HOOPS ROUNDUP: It's county tournament week

Nov. 28—The week after Thanksgiving locally means it's Cass County Tournament week for high school basketball.

The event, which is sponsored by Logansport Savings Bank, brings the four Cass County high schools together for a tournament that features a championship format to take the place of the old sectional rivalries from the single-class days.

This year's tournament has a different schedule. Caston hosts Lewis Cass Tuesday. The varsity boys game gets underway at 6:30 p.m., followed by the varsity girls at 8:15.

Logansport hosts Pioneer Wednesday, with the varsity girls game starting at 6 p.m., followed by the varsity boys at 7:45.

The boys conclude the tournament Friday night at the Berry Bowl, with the consolation game starting at 6:30 followed by the championship at 8:15.

The girls conclude play Saturday night at the Berry Bowl with the consolation game at 6:30 followed by the championship game at 8:15.

Lewis Cass is the defending champion on the boys side and has won two of the last three tournaments. Pioneer is the four-time defending champion on the girls side.

The girls tournament features two state-ranked teams. Pioneer (5-0) is ranked No. 6 in Class 2A. The Panthers are led by Miss Basketball candidate Ashlynn Brooke, who is averaging 29.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 4.8 apg and 3.4 spg. Kylie Attinger adds 9.6 ppg and 6.8 rpg. Brooklyn Borges adds 8.2 ppg and Paula Collado Fernandez adds 6.2 ppg.

Caston (7-0) is ranked No. 4 in Class A. Isabel Scales is averaging 17.3 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.9 apg and 3.7 spg. Bailey Harness is averaging 10.7 ppg and 7.0 rpg. Addison Zimpleman is averaging 9.4 ppg, 3.4 apg and 3.3 spg. Annie Harsh adds 5.4 ppg and Macee Hinderlider adds 5.1 ppg.

Logansport (2-4) is led by senior guard Gabby Richie (19.2 ppg), who reached the 1,000-point career milestone in the Berries' last game. Kendra Sutton adds 9.9 ppg and 6.6 rpg. Lydia Goad adds 6.8 ppg and 3.8 spg.

Cass (1-3) is led by sophomore Mylie Sipe (7.3 ppg), freshman Aftin Griffin (6.8 ppg), senior Elly Logan (5.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg), freshman Anna Hedrick (5.0 ppg) and junior Kinsey Mennen (10.0 rpg).

The boys season started just last week. Cass has a loss to Class 2A No. 3 Carroll and a win over Southwood. Logansport has a loss to Class 3A No. 13 Peru. Caston has a loss to Lakeland Christian Academy. Pioneer has yet to start its season. A season preview for the Panthers will appear in Wednesday's Pharos-Tribune.

Here are capsules of this weekend's area games:

BOYS BASKETBALL

CASS 65, SOUTHWOOD 44

The Kings (1-1) defeated the Knights (0-2) by 21 points in Wabash despite committing 19 turnovers. Southwood is a three-time defending sectional champion in Class A.

Luke Chambers had 21 points and 19 rebounds to lead the Kings. Tyson Good had 14 points, four assists, two blocks and two steals. L.J. Hillis scored 11 points, Trey Johnson had nine and Keaton Lewellen added eight, which included the first five points of the game against Southwood's swarming defense.

The Kings led 15-6 after one and 30-24 at halftime before they started pulling away in the second half. They led 50-34 after three. The Knights got to within 14 when Johnson hit back-to-back 3s to push the lead to 59-42 with five minutes left and it never got any closer the rest of the way.

Nathan Lehner had 16 points to lead the Knights. Jason Oprisek had 11 and Dylan Stout added eight.

Cass coach Kyle Johnson spoke with WLHM's Grant Davis and Dirk Tocco after the game.

"We're pleased with that effort," Johnson said. "Southwood plays hard-nosed, they really slap at the ball, they make angles really tough at times. We had a talk at halftime about being a little more ball strong, and they were.

"Luke Chambers was a man-child, an absolute man-child. I was super pleased with Tyson Good's play tonight. I thought he was unselfish, I thought he was selfish when I needed him to be selfish. Defensively, I thought he did a really good job. He just played hard. I don't know if I've ever seen Tyson Good play that hard.

"Everybody contributed well."

N. NEWTON 47, WINAMAC 41

The Warriors traveled to Morocco for a battle with North Newton on Saturday afternoon.

The junior varsity improved to 2-0 on the year and was in control from start to finish. The Warriors varsity squad was doomed by cold shooting from the field once again and fell to the Spartans 47-41.

John Malchow led the Warriors with 16 points, all of which came in the second half after the junior was forced to sit the majority of the first half with foul trouble. Jayse Bentle scored 11. Sawyer Depoy and Michael Loehmer grabbed five rebounds apiece to lead the defensive effort.

Winamac (0-2) is back in action Friday in its home opener against Rochester.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

ROCHESTER 40, WINAMAC 19

Rochester (4-4) upped its winning streak to four with a win at Winamac (0-8).

The Zebras led 10-4 after one, 21-9 at halftime and 34-12 after three.

Piper Link had six points and five rebounds to lead the Warriors.

Rily Holloway scored 13 and Emma Howdeshell had 11 to lead the Zebras.

Winamac's JV won 30-9 in two quarters. Marissa Iverson had 12 points and nine boards for the Winamac JV (5-3).

Winamac travels to West Central Tuesday.