CASSOPOLIS — A strong start propelled Cassopolis (6-3) to a 67-50 victory over visiting Hartford in boys’ basketball action Tuesday night as the Rangers scored the first nine points of the game.

“We executed strong early and looked good until we got into foul trouble,” Cassopolis coach James Moore said. “We are at our best when we take a great shot instead of a good shot by making that extra pass.”

Hartford (1-5) scored its only three points in the first quarter in between a pair of nine-point scoring streaks by the hosts as the horn sounded with Cassopolis (6-3) leading 18-3 after eight minutes.

Both teams surpassed their first quarter scoring in the second stanza as the Indians had the outside stroke of senior Cameron Collin and the inside presence of sophomore Jimmy Mullens providing 15 points in a 22-point scoring quarter.

The Rangers were more balanced as eight different players found the bottom of the net as Cassopolis went to intermission with a 38-25 advantage.

“I am very proud as we fought hard, except for the first quarter, which is normal as large leads are hard to overcome,” noted first-year Hartford coach Jeremiah Walters. “We are capable of putting up big numbers, so now we need to learn how to be consistent like we were in the second quarter.”

Senior Nate Hartline of Cassopolis was the leading scorer for the Rangers at halftime with seven points with Brian Craft (two 3-pointers) and Oliver Fiala following with six.

“I am proud of how the reserves are working to get better as we talk all the time about extending our bench with no weak links,” Moore said. “We want to play good fundamental basketball and feel we have a shot at everybody on our schedule even though we are a smaller school.”

Cassopolis added a player in the second half as 6-5 junior Quinten O’Brie used his muscle and long arms to snare eight rebounds in the final two quarters alone.

“O’Brie is a good kid who missed an assignment so we sat him out the first half, but we love him to death with his energy and how he plays,” commented Moore. “We also went inside more in the second half with our big guy back.”

The Indians were led by Collin with 20 points with five of his dozen missiles finding the mark. Senior Manny Apreza also reached double figures with ten points and Mullins grabbed 11 rebounds.

“Our sophomore (Mullins) is starting to mature and can see potential with his aggressiveness and we have four guys who have the green light to shoot threes when they are open,” Walters said. “Cass is a good team that is fast and works hard.”

Hartline netted 15 points to lead the Rangers with nine other teammates finding the scoring column with a pair at eight points and a trio more with seven.

Cassopolis also was victorious in the junior varsity game which was close throughout as they won 48-47 for their fourth win in nine games.

Sophomore Damien Brown and Monroe Gomez led the victors with 12 and 11 points respectively with Corey Cook leading all scorers with 13 points for Hartford.

 

HARTFORD 50

Cameron Collin 6 3-4 20; Manny Apreza 4 2-2 10; Matthew Najacht 2 3-8 7; Jimmy Mullins 3 1-2 7; Konner Bulat 3 0-1 6; Jacob Flowers 0 0-1 0; TJ Summerhill 0 0-2 0. Totals 18 9-20 50

CASSOPOLIS 67

Nathan Hartline 5 3-4 15; Delshawn Wicker 4 0-0 8; Jacob Lee 3 2-3 8; Quinten O’Brie 3 1-2 7; Tyler Gilliam 2 2-2 7; Oliver Fiala 3 1-2 7; Brian Craft 2 0-0 6; Dwayne Morgan 2 1-2 5; Austin Los 1 0-0 2; Mayquan Morrison 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 10-15 67.

 

Hartford 3 25 41 50

Cassopolis 18 38 54 67

3-point baskets: Cassopolis 5 (Hartline 2, Craft 2, Gilliam); Hartford 5 (Collin 5). Varsity records: Cassopolis 6-3, Hartford 1-5

 

Cassopolis…30

Coloma…49

COLOMA — Visiting Cassopolis was outscored 36-20 in the second half Friday night as the Coloma Comets scored a 49-30 Lakeland Conference girls’ basketball victory over the Rangers.

Coloma led 5-4 after one quarter of play and 13-10 at halftime. But after the Comets put up 20 points in the third quarter, their advantage was extended to 33-18.

Reese Ellison led Cassopolis with 13 points, while Tammy Lee added 12.

Chelsea Carotenuto led Coloma and all scorers with 16 points. The Comets also got 14 points from Julie Timm.

 

CASSOPOLIS 30

Tammy Lee 5 1-1 12, Savannah Sullivan 0 1-2 1, Lela Broussard 1 0-0 2, Jocelyn Transou 0 2-4 2, Reese Ellison 4 5-7 13. Totals: 11 9-14 30

COLOMA 49

Chelsea Carotenuto 7 2-5 16, Kayti Veverka 1 1-2 3, Amanda Swihart 2 1-2 5, Heidi Conrad 2 0-0 4, Rachel Tallman 0 1-2 1, Julie Timm 5 4-8 14, Olivia Zvonar 2 0-0 6. Totals: 19 9-19 49

 

Cassopolis 4 10 18 30

Coloma 5 13 33 49

3-point baskets: Cassopolis 1 (Lee), Coloma 2 (Zvonar). Total fouls: Cassopolis 14, Coloma 14. Fouled out: None. Varsity records: Cassopolis 5-4, 2-3 Lakeland; Coloma 6-3, 3-3 Lakeland