By SCOTT NOVAK
Niles Daily Star

CASSPOPOLIS – It was their closest game of the season, but the end result was still the same.

Brandywine took on host Cassopolis Thursday night in a Lakeland Conference clash between two teams at the opposite ends of the league standings.

The Rangers made a game of it, but in the end the No. 6 ranked Bobcats remained undefeated on the season with a 51-43 victory.

Brandywine is now 12-0 overall and 8-0 in the Lakeland. The Rangers fall to 6-8 overall and 2-6 in league play.

It was the first trip to Cassopolis for Brandywine coach Josh Hood since leaving the Ranger boys’ team.

Hood, who spent four seasons coaching at Cass and still teaches there, knew it was going to be a challenge.

“This was great for us,” he said. “We knew it was going to be a tough environment. We knew their girls were going to be really. It was nice to see our girls be in a real close game for the first time and be able to pull out a win.”

The Bobcats led throughout, grabbing an 11-point lead in the first half.

But Cassopolis wouldn’t go away and continued to make runs at Brandywine, who struggled shooting the ball and handling the Rangers’ pressure.

The lead reached 15 points in the second half (45-30) before Cassopolis made its final push to upset the Bobcats.

Leading 41-28 early in the fourth quarter, Reese Ellison connected to cut the lead to 11.

Two minutes later, Damonica Kelly knocked down a shot and the lead was 43-34.

Brandywine seemed to have the game locked up when Carlie Newman canned a 3-pointer with 4:10 remaining to extended the lead back to 11 points.

But an Ellison 3-pointer with 2:25 to play cut the lead to seven (46-39) and then another 3-pointer by Savannah Sullivan trimmed the Bobcats’ advantage to just four points, 46-42.

That was as close as the Rangers would get as Lauren Leonard grabbed a rebound with 1:09 to play and scored to push the lead back to six.

From there Brandywine knocked down some free throws to seal the victory.

The Bobcats led 12-8 after one period of play and held a 26-18 halftime advantage.

The lead was 40-28 heading into the fourth quarter.

Newman led all scorers with 22 points, while Leonard finished with nine and Morgan Smallwood six.

Lela Broussard was the lone Cassopolis player to reach double digits as she finished with 10.

Ellison, Sullivan and Kelly combined for 25 points.

“The intensity was there for us tonight,” Cassopolis coach Floyd Foston said. “You could see the excitement with Brandywine coming in undefeated. I’m sure that was motivation for us. I felt we left everything on the floor tonight.”

BRANDYWINE 51
Carlie Newman 7 4-6 22; Nicole Newman 2 0-0 5; Mackenzie Shelton 1 0-0 2; Kelsey Prestly 0 1-2 1; Morgan Smallwood 3 0-0 6; Teila Smith 1 0-0 2; Lauren Leonard 4 1-2 9; Madison Pellow 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 20 6-10 51
CASSOPOLIS 43
Damonica Kelly 2 3-6 7; Sasha Lanier 1 2-4 5; Jameka Eleazer 0 0-0 0; Devan Hillyer 0 0-0 0; Savannah Sullivan 2 3-4 8; Lela Broussard 5 4-7 14; Reese Ellison 4 0-0 9. TOTALS: 14 12-21 43

Brandywine 12 26 40 51
Cassopolis 8 18 28 43
3-point baskets: Brandywine 5 (C. Newman 4, N. Newman 1), Cassopolis 3 (Lanier 1, Sullivan 1, Ellison 1). Total fouls: Brandywine 21, Cassopolis 14. Fouled out: Smallwood (BW), Broussard (C). Varsity records: Brandywine 12-0, 8-0 Lakeland; Cassopolis 6-8, 2-6 Lakeland