, and the Huskies only made one of them. Nearly five minutes into the quarter with the score at 0-0, senior Jake Ball made a great pass to senior Dan Deindorfer for an easy finish to give the Rangers the first points of the day. After a nice pass from senior Tom Tomsheck to senior Tate Hallock for another easy bucket, the Rangers led 5-2 after one. Despite leading, FHC missed three point-blank layups and four free throws in the quarter; had the Rangers capitalized on routine plays, the lead would have been much larger. 

FHN came out hot in the second quarter, hitting their first three shots to take the lead and forcing FHC head coach Kyle Carhart to call a timeout. Tate played a phenomenal second quarter on the offensive end, scoring 5 points and dishing out an assist. Tate was able to drive into the lane at will on his defender and made the Huskies’ defense have to rotate over to help.

With 20 seconds remaining at the end of a back-and-forth quarter, FHN guard Ethan Erickson got into the lane off the dribble, flipped up a scoop shot, made it, and was fouled. He converted the three-point play on the free throw, and the Huskies led 20-17 at the break.

A big turning point came early on in the second half, as junior point guard Jimmy Scholler made a beautiful move to the basket. Jimmy was unable to make the shot, and the Huskies grabbed the rebound and found a streaking guard Drew Moore for a lay-in to cap off a 4-point swing.  That sequence was the beginning of what would end up being a 13-0 run for the Huskies, which really helped them separate from the Rangers. After three quarters, FHN led 40-26.

Jimmy, despite battling foul trouble, played a really impressive fourth quarter. He scored 10 of his 14 points and dished out 3 assists. The Rangers were able to get the game to as close as 7 points with just over four minutes remaining, but the Huskies, like so many times before, had an answer when Caleb Gildner hit a big three for them. FHN made 15 of 17 free throws in the fourth quarter, making it nearly impossible for the Rangers to come back.

With the loss, the Rangers finish the season at 12-8 and placed third in the OK White conference.