EASTLAKE—The North Rangers celebrated their seniors with a 41-25 nonconference win over visiting West Geauga on Wednesday.

The win puts the Rangers back above .500 with one regular-season game remaining.

“Those four are a great example of what we want in our program,” said North head coach Paul of his seniors. “We want good young ladies that are great people, students, and athletes in that order. They exemplify that and set an example for our underclassmen, so I’m very proud of them.”

The game started with a defensive battle with neither team surrendering a basket early. However, the Rangers went perfect at the charity stripe with Kaitlin Dobida earning one trip and Ella Powalie going 4-for-4 at the line.

“We struggled a little early to put the ball in the basket,” Force said. “But we played great defense and felt like we were in a good place if we started hitting some shots.”

Gillian Forwick added two layups down the stretch of the first quarter with a nice drop step and an excellent feed down low from Annie Gillespie to give North an 8-1 lead at the end of the frame.

“We had one point in the first quarter and it’s hard to win games like that,” said West Geauga head coach Brandon Stewart. “That’s a credit to their defense. They’re long, aggressive, and they switch things up.”

Maddy Ferrari forced back-to-back jump balls to get possession back for the Rangers to open the second. She secured a perfect trip to the line and a layup off a Forwick feed to notch four in the quarter.

West Geauga found success on a Michaela Platt three and a Faelynn Beckrest steal and score, but layups from Alex Hamilton and Dobida grew North’s advantage to 16-8 at the half.

Dobida started the second half with a quick three followed by a Powalie layup. Steals from Gillespie and Powalie and two assists from Ferrari helped North grow its lead to 12 at the end of the quarter.

“We just stayed loose and made the right plays, made the extra pass, and took good shots,” Force said of North’s ability to open up the scoring. “I get more upset if we pass up on shots than if we take and miss them.”

West Geauga got four quick points off a bank shot from Renee Mason and a perfect trip to the line from Amelia Zaffirio to cut the game to within eight.

“One thing I’ll never question about this group is their effort,” Stewart said. “We’ve dug ourselves into some holes this year, but they never quit and always battle back. We just didn’t have enough at the end.”

However, a Hamilton three off a Raegen Perkins-Hirz offensive rebound and a Gillespie coast-to-coast layup helped bring the Ranger lead back up to 16.

Clutch steals from Gillespie and Hamilton down the stretch as well as big boards on the defensive end from Perkins-Hirz halted any momentum West Geauga found to start the quarter.

Dobida led the Rangers with 16 points followed by seven from Hamilton, six from Powalie and Ferrari, four from Forwick, and two from Gillespie.

The Rangers crashed the boards all night, with Dobida bringing down nine, eight from Hamilton, seven from Forwick, six from Perkins-Hirtz, and five from both guards Gillespie and Ferrari.

Five steals from Hamilton and two from Powalie and Gillespie helped lead North’s outstanding defense effort.

The Rangers return to the court quickly to wrap up the regular season at home on Thursday against John Hay. As for West Geauga, it’s on to tournament play on Saturday at Crestwood.

“The girls have embraced the ‘done, next’ mentality all year, so we will enjoy it tonight and then prep for our battle with John Hay,” Force said. “This time of year, I know they’d rather play a game than come in for practice.”

West Geauga is eager to bounce back against a dangerous Crestwood team.

“We have 48 hours before our matchup with Crestwood, so we have to look at the things we did right tonight and utilize those opportunities,” Stewart said. “They are a similar matchup in style and size, so we need to focus on getting those looks to fall in the next couple of days.”