#7 ASHLAND 77, PARKSIDE 59

The No. 7 Ashland Eagles grew their win streak to eight games as the Rangers fell in the quarterfinals of the GLIAC Tournament. Parkside was paced by Carolina Rahkonen with 12 points. The Rangers finished the season with an overall record of 12-15 under first year head coach Jen Conely.

FIRST HALF

The Rangers were kept to single digits in the opening quarter thanks to a tough Eagles' defense. The returning GLIAC Player of the Year, Jodi Johnson, scored more than half of the points for Ashland, with help from a flagrant foul committed by Taylor Stephen, to bring the score to 21-9. The Eagles defense along with a string of turnovers from the Rangers held off scoring for Parkside from :51-seconds of the first until 6:17 in the second quarter. The 10-0 run from Ashland was ended by Hannah Plockelman's layup which jumpstarted a quick 6-0 run for the Rangers with five points added by Alisha Murphy. At halftime, the Rangers trailed after a buzzer beater by Renee Stimpert, making the score 37-21.

SECOND HALF

Going into the third quarter, both teams suffered a dry-spell until 7:51 after a layup by Carolina Rahkonen to bring the score to 37-23. The teams went back-and-forth and Parkside outscored Ashland 20-14 in the third. As the quarter ended, the Rangers has brought the score within 10 points of the Eagles with 51-41. In the final quarter, Parkside brought the game within six points on two separate occasions, but there efforts weren't enough to push past Ashland. Ashland was able to ice the game away at the free-throw line, as the Eagles went 15-for-18 from the line in the last minutes of the game.

STATWORTHY

Rahkonen led the team with 12 points followed by Blair Arthur and Alyssa Nelson with eight points. Stephen shared the ball well with five assists. Arthur grabbed eight rebounds for the Rangers. Jodi Johnson ended the game with 27 points for Ashland.

WRAP-UP FROM COACH CONELY

"Unfortunately, we got off to a slow start against a very good team, but I am so proud of how we battled back and cut it to six points in the fourth quarter," first year head coach Jen Conely said. "Ashland knocked down their free throws and we couldn't get our shots to drop in the end."

"This team has shown a lot of heart and resilience- I'm so grateful to coach a great group," Conely stated. "A huge thank you to our seniors; their commitment and buy-in to a new coach and style of play was incredible. I could not have asked for a better senior group. Our underclassmen had tremendous leaders to learn from. Obviously, we hate coming up short, but we have shown that we can compete with the best teams in our league so I know that our returners will take this experience and get better from it."

"Thank you to all our family, friends, fans, and supporters at Ranger Athletics," Conely concluded. "We really appreciate everyone's support!"