FP 7th Grade Boys Basketball Battled Against Heritage Hills The Forest Park 7th Grade Boys Basketball team had a matchup against Heritage Hills at home on Thursday evening for an A and B Game. The Rangers battled in the A game but lost, but FP was able to win a close B game against the Patriots. For the A game against Heritage Hills, the Rangers started the game up 2-0, but then struggled to score the basketball. The Patriots were able to go on a 13-0 run to end the first quarter. FP was down 2-13 after the first quarter, and all Coach Hochgesang could ask was for the boys to keep fighting. And that they did. The Rangers battled in the second quarter and scored 11 points to HH's 9. Cooper Wehr was able to give the Rangers a spark where he scored all 7 of his points in the second quarter. The Rangers were down 13-22 going into halftime. The second half started and the Rangers had their best quarter. With a defensive switch-up of going into zone for the Rangers, the Patriots had a tough time scoring. FP scored 11 points to HH's 4 points, to get the Rangers a 2 point deficit going into the 4th quarter. Michael Christmas was able to score 7 points in that 3rd quarter to give the Rangers the offensive spark they needed. The Rangers were down 24-26 going into the final 6 minutes. On the first play of the 4th quarter, Michael Christmas was fouled and went to the free throw line. He hit 1/2 to make the Rangers down 1 point. After that point, that was the closest the Rangers got in this game. After costly turnovers at the 3-4 minute mark, the Heritage Hills Patriots were able to get easy steals and baskets. The Rangers had their worst defensive quarter allowing HH to score 15 points in the 4th. The Rangers had 15 turnovers and a majority of those were in the first and fourth quarters. FP ended up losing to HH 33-41, but Coach Hochgesang was very pleased with how his boys battled back into this game and competed until the final second. Scoring vs HH A: Michael Christmas : 10 points (one 3-pointer, 1/2 FTs) Cooper Wehr : 7 points (1/1 FTs) Cash Lueken : 6 points Blake Morrison : 4 points Hunter Lange : 2 points (2/2 FTs) Cason Lubbehusen : 2 points Zander Reyling-Schwartz : 2 points Right after the FP vs HH A game, the two teams battled again for a B game. The Rangers were able to come out of this game with a victory, 31-23. The first 10 minutes of this game were good for the Rangers as they got a lead of 15-5, but then the final 2 minutes of the first half, FP was careless and didn't box out on defense to give the Patriots time to get this game closer. The Rangers were up 15-10 at halftime, but the FP Coach's told the boys that they think they should be up by more. The 3rd quarter started and the Rangers were consistent on offensive but gave up 11 points in the 3rd to the Patriots. Going into the fourth, the Rangers were up 23-21 and it was a battle until the end. Thankfully, FP was able to play great defense to get this win and only allow HH to score 2 points in the final quarter. The Forest Park Rangers won this B game 31-23 with a balanced offensive attack and 4/6 free throw shooting in the final quarter. Scoring vs HH B : Declan Nord : 11 points (one 3-pointer, 0/1 FTs) Jax Jacob : 7 points (3/3 FTs) Bentley Mohr : 4 points Joel Flock : 4 points (one 3-pointer, 1/2 FTs) Jarrett Verkamp : 2 points Landon Rager : 2 points Cooper Wehr : 1 point (1/2 FTs) The Rangers are supposed to play at North Posey on Saturday morning/afternoon. Hopefully the snow holds off so FP can get this game in. Wish them good luck!