By JEFF FISHER
Dowagiac Daily News

Close proximity breeds intense rivalries.

Doubters only needed to be at game Tuesday night at Edwardsburg to see that.

The Eddies pulled off a double overtime win against rival Cassopolis, 69-67, in a make-up game from Feb. 9.

Host Edwardsburg (12-7) jumped out to an 11-5 lead when Jake Harroff canned a 3-pointer, followed that up with a duece and the Eddies led by six points, 13-7 and took a 19-12 lead after the first quarter.

Things started to really look bleak for the Rangers in the second stanza when Eddies’ Nick Muir, who led the Eddies with 22 points, drove in for a lay up that ignited a 7-0 run that put the Eddies up 31-16 with 2:39 to go in the second quarter.

Rangers’ Stefon Luckey wasn’t about to let the game get away.  Luckey scored five straight points to narrow the Eddies’ lead down to five points, 31-27 at halftime.
“We turned the ball over several times in the half, bad decisions and they got back in the game and they shot the ball there well and from the three-point, we were very fortunate to win the ball game,” Eddies coach Dan Gunn said.

“We talked about what our game plan was and we were not executing it. We finally became more aggressive to open gaps in the middle and turned it up defensively. They (Edwardsburg) are well coached and I don’t think their record shows what kind of team they are. They had more contribution from everybody,” Cass coach James Moore said.
It was nip and tuck in the third quarter as both teams were looking for some momentum to pull away.

Luckey gave the visitors their first lead of the game, 44-43, on a trey and Nick Hartline followed with a bucket to give Cass a 46-45 lead after three.

The fourth quarter saw much of the same. Rangers’ Jacob Lee gave Cass (7-12) a one-point lead, 59-58 with 1:39 to go in regulation only to have Harroff sink a free-throw to send the game into the first overtime session.

With 5.7 seconds to play, Gunn called a timeout to orchestrate a final play.

As Harroff dribbled in, Luckey stole the ball and a last second desperation heave shot at the buzzer was no good leaving the game knotted at 61-61.

Zac Eggleston’s two free throws gave the Eddies a 65-62 lead only to have Hartline tie the game up 65-65 on a free throw.

Harroff came through big on back-to-back buckets to put the Eddies up 69-65 with 32.8 to go.

Tommy First’s rebound put back trimmed the Edwardsburg lead to two points, 69-67.

A few last second missed shots and tips by Cass was finally hauled down by Josh Kozinski to end the game.

Luckey led all scorers with 25 points. Hartline added 12 for Cass.

“Luckey showed a lot of heart helping our team with leadership out there and picked up the lead,” Moore added

“It was a good game, I hope they (Cass) have good luck in their district. I thought this Cass team played a little different than in the first meeting. I thought they were a little smarter tonight, took care of the basketball to their advantages,” Gunn noted.

Harroff added 18 points and Kozinski chipped in nine points.

“He (Muir) scored for us when some of the other kids didn’t have the kind of night they wanted to have.” Gunn said.

The Eddies junior varsity squad also beat Cass, 61-38.

Evan VanBelle scored 11 points and Dominic Razzano added 10 points. Dwayne Morgan had 17 for Cass.

CASSOPOLIS 67
Stefon Luckey 10 1-3 25; Nate Hartline 3 4-6 12; Tyler Gilliam 1 0-0 3; Jacob Lee 4 3-6 11; Steven Eleazer 2 1-2 6; Angelo Burmeister 2 0-0 4; Oliver Fiala 1 0-0 2; Tommy First 1 2-2 4. TOTALS: 24 12-19 67
EDWARDSBURG 69
Jake Harroff 6 4-7 18; Ethan Zimmerman 1 0-1 2; Dustin Moore 2 0-0 6; Josh Kozinski 3 1-2 9; Zak Eggleston 1 4-4 6; Marcus Albrecht 1 0-0 2; Nick Muir 8 5-6 22; Kyle Dale 1 2-2 4. TOTALS: 23 16-22 69

Cassopolis 12 27 46 59 61 67
Edwardsburg 19 31 45 59 61 69
3-point baskets: Cassopolis 7 (Luckey 4, Hartline 1, Gilliam 1, Eleazer 1), Edwardsburg 7 (Harroff 2, Moore 2, Kozinski 2, Muir 1). Total fouls: Cassopolis 18, Edwardsburg 17. Fouled out: None. Varsity records: Cassopolis 7-12, 2-9 Lakeland; Edwardsburg 12-7, 6-5 Lakeland