PREP ROUNDUP: Caston boys hoops wins at Pioneer for first time since '05

Feb. 13—The Caston boys basketball team has fared well against Pioneer in recent years, but not in Royal Center.

That changed on Saturday night when the Comets recorded their first win at Pioneer since 2005 with a 60-54 victory.

The Comets trailed 39-37 after three quarters of play before outscoring the Panthers 23-15 in the fourth.

Caleb Stinson had 19 points and Cain Schanlaub scored 18 to lead the Comets (7-12, 2-4 HNAC). Colby Pugh was also in double figures with 12. Rowan Jellison and Talon Zeider added four apiece and Jackson Rentschler added three.

"The game really changed when we were opportunistic in the fullcourt and forced some turnovers," Caston coach Carl Davis said. "We still had some mistakes down the stretch that we need to address but we showed growth from how we finished some similar games in the past."

The Panthers (3-17, 0-6) also had three players in double figures. Drew McKaig scored 17, Caleb Sweet had 16 and Brayden Erickson scored 14 on four-3pointers. Pioneer made eight 3s as a team. Noah Miller chipped in a 3-pointer and Rylahn Toloza and Micah Rans added two points apiece.

It was a high scoring game in the first half. Caston led 21-18 after one quarter and it was tied 32-all at halftime. Pioneer won the third quarter 7-5 to take a 39-37 lead before Caston's strong finish.

"Credit to Pioneer for hitting shots tonight. They hit a lot of them," said Davis, whose team was outscored 24-6 from the 3-point line.

"I'm proud of our guys for finding a way in spite of the shooting night we had on the perimeter," Davis added. "In the second half we got the ball to the rim more with post touches and penetration.

"We have to continue to get better each day moving forward and embrace every opportunity and lesson we get."

Pioneer coach Darren McKaig talked to WHZR following the game.

"We really competed for the whole game. It got down to the fourth quarter and they just kind of made more plays than we did. But our guys really wanted to win and we left it all out there," McKaig said.

The Panthers had three scorers step up and almost pulled off a win.

"We've needed it all year. We've had a lot of injuries, we've had a lot of different starting lineups and different guys in the game," McKaig told the radio.

Schanlaub was a tough matchup for the Panthers in the paint throughout the contest.

"Drew had done a good job the last two games against big people. Against Knox the kid didn't quite have the weight, he was tall, then last night they had the weight but then Schanlaub has both. So we had a little harder time matching up with him," McKaig said.

Caston snapped an eight-game losing streak at Pioneer. The Comets have now won three in a row against the Panthers and four of the last five overall. The teams won't meet again this year as Pioneer is now in Class 2A in all class sports.

Both teams were in action Friday as well. Pioneer lost to visiting Culver 53-37. McKaig had 14 points and Sweet scored 11 for the Panthers. David Hite scored 19, Ethan Keller had 12 and Shane Shuman added 11 to lead the Cavaliers (9-8, 4-2).

Caston lost at North Judson 65-39. Schanlaub had 10 points, Zeider scored nine and Stinson added eight.

Ty Schumacher had 24 points to lead the Bluejays (16-3, 6-0), who secured the league title outright with the win against last year's champs. Quinn Bales had 12 and Kelson Jordan had 11.

Caston travels to Lewis Cass on Tuesday. Pioneer travels to Winamac on Friday.

LOGAN DROPS 2

Logansport's up and down season was illustrated well this weekend in a pair of losses to Anderson and Richmond.

After a slow start against the Indians the Berries played the 13th ranked team in Class 4A evenly over the final three quarters in a 64-44 loss Friday night in the Berry Bowl. But the Berries never showed up according to their coach in a 60-31 at Richmond Saturday night.

Anderson (18-3, 8-0) defeated Muncie Central 59-44 Saturday to win its 14th straight game. The Indians host No. 7 Kokomo Friday for the NCC title game.

Anderson went up 20 on the Berries in the first five minutes. But the Berries played the Indians evenly the rest of the game. Anderson led 25-8 after one, 34-21 at halftime and 46-29 after three.

Jacob Taylor had 19 points and eight rebounds to lead the Berries (7-13, 1-7). Isaac Russell scored seven points and Izak Mock added six.

Ahmere Carson had 15 points, nine assists and four steals to lead the Indians. Damien King added 14 points and six boards.

The Berries faced relentless fullcourt pressure by the Indians and finished with 18 turnovers. They also shot just 9-of-17 from the foul line.

Logan coach Matt Lange talked with WSAL's Joe Stetz and Dave Packard after the game about his team.

"I just wish that they believed in themselves as much as we believe in them," Lange said. "Like I told them at halftime and I told them just now, they got up over 20 on us early in the game and I called a couple timeouts, got into them a little bit and we started playing and from that point we beat them. We scored more points from that point on. It's the same thing that happened to us with Kokomo. My whole thought process is we just sometimes don't think we're as good as other teams. I'm like, 'guys, these are the best teams in the state, that team has lost three games, one of them to Noblesville and their best player didn't even play. We're talking about a top 15 team in the state and we played with them all the way through except the first five minutes. Same thing with Kokomo, we played with them all the way through except the first five minutes. Reverse that, Harrison, for a whole game, except the last quarter. We're right there, they just have to believe in themselves and I hope they do.'"

One player who played well off the bench against Anderson was Aaron Bau, who gave the Berries a big spark defensively.

Ryder Cate scored 13 points, Cedrick Horton had 12 and Zion Deloney had 10 to lead Richmond (14-6, 4-4) Saturday night.

Taylor had 14 points and Cooper Smith added eight to lead the Berries.

One night after competing well against Anderson, the Berries did not show the same fight after the long trek to Richmond.

"To be honest with you, I'm not really sure if we even got off the bus," Lange told the radio. "I think we rode over here, we stayed on the bus and we're going to get back on the bus and go home. That's all I can say. I don't understand. The best thing I can say is I guess we'll go back to the drawing board on Monday and try to turn this around. But it's tough. When you play like this it's just tough. I don't have any words, I just want to apologize to the people who made this trip over here because this is not what I wanted them to see."

Logan hosts Class 3A No. 9 Oak Hill (15-2) Thursday.

CASS SPLITS

Cass recorded a 56-45 victory at Western Friday night before falling to Westfield 61-50 Saturday night in Walton.

The Kings (11-7, 3-1 HC) secured a second-place finish in the Hoosier Conference East Division with the win over Western (11-8, 0-4).

The Kings took a 17-12 lead on Tyson Good's second-quarter flurry and the closest Western got after that was three points down on one occasion. Cass got five points from reserve forward Keaton Lewellen in that quarter, another bucket from Chambers and a 3 at the buzzer from Haden McClain to take a 29-20 lead into halftime. The closest the Panthers got in the second half was six points back.

Good finished with a game-high 19 points for Cass, McClain scored 13 points — including two big 3-pointers in the third quarter and four free throws in the fourth — and Lewellen was effective inside to score 11. Luke Chambers scored nine points and took five boards while battling Western center Mitchell Dean.

"Keaton Lewellen came off the bench, 6-6, comes off the bench, senior, gladly does it and he made a big difference," Cass coach Kyle Johnson said. "We spread it out a little bit [on offense] and he had a couple lobs and finishes inside and he just made a big difference offensively. Defensively he had some nice deflections, a couple steals here at midcourt. Him and Haden McClain are guys that are kind of unsung heroes, seniors that don't get all the attention but they hit big shots in a big game."

Logan Nelson led Western with 13 points, Mitchell Dean had 10 and Hudson Biggs eight.

"I think that the game honors toughness and there were a number of loose balls that ended up being key baskets for them," Western coach Mike Lewis said. "They banked in two shots that led to five points, and then there were two loose balls that ended up being a bucket for them and a 3. They just beat us to it.

"We got off to a good start and at that point, they applied their physicality and we didn't match up to it."

Westfield jumped out to a 16-4 lead after one Saturday night. Cass got to within 25-22 at halftime before Westfield went up 41-29 after three.

Chambers had 26 points and six rebounds to lead the Kings (11-7). LJ Hillis scored 11 points. Good added eight points and six assists.

Alex Romack had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Shamrocks (13-6). Trey Buchanan scored 17 points. — Pedro Velazco

CARROLL SPLITS

Class 2A No. 9-ranked Carroll overpowered visiting Sheridan 74-41 Friday night to remain in the Hoosier Heartland Conference title race.

Owen Duff and Jake Skinner led the Cougars with 20 points apiece. Chris Huerta scored 14 points and Griffin Viney added 11 points.

Carroll (4-1 HHC) has league games remaining against Taylor next Friday and Eastern on Feb. 24. Taylor leads the league at 6-0.

Carroll tested itself with a road game vs. Class 4A school Lafayette Jeff Saturday night and fell 71-50.

The Bronchos jumped to a 25-11 lead by the close of the first quarter, but the Cougars battled the rest of the way. Jeff led 56-44 after the third quarter and then pulled away in the fourth.

Ah'keem Wilson led the Bronchos (12-9) with 27 points.

Owen Duff led the Cougars (15-4) with 16 points. Jake Skinner and Griffin Viney scored eight points apiece and Eli Harshbarger, Chris Huerta and Austin Kuns had six points apiece.

WRESTLING

NEW HAVEN SEMISTATE

Cass senior Jensen Burrous was defeated by to Adams Central senior Logan Uhlman by fall in a first-round bout at 138 pounds.

Uhlman (36-9) went on to finish runner-up to Jay County junior Tony Wood (41-0) by 2-1 decision in the championship match. Burrous finished his senior season with a 28-9 record.

EAST CHICAGO CENTRAL SEMISTATE

Winamac sophomore Austin Attinger (19-12) fell to Chesterton junior Hayden DeMarco (34-6) by fall in a first-round bout at 132 pounds.

GYMNASTICS

LOGAN INVITE

Short-handed Logansport, down two starters, scored an 84.15 to place fifth out of eight teams Saturday,

The Berries scored their season high on floor.

Junior Jaelyn Benish scored a career high on floor (8.85) and placed fourth. She placed seventh on vault and in the all-around (32.45). She placed eighth on bars (7.55), which was a season high for her.

Freshman Tatianna Jones improved by two points from last meet. She scored a season high on beam (6.3). Freshman Rylee Zimmerman scored a season high on beam (9.0) to place her second. She placed first on bars (8.45) and second on floor (9.05) and in the all-around (34.4).

Plymouth won with 101.2 points, followed by Elkhart Central (100.35), Western (93.95), Southmont (86.65), Logan (84.15), Peru (42.15), Maconaquah (33.5) and Caston (27.4).

"We hope to have all five gymnasts competing together for the first time next meet," Logan coach Kelley Platt said. "Everyone is peaking at the right time before NCCs and Sectionals. The gymnastics team will be back in action on Wednesday and will introduce our senior managers at 6 p.m."