By By STEVE MORRISON / Vigilant/Argus
MARCELLUS – "March starts out like a lion and leaves like a lamb."
If that proverb were applied to Friday's Class C District title game between Mendon and Cassopolis it might summarize the Lady Rangers offensive output as Lady Hornets swept away with the crown 46-36.
The contest was held in front of a packed Marcellus High School gymnasium.
Indeed it looked like Cassopolis came out firing on all cylinders, taking a 15-8 lead after the first eight minute segment.
Cassopolis' senior forward Taira Williams scored seven of her 12 points and center Reese Ellison matched her with three field goals and a free toss on the three-point play in that first quarter.
Reese led all scorers for the night with a game-high 17, while dominating the boards on the offensive end.
It looked as though Cass was going to avenge an earlier regular season loss to Mendon.
Cassopolis appeared on course to take its third district championship in the last four years.
Just like March weather can change in the blink of an eye, after that first period surge by the Rangers the momentum was suddenly reversed by Mendon.
The Hornets burst out with nine unanswered points to start the second quarter, taking a 17-15 lead. Amanda Babcock led the charge for Mendon with five of her seven game tallies.
The ball just wouldn't go into the cylinder for Cass. Balls spun halfway in and out, defying gravity.
The Lady Rangers rallied at the end of the half. Held scoreless for nearly six minutes of the quarter, they got their first field goal of the frame with an Ellison bucket, tying the game at 17.
Taira Williams followed up with a nifty steal and drove the distance to put Cass back in front 19-17. Damonica Kelly canned a five-footer to close out the scoring, with Cassopolis rebounding to a lead at halftime, 21-18.
To follow the weak 20 percent (3-15) field goal shooting effort for the second quarter, Cass had another abysmal shooting slump to start the second half.
Meanwhile, the Hornets came out in a swarm, true to their nickname.
Senior forward Jessica Hiatt, quiet for most of the first two periods (one field goal), led off with a beautifully arched, long 3-pointer to knot the score at 21 apiece. Moments after, she followed that up with a smooth five-footer that gave the Hornets their second lead of the evening, 23-21.
Reese responded for Cass with a rebound and bank to even the score.
Babcock put Mendon ahead 25-23 with a four foot jumper, and Hiatt complemented it with an inside field goal, to put the Hornets up 27-23.
After Reese sank two free throws, Hiatt's perfect feed to Sierra Sears for a lay-up that was a dagger (29-23), as Mendon had discovered how to penetrate the Cass defense.
Sears sank a subsequent two footer, to make it 31-25, Mendon.
Reese was almost all that the Rangers had going as she dropped another shot to cut the deficit to 31-27 ending the period.
She scored all of Cass's six points in the quarter. They had again been held to a meager identical six points in both the second and third stanzas, by a rejuvenated and ferocious Mendon defense.
Hiatt's drive, layup, and following free throw, for the three point play, preceded her two short jumpers to position the Hornets in a 36-27 lead to begin the last period.
Taira Williams launched a long ball for Cass to give them 30, but Hiatt made another two short buckets to squelch the Ranger's comeback attempt and give Mendon its largest leading margin at 40-30.
The Rangers scored three more field goals for the quarter, as Mendon matched them point for point to maintain their 10-point final advantage.
In defeat Floyd Foston, coach of the Rangers praised them in the locker room following the matchup.
He extended his support for a disappointed Cassopolis squad with an accurate summary.
"My kids played hard," he began. "We had a tough time trying to get the ball to fall. We had some good shots, but the ball just wouldn't fall," he explained.
MENDON 46
Apolonia Rybicki 0 0-0 0; Caitlin Leighton 4 3-4 11; Sierra Sears 3 2-4 8; Meghan Griffith 0 0-0 0; Chelsea Mohney 1 0-0 2; Jessica Hiatt 8 1-3 18; Amanda Babcock 2 3-4 7. TOTALS: 18 9-15 46
CASSOPOLIS 36
Damonica Kelly 1 0-0 2; Sasha Lanier 0 0-0 0; Jasmine Holman 1 0-1 2; Tiffany Williams 1 1-2 3; Taira Williams 5 0-1 12; Victoria Robison 0 0-0 0; Reese Ellison 7 3-4 17. TOTALS: 15 4-8 36
Mendon 8 18 31 46
Cassopolis 15 21 27 36
3-point goals: Mendon (Jessica Hiatt 1), Cassopolis 2 (Taira Williams 2). Total fouls (fouled out): Mendon 11, Cass 13