The Cassopolis boys’ basketball team used its height and speed advantage to its fullest Monday night in a 55-35 victory over visiting Lake Michigan Catholic.
The Rangers seemed to have several advantages over their visitors from the West. They were taller, quicker, more aggressive and clearly more athletic, but even with all these advantages they just couldn’t pull away from the Lakers during the first three and a half quarters.
However, a 16-4 run over the last 4:42 of the game allowed the Rangers to breathe a little easier, and go a little deeper into their bench.
The first quarter was a tightly contested match-up as both teams converted in transition, in their half court offense and from the free throw line.
Cass had four players etch their names in the scorebook in the quarter, led by Oliver Fiala with six points, while Quinten O’Brie chipped in four.
LMC had five players score in the first period led by Ben Spencer and Jimmy Koenig who each knocked down a 3-point basket. Koenig’s three came at the horn to make the score 15-11 Rangers after the first period.
The second stanza was completely opposite of the first period as it seemed like nobody could find the basket. The Rangers would outscore the Lakers 9-6 with a combined seven of the points coming from the charity stripe, with LMC scoring the only basket. Cass opened the quarter with a 7-0 run then managed two points over the last four minutes of the half, leading 24-17 at the break.
After the break Jacob Lee took over for Cassopolis. He was leading the team on both ends of the floor by getting steals, grabbing rebounds, hustling to loose balls, but more importantly for the home team, by scoring points when no one else could. Lee scored eight of the Rangers’ 10 points in the quarter. His performance seemed to give his team the spark it needed.
Even though the third quarter appeared to be all Cassopolis on the floor, it only managed to stretch its lead by three points over the period, holding a 34-24 advantage heading into the final period.
The Rangers increased their lead to 39-26 before a 3-point basket by Austin Juza and a steal and lay-up by Joe Frazee cut the lead 39-31 with 4:42 to play.
That’s when Fiala took over for Cass and started the 16-4 run to end the game.
“When we share the ball we are a good team. When we are selfless instead of selfish, we are a good team. But when we think about ‘me first’ then we have problems,” Cass coach James Moore said. “We are still trying to get used to sharing the ball, and taking a great shot instead of just a good shot, and I am getting excited about that as these guys try to learn that” he continued.
Fiala scored 11 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter, with eight of them coming in the final four minutes, including 5-of-6 from the free throw line down the stretch.

LAKE MICHIGAN 35
Eric Shulz 1 1-2 4; Joey Frazee 3 1-2 7; Ben Spencer 1 0-0 3; Shane Gallagher 0 0-0 0; Austin Juza 2 0-0 5; Jimmy Koenig 1 0-0 3; Lucas Visin 2 0-2 4; Anthony Sarno 3 3-6 9; Connor Roden 0 0-0 0; Patrick Brunner 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13 5-12 35
CASSOPOLIS 55
Nate Hartline 0 0-0 0, Jacob Lee 6 2-3 15, Brian Craft 1 0-0 2, Austin Los 1 0-0 2, Mike Kadlec 0 0-0 0, Oliver Fiala 7 8-11 22, Tyler Gilliam 0 0-0 0, Quinten O’Brie 4 0-0 8, Delshaun Wicker 1 0-0 2, Dwayne Morgan 2 0-0 4, William Wallace 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22 10-18 55

Lake Mchigan 11 17 24 35
Cassopolis 15 24 34 55
3-point baskets: LMC 4 (Koenig, Spencer, Shultz, Juza), Cassopolis 1 (Lee). Total fouls: LMC 17, Cassopolis 17. Fouled out: None. Varsity records: Cassopolis 3-2, LMC 0-4