By TOM NYHUIS
Dowagiac Daily News

CASSOPOLIS – It all came down to making free throws in the end Thursday evening that pulled off a 41-38 Lakeland Conference win for Buchanan (4-9, 3-4) on the road at Cassopolis.

It was the senior leadership of Elizabeth Hein that sealed the win for the Lady Bucks in the final 8.5 seconds of the game.

After several lead changes in the final quarter, it was a missed shot by Buchanan that in the end won the game.

Off a missed Buchanan shot and the Rangers (6-9, 2-7) leading by one, Cassopolis’ Lela Broussard pulled down the rebound and Buchanan’s Julia LaBounty reached in and was whistled with a foul. At the conclusion of the play Broussard threw her elbow into LaBounty, for which she was tagged with a technical foul with 8.5 seconds to play and Cassopolis clinging onto the slim one point lead, 38-37.

Broussard went to the charity stripe for a one and the bonus free throw attempt to extend the Rangers’ lead. Broussard missed the front end to keep the lead at one.

At the other end of the court it was Hein’s turn for two free throw tosses. The senior stepped up big for her team calmly draining both to give the Lady Bucks a one point 39-38 lead.

Buchanan retained possession of the ball at half court and the Rangers didn’t foul Buchanan until three tenths of a second remained on the clock where Hein once again connected on a pair of charity toss for the final 41-38 win.

“This is where we were at the beginning of the year,” Buchanan coach David Cleveland said following the win. “We are right in the game and we were clawing. In the beginning of the year we didn’t know how to finish and we kind of gave up. We didn’t give up tonight. We got our chances and Liz sank some big free throws.”

Hein scored a game-high 17 points, hitting 7-of-12 from the free throw line. Erin Glavin came in off the bench to add 10 to the win with Amanda Wynn chipping in with eight.
Cassopolis had Damonica Kelly and Reese Ellison each with 11 points. Savannah Sullivan contributed in the effort with eight. For the night the Rangers could only knock down 5-of-14 from the free throw line.

“I thought everyone played pretty well tonight. Damonica Kelly did a fabulous job tonight. She is quick and she is tough to defend and (Reece) Ellison the big girl inside did a nice job too. She was tough to keep off the boards and I thought we did pretty well at times rebounding,” Cleveland stated.

Cassopolis held a 27-25 rebounding edge with Hein leading Buchanan with eight.

BUCHANAN 41
Jordan Helt 0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Hein 5 7-12 17, Chelsea Adolph 0 0-0 0, Amanda Wynn 3 1-2 8, Julia LaBounty 2 2-4 6, Courtney Adolph 0 0-0 0, Erin Glavin 5 0-0 10, Amanda Anglero 0 0-0 0 Totals 15 10-18 41
CASSOPOLIS 38
Damonica Kelly 5 0-2 11, Sasha Lanier 1 2-3 5, Jameka Eleazer 0 0-0 0, Devan Hillyer 0 0-0 0, Savannah Sullivan 3 1-3 8, Lela Broussard 1 1-4 3, Reese Ellison 5 1-2 11 Totals 15 5-14 38.
Buchanan 10 18 28 41
Cassopolis 6 19 27 38
3-point baskets: Buchanan 1 (Wynn) Cassopolis 3 (Kelly 1, Lanier 1, Sullivan 1). Total fouls (fouled out): Buchanan 14 Cassopolis 15 (Broussard). Technical fouls: Cassopolis 1 (Broussard). Records: Buchanan 4-9, 3-4 (Lakeland) Cassopolis 6-9, 2-7 (Lakeland). Junior Varsity score: Buchanan 32 (Pachia Benson 12) Cassopolis 17 (Jolelyn Transon 8)