By By SCOTT NOVAK / Edwardsburg Argus
First-year Edwardsburg coach Steve Austin may not know much about the rivalry with Cassopolis, but the Eddies coach has his first victory in the long-running series.
The visiting Eddies stunned the Rangers 60-43 Tuesday night to pick up just their second win of the season.
Edwardsburg was able to improve to 2-10 overall (1-6 Lakeland) by outscoring Cassopolis (8-4, 4-3 Lakeland) in three out of the four quarters.
"I didn't know the rivalry, I just told the kids to play hard," Austin said after the game. "This is one to just get them to believe, just to get some respectability, to send hopefully a shockwave through the conference so teams don't take us lightly now."
It was evident right from the start that Edwardsburg was ready to play and Cassopolis wasn't.
No matter what combination Ranger coach Josh Hood tried, nothing seemed to work.
"We got outhustled, outplayed, outcoached," Hood said. "In every facet of the basketball game, the Eddies were better than the Rangers."
Edwardsburg used a zone defense against Cassopolis, which seemed to frustrate the Rangers. Hood said his team has got to find a way to play better when people go to a zone.
"Our three losses in the conference have all been against zones," Hood lamented. "We have to learn to play against it. We can't play from the outside. Right now, our best shooters are our post guys. We need some outside shooters."
The Eddies were also able to stay out of Cass' defensive trap, which led to numerous easy baskets.
"We told them in practice to stay out of the trap," Austin said. "We tried to get them to get out of the trap before it even gets here. And it's so difficult, because when they're in their half-court defense, they're all over you."
The Eddies led 13-12 after one period of play and 27-26 at the intermission.
Edwardsburg outscored Cassopolis 19-10 in the third quarter to open up a 10-point lead heading into the final period.
Although the two teams combined for 21 points in the fourth quarter, Edwardsburg was able to double up the Rangers (14-7) and pull away to the victory.
Brian Sevison had a game-high 17 points for the Eddies, who also got 11 points from Jake Harroff and 10 points from Brent Shuttleworth.
Nick Davis' 13 points led the Rangers. Kris Morgan and Justin Jackson both finished with eight points.
EDWARDSBURG 60
Derick James 0 0-2 0; Jeff Gowen 0 0-0 0; Corey Johnson 1 0-0 2; Korey Moore 2 4-4 8; Mike Rangel 3 0-0 9; Adam Young 0 0-0 0; Brian Sevison 7 2-4 17; Brent Shuttleworth 4 2-4 10; John Rosol 1 1-1 3; Matt Boesler 0 0-0 0; Jake Harroff 5 0-1 11. Totals: 23 9-16 60
CASSOPOLIS 43
Stefon Luckey 2 0-0 4; Drew Warren 2 1-2 5; A.J. Ballard 1 0-0 2; Larry Harris 0 0-0 0; Justin Jackson 2 4-8 8; DaShaun Curtis 0 0-1 0; Raymond Nelson 1 0-0 3; Kris Morgan 4 0-0 8; Nick Davis 5 3-5 13. Totals: 17 8-16 43
Edwardsburg 13 14 19 14 – 60
Cassopolis 12 14 10 7 – 43
3-point baskets: Rangel (E) 3, Sevison (E), Harroff (E), Nelson (C). Total fouls: Edwardsburg 17, Cassopolis 18. Fouled out: None. Records: Edwardsburg 2-10; 1-6 Lakeland; Cassopolis 8-4, 4-3 Lakeland