Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 5 · column 2 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
aggressiveness displayed by their chargers. “Best game...” and “total team effort...” were but two of the phrases that filled the Rapp locker room from their coaches. The enjoyment would be short lived however, as less than 24-hours later, the teams boarded the bus for the trip to Strasburg.
The “tied for first-place” feeling that the JV team carried into the Strasburg gym was short lived as the hosting Rams wasted no time in letting the JV Panthers know that they were in for a tough night. The JV Rams jumped out to a first quarter lead of 12 to 5, as the Panthers couldn’t seem get it out of first gear. The Panthers made some brief moves to close the gap, but every time, the Rams extended their lead by a few more points.
As Coach Gary Settle said, “We struggled offensively against Strasburg and were never able to maintain any consistency. We got off to a bad start and were never able to recover.” David Letsen led the squad with 16 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Hermansen added another 7 rebounds in the losing effort. After the game, Coach Leake said, “We had a tough time focusing after the emotional win from the night before. We just did not bring our best effort.”
The Varsity game followed the JV contest Saturday, Jan. 12. The Panthers came out of the chute like a wild bronc trying to throw a cowboy. Led by “scrappy” Kerry Grigsby, it seemed the Panthers were everywhere on defense and refused to be denied on the offensive end of the court. The hustling play of the Panthers had the Rapp fans fired up as the half-time break saw the visiting RCHS team on top of the Rams 27 to 25.
Coach French made some halftime adjustments and the Strasburg side came out with a more controlled, slowed down, deliberate offensive scheme. The reduced tempo seemed to fit the Rams to a “T” as they slowly grabbed the lead back and finished the third quarter up 38 to 35. The Panthers staged a quick rally in the fourth quarter cutting the Strasburg lead to 40-39, but the Panthers never got any closer. The game ended with the Rams the winner by a final of 53 to 45. Junior Kerry Grigsby led all scorers with 17 points on the night.
After the game, Panther Coach Todd Purdham reflected, “We stayed in the game because of our defensive efforts. We made some good mental adjustments during the game, and I’m especially
96.6%