By By JEFF FISHER / Vigilant/Argus
Good defense and hot shooting propelled the Lady Rangers into the Class C district final Saturday night.
The Lady Rangers (20-2) eliminated Marcellus Wednesday night, 51-38.
Cass jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, thanks to full-court pressure defense, which caused problems for the Lady Wildcats.
The Rangers held Marcellus scoreless until the 4:27 mark of the first quarter when Marcellus' Lindsey Ransbottom broke the drought.
Cass' Dee Dee Hawkins scored eight first quarter points and Cass led 18-9 after one quarter of play.
A 5-0 run by Marcellus, which was fueled by a three-pointer from Alexa Surdell narrowed the Cass lead to 18-4, but a basket by Hawkins broke the run.
Cass' Nikitas Nelson scored five points in less than a minute to open up a Ranger 25-18 lead.
Ransbottom scored six points in the quarter for the Wildcats.
A bucket by Cass' Michelle James in the early third quarter gave Cass a double-digit lead (31-21).
Marcellus would come within three points (37-34) with 5:04 remaining, but would come no closer as the Rangers would put the game away in final quarter ending the Wildcats season at 13-8.
"Marcellus is a scrappy team, hats off to them. Lindsey Ransbottom is a tough player, and she is only a junior," Ranger coach Floyd Foston said.
"I'm proud of the kids, and they stepped up to the plate when needed," added Foston.
Hawkins topped the Rangers with 17 points. Kelsey Gordon finished with 14 points, and Nelson added 12.
The Rangers' pressure defense forced Marcellus into 29 turnovers on the night, while Cass only turned the ball over 10 times.
Ransbottom paced the Wildcats with 16 points, and Nicole Bell added six points.
The Lady Rangers faced White Pigeon, which beat Centreville 54-39 on Tuesday night, for the title (see related story).