Lady Rangers 68, Lady Buccaneers 36

Once they got going, the Lady Rangers did not stop during their 68-36 conference win over the University High Lady Buccaneers Tuesday night in Stoney Creek.

Lady Rangers Hannah Tipton and Lexi Garland spearheaded Unaka’s attack Tuesday night. Tipton finished the night with 13, while Garland closed things out with 11 points.

“Hannah and Lexi are great players,” Unaka head coach Kenneth Chambers said after Tuesday’s game. “Hannah is a great leader, she is one of our two seniors. She works on anything that we need. If we need scoring, she works on that. If we need passing, she works on that.”

The Lady Rangers (6-3, 1-0) came out on fire. Garland got things rolling with a three, which sparked a 10-point run by Unaka, which was capped off with a three from Hannah Tipton. Both H. Tipton and Garland had threes on the night. By the end of the first quarter, the Lady Rangers had drove out to a 24-13 edge.

“We knew that they had some really good guards and some good shooters, so we wanted to get into their faces and speed them up a little bit,” Chambers said about how the Lady Rangers controlled the game. “We knew if we played them at the half court they would shoot our eyes out, which they did when they got it past us. I think UH has some of the best shooters in the conference.”

In the second, the Lady Ranger kept pushing forward. With 5:44 left in the second, Savannah Tipton nailed a three to move Unaka ahead 29-18. Not long after S. Tipton’s three, Katlyn Burrow picked up a bucket and one to advance Unaka’s lead to 32-18. The Lady Rangers capped off the first half with a six point run by Garland and H. Tipton to put Unaka up 44-21 heading into halftime.

Like the first quarter, the Lady Rangers started out the third with a bang as H. Tipton rained in a three, which an 8-point run by Unaka, advancing the Lady Rangers lead to 56-21 with 1:54 left in the third period. A bucket by Unaka’s Katlyn Weaver, who finished with 10 points, wrapped up the third period, sending Unaka into the fourth up 58-26.

In the final quarter, the Lady Buccaneers were able to outscore Unaka 11-8, with UH’s Lexi Crouthers picking up four points in the final period to add to her final 15 points, which was good enough to lead all scorers.

Unaka’s Madison Ensor finished the night with seven points, while Sydney Markland, Mirah Parlier, and Sierra Wright finished with four apiece. Savannah Tipton and Sarah Tipton had three. Erica Potter brought in two points.

Rangers 88, Buccaneers 66

After a back-and-forth first half, the Rangers unhitched the wagon and pulled away in the second half as they rallied out to a 88-66 win over the Buccaneers.

“We challenged the kids at the half,” Unaka head coach Aaron Dugger said. “We did not like how the pace of the game was going. We felt like we were playing at their pace. In the second half we responded. We were able to get it up and down the floor. We were able to get stops that allowed us to pick up the pace in the second half.”

It was the Dylan Carrier and Colton Chambers show as the post players posted 26 and 25 points respectively. Also scoring in the double digits for the Rangers was Kyler Lewis, who had 16, and Joe Searfoss, who had 12.

After a tight two quarters, which saw the two squads knot things up five times, the teams headed to the locker rooms with Unaka (5-3, 1-0) leading 29-25.

However, things quickly changed in the third quarter. With the game tied at 31, Unaka orchestrated a 12-point run to take a 43-31 lead with 4:13 left in the third. Carrier provided 4 of the 13, while Seafross posted four. The Rangers outscored the Buccaneers 29-16 to head into the fourth period with a 59-46 lead.

In the final quarter, the Rangers kept laying on the heat as they scored 29 more points, with Chambers providing nine of those points and Carrier posting eight in the final drive.

Unaka’s John “Boy” Ramsey had three on the night, while Gary Wright and Tyler Burke posted two points each, while Isaac Hill and Davey Ensor both had one point apiece.