By By SCOTT NOVAK / Vigilant/Argus
CONSTANTINE - A late run by the Cassopolis Rangers almost turned into the winning move here Tuesday night.
Trailing 45-35 with 5:55 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Rangers went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 45-43 with 3:43 to play.
Kalamazoo Christian went on a 10-2 run to finish the contest and earned the 55-45 Class C Regional Basketball Tournament victory at Constantine High School.
The Rangers, who started the year 2-5, finish with a 16-8 record.
Kalamazoo Christian, which is playing in its 10th straight regional, advances to Friday's championship game where it will face the winner of tonight's Gobles (9-14)-Berrien Springs (20-3) contest.
Tonight's tip-off is set for 7.
The Comets are now 21-3 on the season.
The No. 53 that Hood was referring to was Christian's Josh Veenstra, who finished with 21 points, including eight down the stretch.
Hood was pleased with how his team rallied in the fourth quarter to make the Comets earn the win.
And runs the Rangers made all night.
Cassopolis had just one lead on the night, an early 3-2 advantage.
Kalamazo Christian grabbed a 9-7 lead after one period of play which it extended to 22-18 at halftime.
A late Ranger rally cut the Comets' lead to just three points at the intermission.
Kalamazoo Christian led by 12 heading into the final period and had a pair of 14-point leads (40-26) and 42-28) in the fourth quarter.
Cassopolis was able to cut into that lead behind the play of Neal Bullocks, who had 10 points during the final run.
Rodney Lewis led the Rangers with 12 points, while John Young added 11 points.
Bullocks and Young are both seniors, while Lewis is a junior.
Besides Veenstra's total, the Comets got 10 points from Kelvin DeVries off the bench.
No other player reached double figures for Kalamazoo Christian.
CASSOPOLIS 45
Neal Bullocks 3 4-4 10, Dan Stanage 3 2-3 8, Rodney Lewis 5 1-1 12, John Young 3 4-4 11, Paul Curtis 2 0-0 4, Will Loux 0 0-0 0, Lonnie Williams 0 0-0 0, Ryan Anderson 0 0-0 0, Antonio Ballard 0 0-0 0, Larry Harris 0 0-0 0, Terence Moore 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 11-12 45
K. CHRISTIAN 55
Ryan Zwier 4 0-1 9, Brad Walvort 0 0-0 0, Josh Veenstra 9 2-2 21, Bryan DeKoekkoek 2 0-0 4, Kyle Mastenbrook 0 2-2 2, Kevin Leep 0 0-0 0, Marcus Brussee 2 0-0 6, Kelvin DeVries 3 3-3 10, Andy Palkowski 0 0-0 0, Chet VandenBerg 1 0-0 3, Ben VanderPlas 0 0-0 0, Justin Hawkes 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 7-8 55
Cassopolis 7 18 26 45
K. Christian 9 22 38 55
Three-point baskets: Lewis (C), Young (C), Brussee (KC) 2, Zwier (KC), Veenstra (KC), DeVries (KC), VandenBerg (KC). Total fouls: Cassopolis 15, Kalamazoo 13. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None. Varsity re-cords: Cassopolis 16-8, Kalamazoo Christian 21-3