The Cassopolis boys and girls basketball teams picked up a pair of victories when they played host to the Bison of New Buffalo in doubleheader action Tuesday night.

In the first game of the evening, the Lady Rangers (6-6) absolutely blitzed the unsuspecting Lady Bison (11-2) with a 54-34 win. Cassopolis’ smothering defense coupled with the Bisons’ lethargic start led to a 29-1 Lady Ranger lead at halftime.

New Buffalo (whose only previous loss was a 63-51 defeat at the hands of No. 1 Brandywine) didn’t get its first field goal until about one minute into the third quarter.

They would go on to outscore Cassopolis 33-25 in the second half, but the Lady Rangers had already constructed an insurmountable lead by that point.

Cass coach Larry Ash was almost at a loss for words about his team’s performance.

“I was more surprised by that than I think the girls were. This (New Buffalo) is a good team, this is a real good team you hear me? I think we really surprised them. We talked about being prepared for anything they could throw at us and making sure we closed out defensively and I think we did. The girls definitely bought in to what we were saying,” Ash said.

Sophomore guard Tammy Lee paced the Rangers with 16 points while Senior guard Savannah Sullivan added 11 points including three treys in the Rangers’ first half shellacking of the Lady Bison. Jade Madison led New Buffalo with 16 points.

The second game would see the Cass boys program lift its record 5-7 with a convincing 60-37 win in a game in which they never trailed.

The game’s direction was set early on with the Rangers racing out to a 16-5 lead after the opening quarter and was then cemented when they went on a 16-7 run throughout the entire third quarter.

Ranger coach James Moore was especially pleased with the team’s defensive performance as well as their execution overall in the win.

“It started with our defense. It really set the tone out there and allowed us to dictate how the pace of the game went. Another thing we did was really talk about our execution of set offenses and I think our focus on it paid off. We were able to get out and run like we usually do but we were also able to slow it down and get certain people the ball when a situation called for it. I really saw an improvement tonight in the guys,” he said.

Junior and sophomore guards Kenneth Carson and Mitchell Moore both scored 11 points to lead the Rangers in their victorious outing. Kevin Levine score 8 points and Kendall Artz added 7 points for the Bison.

The Lady Rangers will return to action when they host No. 1 Brandywine today at 7:30 while the boys will take to the hardwood Friday night at 7:30 against Brandywine.

Girls

NEW BUFFALO 34

Zoe Lauricella 4; Amy Golebieski 0; Molly Griffin 5; Abby Dixon 0; Jasmine Palenske 0; Brianna Workman 3; Lena Madison 6; Jade Madison 16. TOTALS: 11 11-24 34

CASSOPOLIS 54

Tammy Lee 16; Bre Coleman 2; Jessica Waldschmidt 2; Jameka Eleazor 7; Olivia Nelson 2; Lauren Smith 2; Savannah Sullivan 11; Jade Gatson 2; Courtney Moore 10. TOTALS: 20 10-21 54

New Buffalo 0 1 13 34

Cassopolis 12 29 39 54

3-point baskets: New Buffalo 1 (Griffin), Cassoplis 3 (Sullivan 3). Total fouls (fouled out): New Buffalo 20 (L. Madison), Cassopolis 23 (Eleazor)

Boys

NEW BUFFALO 37

Cosmo Briatta 6, Aaron Buckner 2, Manny Cantu 0, Kevin Levine 8, Devon Huitsing 6, Kendall Artz 7, Sam Bartelmay 3, Jim Mullen 2, Kyle Levine 1, Roger Thompson 2. TOTALS: 16 2-9 37

CASSOPOLIS 60

Mitchell Moore 11, Dwayne Morgan 4, Kenneth Carson 11, Taylor Baker 5, Damien Brown 9, Justin Smith 4, William Wesley 4, Vashaun Morgan 6, Ryan Hawkins 3. TOTALS: 21 15-23 60

New Buffalo 5 16 23 37

Cassopolis 16 28 44 60

3-point baskets: New Buffalo 3 (Briatta 2, Bartelmay), Cassopolis 3 (Moore, Carson, Smith). Total fouls (fouled out): New Buffalo 20 (none), Cassopolis 17 (none)