By AMELIO RODRIGUEZ
Vigilant/Argus

The last time the Brandywine Bobcats and Cassopolis Rangers boys’ varsity basketball teams got together the Bobcats escaped with a 77-73 overtime victory for their only conference win so far this season.

On Friday night, the Rangers were able to return the favor.

Cassopolis came into Brandywine’s home gym and escaped with a 60-59 victory of its own, claiming just their second conference win.

Brandywine, due to injuries, were playing without three of their regular players Jacob Frazier, Cody Udell and Jesse McCombs. “They were tough the first time and they were tough this time, even without their big guy and a couple of other guys, I still knew they were going to be tough,” Cass coach James Moore said.

Both teams would battle from the opening tip, right through the final horn.

The Rangers came out of the gate shooting from downtown, as they knocked down three 3-pointers in the first quarter on their way to an 18-16 first quarter lead.

Nate Hartline paced the Rangers with eight first quarter points, while Brandywine stayed close thanks to 10 points by Lance Prescott.

The second stanza was just opposite of the first. Brandywine jumped out to a 29-20 lead thanks to three 3-pointers of its own, two by Austin Searles and one from Dustin Sater.
After a timeout Cass would close the period on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 29-26 at the break.

The third period saw both teams starting to get into foul trouble and Cass would take advantage.

The Rangers would knock down 8-of-9 free throws in the third period to build a 47-42 cushion entering the fourth and final period. Tommy First was big for the Rangers in the third, leading the way with eight of his 15 points, while Hartline had seven of his team-high 19, including 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.

Brandywine was lead by Dustin Bell with six of his eight points in the third, but he picked up his fifth foul early in the final period and he would have to take a seat and watch the finish from the sidelines.

Trailing by five entering the final eight minutes and by as many as seven throughout the ‘Cats would claw their way back into the game.

Three-pointers by Prescott and Corey Luhrsen and a few free throws mixed in would cut the Cass lead to 60-58. After a Cassopolis turnover the Bobcats would have their chance to tie or take the lead.

Prescott drove to the basket and drew the foul, going to the line to shoot two, trailing by two with just 25.2 seconds remaining.

Prescott would drain the first, cutting the lead to 60-59.

Brandywine coach, Nathan Knapp would call a timeout before the second attempt so he could get his players set as far as what to do on a made free throw, or a missed free throw. After the timeout, Prescott stepped to the line and his second free throw rattled out.

Another turnover would give the home team one final chance at victory.

The Bobcats would call a timeout with just over 12 seconds remaining. The play was designed for Prescott to take the ball to the basket and hope for either a made basket or a foul, but the play never developed the way it was supposed to and Prescott had to dish it off. Luhrsen attempted the final shot and it was off target leaving the ‘Cats with yet another close home loss and the Rangers with a happy ride home.

Both coaches had nothing but praise for their players.

“Lance is doing a great job, he has a lot of pressure on his shoulders, he has to handle the ball night in and night out, and now he has to do a lot of the scoring too, but the guys playing around him are starting to step up and we are starting to come together as a team,” said Knapp, while coach Moore of Cass said, “my guys showed some character and worked hard, working through some adversity. It was a total team effort, and I am just proud of them. We are just trying to build some character and grow as a team.”

Cass improves to 2-5 in the conference and 5-7 overall while the Bobcats drop to 1-6 in conference play and 4-8 overall.

CASSOPOLIS 60
Nate Hartline 6 4-4 19; Tyler Gilliam 1 0-0 3; Steven Eleazer 4 2-2 10; Angelo Burmeister 2 2-2 6; Oliver Fiala 3 1-4 7; Tommy First 5 5-9 15; Dwight Ottman 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21 14-21 60
BRANDYWINE 59
Jeremy Zimmerman 0 0-0 0; Cory Luhrsen 1 0-0 3; Dustin Sater 2 1-2 6; Lance Prescott 8 5-10 23; Stone Hadley 2 1-1 5; Dustin Bell 4 0-0 8; Austin Searles 5 2-2 14; Wyatt Taylor 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22 9-15 59

Cassopolis 18 26 47 60
Brandywine 16 29 42 59
3-point baskets: Cassopolis 4 (Hartline 3, Gilliam 1), Brandywine 6 (Luhrsen 1, Sater 1, Prescott 2, Searles 2). Total fouls: Cassopolis 17, Brandywine 15. Fouled out: Hartline (C), Bell (B)