Lady Rangers lose in a foulfest

The Lady Lions carved out their niche in the opening quarter with three 3-pointers and 10 free throw attempts to go out in front by a 22-12 margin.

“They came out aggressive and hit some shots in the first quarter and they were able to get to the rim on us,” Darden added. “They had a good inside-outside combination.”

Slowly, but surely, the Rangers began to chip away. A deep ball from senior point guard Alexa Macias started a 10-7 output to make it a 29-22 deficit at the break.

The score dipped to 38-31 with one quarter left to go, and Dufur used a pair of 3-pointers off the fingertips of Hannah Harris and one long-range shot from Aimeelyn Miller to get to within a three-point deficit with time running down.

However, the Rangers had to resort to fouls, but the Lions managed to hit their charity shots to forge a 19-13 surge to seal the win.

“They shot the ball well,” coach Darden said. “We missed free throws and we missed on some opportunities that we need to capitalize on when the game was close. It was a combination of those things.”

For the Rangers, Macias paced the offense with 12 points, and Sammi Ghramm was good for 10 points.

Harris had eight to the mix, Taylor Darden flipped in six and the duo of Miller and Teneille McDonald notched four points each, as Dufur sank 17 field goals, five from long range and rattled off a 5 for 14 split from the line.

Susie Traver paced City Christian with 21 points, as the team nailed 17 field goals and went 18 of 35 from the line.

Although the Rangers have lost its past two games by an average of 20.5 points, coach Darden has hatched a game plan to get his team firing on all cylinders again.

Before this stretch, the Rangers had shown ability to break open the offensive charge by averaging 52.1 points a game during a six-game winning streak.

“We need to be a little bit more patient on offense and be able to get a little more of an inside-outside attack going,” coach Darden said. “Because right now, we are looking a lot like a perimeter team that is not moving the ball real well and looking to get shots up quick. That is not who we are as a team. We have to do a little bit of a re-adjustment in our scheme in terms of what we are doing so we can get back to playing team basketball, making sure we are looking to score in a variety of ways.”

Dufur (13-4 overall, 7-1 league) hosts Sherman at 6 p.m. Friday.

On Saturday afternoon, there is a full slate of basketball games on tap.

At 2 p.m., the No. 2-ranked Condon-Wheeler Lady Knights (18-0, 10-0) take on No. 10 Perrydale (11-6, 8-1), and the boys hit the hardwood after that tussle.

The Dufur girls play at 5 p.m. against No. 18 Lowell (15-3, 10-2), and then the Ranger boys cap the day with a matchup at 6:30 p.m.