The Quilcene Rangers climbed out of a 14-2 first-quarter hole to beat the Clallam Bay Bruins 65-43 in a scrappy showdown last week in boys varsity basketball.

It was the second win in a row for first-year Ranger Coach Al Ware.

“They are battling and they are learning as we go. And that’s all I ask of them,” Ware said.

The matchup at home started with what looked like a lid on the rim for the Rangers.

The Bruins shot out to an eight-point lead with 5:23 left in the first quarter, with Quilcene only pulling to 14-2 with 33 seconds left in the initial stanza.

The Rangers controlled the paint early on, but the Bruins went outside with great success; draining four three-point shots — three from Dillon Simmons, one from Kolton Hess — for 12 of their 14 points in the first quarter.

Quilcene flipped the script in the second quarter, however, to hold the Bruin offense to just one basket from Maricio Cruse.

The Rangers scored 15 unanswered points, with Quilcene tying the game at 16-all with 3:42 left in the first half. 

Andrew Perez-Lopez hit a three-pointer with 12 seconds left in the half to give Quilcene its first lead of the game at 19-16.

The third quarter saw four lead changes, but the Rangers led by nine, 41-32, at the start of the fourth, fueled by eight points in the quarter by Isiah Reimann. 

Taylor Boling and James Miller both added six points to the third-quarter offense, with Perez-Lopez chipping in four.

Reimann led the Quilcene offense with 24 points, including five points from the line and a three-pointer in the fourth quarter.

Boling had 17 points; eight in the fourth quarter.

Miller contributed 13 points; 10 in the second half. Perez-Lopez finished with nine. Mason Iverson added two.

It was a physical match, with 42 fouls called in a game that literally saw some blood, sweat, and tears on the hardwood. The contest was halted at one point as a bit of blood was wiped from the court, then also in the third when the referees called both coaches onto the floor to tamp down emotions and the crowd.

Ware praised his team’s never-quit attitude.

“You can’t win the game in the first quarter,” Ware said. “It’s like a boxing match; you’ve just got to keep swinging. Keep swinging. And that’s what we did tonight: Keep swinging.”

Hunter Simmons, a freshman, was a big part of the win, Ware added.

“Tonight, I’ve got to tip my hat to one of my younger guys,” Ware said.

“He came in and from the time I put him in, his intensity was right where it needed to be. He set the tone and everybody else started picking up and following it,” Ware said.

That impact was acknowledged with the coach’s comments to the team at halftime.

“I told them, he’s going to start the second half because he’s earned it. Once I got him in the game, everybody else followed his lead, everything just started to pick up. And the intensity picked up.”

It was a total team win, however.

Ware noted that Simmons and the Rangers’ other big, Taylor Boling, picked up four fouls and were kept on the bench during a crucial stretch in the second half.

“They both sat for a lot of time. So I told my guards, Jimmy [Miller] and Isiah [Reimann], they had to pick it up a little bit. And they did,” Ware said.

The win improved the Rangers record to 2-1, with games to follow against Oakville and Pacific Christian Academy before Quilcene returns for a home game Friday against Rainier Christian School.