Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The Soroco girls basketball team opened Friday night’s game against Rangely with its best basketball of the night, taking a 16-7 lead.

They never again were that effective, however, and Rangely never again was that inept. The Panthers turned to a tough full-court press and won the rebounding battle. The Rams’ shooting dried up, and the Panthers ran away with a 55-43 victory.

“It came down to rebounding. They got a lot of second and third opportunities,” Soroco coach David Bruner said. “We had great effort, played well, but we have to rebound the ball.”

Scoring just 7 points in the first quarter, the Panthers poured in 18 in the second and pulled within one by halftime. The game still was within reach late in the third quarter when Soroco’s Michaela Meyer scored to make it 38-37. The Panthers dominated the fourth, outscoring Soroco by 9 points.

Lindsay Miles scored 15 points to lead the way for Soroco. Rangely’s Brittany Bab­­ineaux led all scorers with 17.

Soroco’s boys and girls squads return to action today with a trip to Vail Christian.

Game statistics

■ Rangely Girls 55, Soroco 43

Rangely 7-18-13-17 — 55

Soroco 16-10-11-6 — 43

Rangely — Rozilynn Thacker 2 2-4 7, Haeley Enterline 2 0-0 4, Victoria Phelan 5 1-2 11, Torie Slagle 2 0-3 4, Brittany Babineaux 7 3-5 17, Quincey Thacker 1 2-4 4, Marie Morton 2 4-4 8. Totals 22 11-21 55.

Soroco — Madison George 3 0-0 6, Brandi Roundtree 1 0-0 3, Lindsay Miles 6 3-4 15, Corey Snyder 3 0-0 6, Shelby Miles 2 0-0 4, Ceanna Rossi 2 1-2 5, Michaela Meyer 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 3-6 43.

3-pointers: Rangely (1) – Thacker. Soroco (2) – L.Miles, Roundtree.