By By TOM NYHUIS / Dowagiac Daily News
CASSOPOLIS – The pressure by Cassopolis Thursday night was more than Buchanan could handle in a rescheduled Lakeland Conference basketball clash on the Rangers' home court.
Cassopolis (11-6, 6-6 LAC) picked up a 75-62 league win over the Bucks (9-9, 5-7 LAC), using a quick pressure defense and dominating the boards.
Cass forced the Bucks into 15 turnovers and out rebounded Buchanan, 31-19, with over half coming off the offensive glass.
"Cass puts a lot of pressure on you," Buchanan coach Reid McBeth said. "And when you get in the hole early and your not hitting the offensive boards you find yourself in a deep hole. We couldn't dig ourselves out. We fought hard and our kids kept playing."
Buchanan trailed the Rangers by six after the first quarter, 19-16, but a sloppy second quarter led to just six points for Buchanan as the Bucks turned the ball over six times and went into the break down 29-19.
In the third quarter both teams got their offense rolling knocking down some big baskets. Buchanan cut the lead to seven with five minutes to play in the third, but the Rangers had an answer for every run the Bucks would throw at the them. Cass extended their lead by one at the end of the third quarter, 48-37.
"I thought we did a good job of spreading the floor in the second half getting the ball in the middle of that run-and-jump trap," Ranger coach Josh Hood said "We've struggled with that in the past. I thought we did a pretty good job of attacking the middle."
The hot shooting continued in the fourth. After Cass opened up a 52-37 lead to start the final eight minutes Buchanan went on an 10-2 run and once again closed the gap to seven with five minutes to play, but that's as close as they could cut into the Ranger lead. "Cass did what they had to do to win the game," McBeth said.
Buchanan had the hot shooting hand from outside the 3-point line knocking down seven in the game. Clinton Orr, who led the Bucks with 14 points hit two from outside the line, Derek Anglero finished the night with 13 points connecting with one trey and Avery Brown got all 12 of his points from behind the arch, canning four. Marquis Hall dropped in 10 and Brad Burns finished the game with nine points for the Bucks.
Nick Davis tallied a game high 22 points for the Rangers with Kris Morgan chipping in with 13 and Paul Curtis adding 10 in the win.
Buchanan's junior varsity team picked up a 54-39 win as Chris Woofter scored a team high 15 points. Justin Jackson also pumped in 15 for the Rangers
Cass' freshmen team was led by Angelo Burmeister's 19 points in a 67-54 win over the Bucks. Phillip Parm finished the game with a team high 15 points.
BUCHANAN 62
Derek Anglero 5 2-2 13, Avery Brown 4 0-0 12, Jon Young 1 0-0 2, Clinton Orr 6 0-0 14, Brad Burns 4 1-1 9, Marquis Hall 4 2-6 10, Evan Cauffman 0 0-0 0, Buddy Williams 1 0-0 2, Totals 25 5-9 62.
CASSOPOLIS 75
Paul Curtis 4 1-1 10, Drew Warren 2 0-2 5, A.J. Ballard 0 0-0 0, Larry Harris 2 2-2 6, P.J. Smith 2 3-7 8, Dashaun Curtis 1 1-2 4, Raymond Nelson 3 1-3 7, Kris Morgan 6 1-2 13, Lonnie Williams 0 0-0 0, Nick Davis 9 4-4 22, Totals 29 13-23 75.
Buchanan 13 19 37 62
Cassopolis 19 29 48 75
3-point baskets: Brown (B) 4, Orr (B) 2, Anglero (B), P. Curtis (C), Warren, Smith (C), D. Curtis (C). Total fouls: Buchanan 15, Cassopolis 12. Fouled out: None. Records: Buchanan 9-9, 5-7 LAC; Cassopolis 11-6, 6-6 LAC.