Article Preview

Rangers wallop Wildcats

By Allen LaMountain

And it’s on to Chuckey-Doak for the Unaka Rangers (19-9) after Saturday evening’s convincing 71-31 victory over Clinch at Snavely Gym in the Region-1A tournament opener.
The Rangers will face Hampton,a 69-53 winner over Hancock County, in Tuesday’s semifinals at Chuckey-Doak Middle School.
Clinch opened with a quick but shortlived lead at 8-7. From there, the Rangers’ defensive efforts shut down the Wildcats and forced 17 first-half turnovers, and 22 for the game.
“Our goal was to come out with high intensity and get after it right from the start,” Rangers head coach Aaron Dugger said. “Those guys did that. They all know what our goal is, what the big picture is and they came out and took care of it. Our goal every game is to win the backboard, and we did that tonight.
“That’s always what we want to do — win the battle on the backboard.”