Rangers rout Raiders to share Southwest 10 championship

Published 10:30 pm Saturday, March 2, 2024

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DECATUR — The Cassopolis girls basketball team capped one of its best regular season in school history with a 60-31 victory over host Decatur Thursday night.

The Rangers earned a share of the Southwest 10 Conference championship with the victory as Cassopolis finishes with a 16-1 record. White Pigeon also finished at 16-1 to share the title.

The Rangers are now 21-3 heading into the Division 3 District Tournament at Brandywine Monday, their best record since they posted the same record in 2004 and 2005.

Cassopolis last won a conference championship in 2006 when it shared the Lakeland Conference title with Bridgman. The Rangers finished that year 19-6.

Against the Raiders (9-13, 8-10 Southwest 10), Cassopolis jumped out to a 17-4 lead and never looked back. The Rangers increased their advantage to 27-13 by halftime, and led 46-22 heading into the final quarter.

Atyanna Alford led Cassopolis and all scorers with 26 points, while Ryley Bowsher added 144 points, Janayla Franklin eight and Ella Smith seven points.

Decatur was led by Hannah Northrop’s seven points.

The Rangers open up district play Wednesday night in Niles as they face the winner of Monday night’s Bridgman (12-8) and Constantine (4-18) contest. Tipoff is schedule for 5:30 p.m.

In the other game Monday, White Pigeon (18-3) will face Buchanan (10-10) at approximately 7 p.m.

No. 1-ranked Brandywine will face the winner of the White Pigeon-Buchanan game at approximately 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The championship game is scheduled for 7  p.m. Friday.