Junior Katy Majick’s 14 points helped give the girls varsity basketball its third conference win as the Rangers soundly defeated the Lowell Red Arrows 54-39. For Katy, the key to such a great scoring performance was staying confident. 

“My mindset going into the game was that I just need to be confident in myself and just play the best way I can,” Katy said. “That [mindset] benefited with the way I shot.” 

Behind Katy in scoring was sophomore Theryn Hallock with 13 points and senior Ally Ringler with 8 points. As FHC shot just 42% Friday night, contributions from Katy, Ally, and Theryn were much needed in order for the Rangers to make a run and pull away from Lowell down the stretch. 

FHC started out hot, going on an 11-2 run to begin the game. The Ranger defense was able to force some turnovers and turn them into points on the other end. Theryn was able to get some fastbreak layups, and Katy hit two big threes. FHC continued the defensive pressure throughout the first quarter, and the Rangers led the Red Arrows 19-2. 

In the second quarter, FHC still continued to play very well on both sides of the ball. One area the Rangers really shined in was rebounding. While keeping Lowell off of the glass, FHC grabbed 21 rebounds as a team, 8 of those being on the offensive end. Ally managed to grab 7 total rebounds, and junior Zoe Lipke grabbed 5. The Rangers went into the half up big on the Red Arrows 34-11. Head coach Kristina Prins attributes this monster first half to hard work in practice. 

“The girls have been extremely focused at practice as of late,” Prins said. “They’ve been getting lots of shots up, especially in game type of situations.”

Despite Lowell cutting into the Ranger lead throughout the second half, FHC managed to hold on with great shooting. Theryn was able to get some steals and turn them into points on the other end, which really hurt Lowell’s momentum. Theryn got 6 more points off of layups, driving into the teeth of the Red Arrow defense and getting buckets to go. 

In the fourth quarter, the Rangers were put in some fresh legs to contribute and produce on the offensive end. As Lowell started to cut into the FHC lead, big buckets came from sophomore Julia Carlson and senior Katie Willemin. The Rangers defeated the Red Arrows, winning the game 54-39 in a true team effort. 

“I think the best part of this win is how we played as a team,” Theryn said. “[It was good that] there was a variety of scoring along with everyone playing their hardest.”

The Friday win puts the Rangers at 7-3 on the season and now undefeated with a 3-0 record in the OK White Conference. FHC takes on the Ottawa Hills Bengals on the road this Tuesday. To win this game, playing a solid 32 minutes will be a major key to success. 

“We have to meet [Ottawa Hills] both physically and athletically,” Prins said. “We also need to keep our intensity up for all four quarters.”