CASSOPOLIS — For the second time this week, top-ranked Brandywine found itself down after one quarter of play.

And just like the Bobcats did Monday night in Mendon, they regrouped and went on to pick up the victory and remain undefeated, both on the season and in Lakeland Conference play.

Brandywine withstood a strong first quarter challenge from host Cassopolis Tuesday night in their girls basketball game. The Bobats outscored the Rangers 45-21 over the final three quarters to take the 58-37 victory.

Cassopolis (6-7, 4-4 Lakeland) came out fired up and chucking the ball at the basket. The Rangers got off 22 shots in the opening quarter, but only connected on five of them.

As a result, despite forcing 12 first quarter turnovers by the usually sure-handed Bobcats, Cassopolis was only able to manage a 16-13 lead when the first quarter buzzer went off.

That wasn’t nearly good enough.

Brandywine (13-0, 6-0 Lakeland) scored 12 in a row at one point in the second quarter and took the lead for good on a Mackenzie Shelton 3-pointer with 5:35 remaining in the first half, 20-19.

The Bobcats ended up outscoring the Rangers 17-7 in the quarter and held a 30-25 advantage heading to the locker room at halftime.

In there, veteran Brandywine coach Josh Hood stressed defense and his team responded in the second half, holding Cassopolis to just 12 points, including two in the third quarter.

After the Rangers scored the opening basket of the third quarter, the Bobcats scored the next 19 points and turned a close game into a 22-point advantage by the end of the period.

Brandywine took a 49-27 lead into the fourth quarter.

“We just talked at halftime about doing what we do,” Hood said. “We talk a lot of pride on defense and we were trading baskets. We try not to give up 50 points and they were on pace for 50. So we just talked about taking pride in defense because the offense was going to take care of itself.”

Cassopolis actually outscored Brandywine 10-9 in the final quarter, but it didn’t really matter.

Bobcats standout senior Carlie Newman led all scorers with 24 points and became Brandywine’s all-time leading scorer with 1,332 points. She surpassed the late Leonard Drake, who score 1,328 points in his career, which spanned from 1970 through 1973.

Shelton added nine points, as did Tia Hullinger off the bench. Madison Pellow finished with eight points.

Courtney Moore led the Rangers with 13 points. Tammy Lee finished with seven.

BRANDYWINE 58

Carlie Newman 8 5-6 24; Rachael Ort 1 0-0 2; Mackenzie Shelton 3 2-2 9; Tia Hullinger 3 3-4 9; Victoria Knight 0 0-2 0; Brooke Smith 2 0-0 6; Mikayla Kemp 0 0-0 0; Madison Pellow 1 6-8 8. TOTALS: 18 16-22

CASSOPOLIS 37

Tammy Lee 2 2-4 7; Bre Coleman 1 0-0 2; Jessica Waldschmidt 0 0-0 0; Jameka Eleazor 1 2-2 4; Olivia Nelson 0 0-0 0; Lauren Smith 0 0-0 0; Savannah Sullivan 3 0-2 6; Jade Gatson 1 1-4 4; Courtney Moore 3 7-8 13. TOTALS: 11 13-22 37

Brandywine 13 30 49 58

Cassopolis 16 25 27 37

3-point baskets: Brandywine 6 (Newman 3, Shelton, Smith 2), Cassopolis 2 (Lee, Gatson). Total fouls (fouled out): Brandywine 17 (none), Cassopolis 17 (none). Varsity records: Brandywine 13-0, 6-0 Lakeland; Cassopolis 6-7, 4-4 Lakeland