Kemmerer's Kayla Sumsion goes for a layup in the Rangers' tight loss to Lyman. GAZETTE PHOTO/Kurt Ritzman

The Lady Rangers had beaten the Lady Wranglers at home in Kemmerer, 39-35, but could they do the same in Pinedale and without Caitlin McInerney?

The answer is yes.

Part of the reason for the victory was the emergence of sophomore Jessica Berge. Five-four Daisha Dearden opened the scoring with a rebound basket, but it was Berge with five and Amber Simpson with four who carried the load as the Rangers took an 11-4 lead in the first quarter.

Berge also scored six of eight Ranger second-quarter points. With the defense holding the Lady Wranglers to nine points in the half, the Ladies took a 10-point lead into the locker. “Our energy and emotion got us there, and our execution was great in all aspects of the game,” coach Mitch Argyle said of the first half.

Pinedale came out in the second half playing full-court, trapping pressure on the Rangers and “in your face” defense on Berge. “We let the pressure get to us,” Argyle said. In the third quarter the Lady Rangers were out-scored 13-7.

At one point Pinedale took the lead, 24-23. “After they took the lead, we could have closed up shop, but we didn’t,” Argyle said. “We took the lead back and did enough good things to win.”

The defense held the Wranglers to six in the final frame, their third dominant quarter in the game. Simpson had four of eight fourth-quarter Ranger points. Paige Ourada and Kayla Sumsion added two apiece, and the Rangers walked out of the gym with a 34-30 win.

Saturday’s game with Lyman was a tight one all the way, two to four points between the teams throughout the game, according to Argyle. “We missed a couple of baskets, and our free throw shooting wasn’t as good as it had been, but we kept our turnovers down and played a good game,” he said. “We tied the score a lot in the fourth quarter, but just couldn’t get over the hump.”

The final score was 45-41 Lyman, but Argyle was far from disappointed. “Lyman had just come off of giving Mountain View all they could handle before falling at the end of the game, and we gave them all they could handle,” he said.

With two weeks off, Argyle’s goal for the time is to stay in shape and hopefully scrimmage some against some former Ranger players.

Four games remain on the regular season, all conference contests. They begin on Feb. 12 with Wyoming Indian, followed by Wind River Feb. 13.