Top 5 Toughest Losses

Wrestling vs. Caledonia 

In the first round of Districts, the Rangers found themselves hosting Caledonia for a berth in the championship dual against Rockford later that night. Early on, there were good signs for FHC. Junior Mason Childers won via decision early on to give FHC a 6-4 lead, and fellow junior Caden Jacobs quickly followed this up with a pin victory 40 seconds into his match at 125. Unfortunately, the next couple of matches resulted in losses for FHC, and the tides were turning as FHC needed a sizeable lead before the match reached Caledonia’s dominant heavyweights. Juniors Isaac Gurley and Robby Frazer needed pins to give the Rangers a good lead, but they fell just short with wins via decision with scores of 14-5 and 9-0, respectively. From there, the Fighting Scots of Caledonia dominated the heavyweights and recorded 25 unanswered points for a 44-22 win that was much closer for the majority of the dual.

“We beat them in such an exciting fashion last time we wrestled [Caledonia], so we knew we were going into war and that we would give it everything we had,” Robby said. “The chips didn’t land the way we needed them to. It was an indescribable feeling to have that be the last time competing with the seniors I had been wrestling with my entire wrestling career; I felt devastated.”

Hockey vs. FHNE

After an initial sluggish start of 1-3 to the season, the FHC hockey team picked up six wins in a row before its rivalry game against Forest Hills Northern/Eastern. The Rangers dominated most of the contest, especially on the offensive end, recording 35 shots on goal compared to FHNE’s 13. Junior Xavier Ott and freshman Sammy Mielock scored to give FHC a 2-1 lead at the end of the second period, but the Rangers could not capitalize in the third period. FHNE scored with six minutes to go and then again a minute later to go up 3-2, and FHC could not find the net in a flurry of chances as the game came to a close. FHNE went on to win in devastating fashion for FHC, motivating the Rangers for the rest of the season.

Boys JV Basketball vs. Ottawa Hills

In probably the craziest game to occur at FHC in quite some time, the Rangers and the Ottawa Hills Bengals needed four overtimes to find a winner. Early in the game, the Rangers struggled to find their footing against a high-pressing Ottawa team. At one point in the first half, FHC trailed by 21 points, and the team went into halftime losing 49-33. Then, in the third quarter, the Rangers outscored the Bengals 28-9 to lead by three. After a back and forth fourth quarter, the Bengals held a two-point lead with ten seconds to go, but the Rangers tied things up at 80-80 to send the game into overtime, already a very high scoring-game for a high school basketball, let alone a JV game. A total of four overtimes followed, with each team seeming to hit a miraculous shot before time expired to extend the game. Three different starters fouled out for the Rangers, seeing the other two starters play nearly the whole game and new opportunities for other guys to step up. Both teams were exhausted, but the score remained tied 107-107 with the fourth overtime coming to a close. Then, the Bengals came down the court and kicked it out to a man in the corner, and he hit a three-pointer as time expired to give Ottawa Hills the 110-107 win. 

“Coming into the game, we knew that it was going to be a tough game for us because of how they played last year and that this game had major conference implications,” sophomore Jacob Bonnett said. “It was really unfortunate that we went all the way through four overtimes just to lose on a game-winning shot from the other team. It made us all feel awful afterward, but it also motivated us for the next time we played them later in the season.”

Boys Bowling vs. FHN

Coming off a string of losses, the Rangers looked to pull off a win over crosstown rival Forest Hills Northern, a team the Rangers have struggled to beat in the past few years. After starting the day trailing 10-0, FHC mounted a storming comeback. Freshman Peyton Price had two monster games of 200 and 189, and teammate senior Alex Souza assisted him with a round of 161. The comeback fell short, however, and the Rangers fell to the Huskies 16-14.

“That match was one of the best team performances I have seen in my three-year career,” senior Ben Kastner said. “Despite the eventual loss, we fought back after going down 10-0 after a slow start. Still, I am incredibly proud of the way my team and I showed up and performed.”

Boys Varsity Basketball vs. FHN

Coming into this game, the Rangers boasted a 10-0 record in the OK White, and with a win, they would claim the OK White conference championship outright as FHC took down the Huskies earlier in the season at home. The Rangers took control early at FHN, large in part to a combined 33 points from seniors Jimmy Scholler and Mitchell Wilkinson, and they led 28-24 halftime. The boys were happy with where they were at as it was evident the entire team was putting it all on the line, but some shots just weren’t falling. It was a very defensive affair as there were multiple instances of neither team scoring for two or more minutes, but the Rangers were on a 12-6 run to end the third quarter, leading 42-34 with eight minutes to play. FHN crawled back inch by inch in the fourth, tying the game up with three minutes left. However, FHC responded, showing resiliency in one of the few games they were truly asked to respond in throughout the season. With around 30 seconds remaining in the contest, FHC held a two-point lead as the Huskies held possession. With the Rangers taking extra measures to guard FHN’s star shooter Ethan Erickson, two FHC defenders stepped up near him. Instead of shooting the ball, he swung the ball to the top of the key before it found the hands of Trinidad Chambliss—the other half of the star-studded FHN backcourt—and he knocked down a three-pointer to give FHN a 51-50 lead with 20 seconds to go. Coming down the other end of the court, Mitchell ran the point quickly, finding junior Chris Battiste running toward the hoop. Guarded tightly, Chris shot a contested layup and the ball hit the rim, sat there, and dropped out into the hands of an FHN defender. The Huskies knocked down some free throws, and the Rangers fell with a final score of 54-50.

“We were in control pretty much the entire game, which made the end result tough, but what made it so difficult was seeing [FHN’s] two best players hit the game-winning shots in front of a huge crowd,” Jimmy said. “It would have been a great win, especially with it being at their place.”