Ironwood Ridge 44, Rincon/University 40

 

RU: 14-9-8-9: 40

IR: 10-13-9-12: 44

RU: Sabrina Wexler 5 (3) 2-5: 15; Daphne Safo 5 3-4: 13; Cendrine Irankunda 3 (1): 7; Cadence Parvin 2 1-2: 5. TOTALS: 15 (4) 6-11: 40.

IR: Serenity Hampton 7 (1) 3-6: 18; Myla Elslager 5 (1) 4-7: 15; Hana Mahmood 1 (1): 3; Scarlett Barton 1: 2; Lexi Speckman 1: 2; Selena Serrano 1: 2; Timi Femi-Adeleye 1: 2. TOTALS: 17 (3) 7-13: 44.

 

Ironwood Ridge improved to 11-7 in ranking games after the Nighthawks held off Rincon/University 44-40 Monday night at home to end the regular season. Ironwood Ridge came in ranked No. 28 in the Open Division and a loss to the Rangers might have been enough to vacate an Open spot with the Rangers (8-10) coming in ranked No. 28 in the 6A Conference.

The Rangers are on the edge of the 6A play-in phase and a victory over the Nighthawks would have given the team solid footing. It looked like the Rangers were going to take control early after building a 19-10 lead with 6:23 left in the second quarter but the Nighthawks ended the half on a 13-4 run to tie the game up 23-23.

Rincon/UHS went on to build a 36-32 lead with 5:29 left in the game but Serenity Hampton scored seven of her game-high 18 points to help push the Nighthawks to a 42-36 lead with three minutes left. That 10-0 run proved too much for the Rangers to overcome with Hampton sealing the victory with a bucket with 30.2 seconds left.

Hampton had her 18 points and Myla Elslager added 15. Sabrina Wexler led the Rangers with 15 and Daphne Safo scored 13.

The first round of the Open Division is Feb. 18.