Beavers hold off late Ranger rally

The Park High School Lady Rangers squared off with a pair of the Southwestern Class A Division’s best over the weekend.

Friday, Park traveled to No. 4-ranked Butte Central.

Saturday, the Rangers entertained visiting Dillon.

The Lady Maroons, 12-3, got a game-high 15 points from Mariah Cooney in securing a 46-28 decision.

But Dillon barely escaped the Park gym with a win Saturday.

The Beavers built a 27-14 lead at intermission, but the double-digit advantage wasn’t safe for long.

The Lady Rangers outscored the Beavers 10-9 in the third stanza, but really went to work in the fourth, trimming the Dillon advantage to two points — twice.

Lady Rangers Macy Ricketts and Courtney Njardvik were pivotal in the rally.

Ricketts netted seven points in the final eight minutes and Njardvik added six, while freshman teammate Megan Schoenen added a 3-pointer.

But Charlee Hahnkamp helped Dillon preserve the win with five of her game-high 17 points in the final four minutes of the contest.

Claire Meyer paced Park with 11 points, Njardvik added 10, and Ricketts and Emily Fochs added seven each.

Courtney Lunder had eight for Dillon, and teammates Kansas Svenlan and Carly King chipped in six each.

Friday, Butte Central raced to a 12-2 lead in the first quarter and never looked back in improving to 12-3 on the season.

Schoenen paced Park with nine points, Fochs had five, and Njardvik and Meyer netted four each.

Brynne Kambich finished with 14 points for Butte Central, and Danee Leary added six.