An arm injury to standout Edwardsburg boys basketball player Dante Razzano overshadowed the Eddies 64-55 win over Cassopolis on Tuesday.

Razzano suffered the injury while diving for a loose ball at midcourt with 4:45 left in the third quarter. Edwardsburg led 41-30 at the time of the injury.

Razzano, who scored 12 points against Cassopolis, has 910 career points and ranks in the top five on the school’s all-time scoring list.

“It looks like an elbow injury,” said Edwardsburg boys basketball coach Steve Wright when asked about Razzano’s injury. “We’ll wait for the diagnosis and go from there. We talked as a team after the game about how much time he’s put into our athletic programs. He’s a great football player as well.”

The Rangers pulled within 52-46 with 5:59 left in the game but wouldn’t get any closer. Adam Kozinski, Shane Streb and Jon Albrecht went a combined 8-for-10 from the free-throw line over final 1:34.

“I thought we did a great job,” Wright said about his team’s response after Razzano’s injury. “I thought Cass did a great job of pressuring the basketball. They’re quick and they really get after it. I thought our kids handled the pressure and we did what we needed to do to give ourselves the best shot to win the game.”

Albrecht scored 13 of his career-high 15 points after Razzano left the game. Albrecht’s 3-pointer gave the Eddies a 50-39 lead with 1:44 left in the third quarter.

Adam Kozinski and Nate Brown each added 10 points for Edwardsburg. Reserve Chase Tarwacki pulled down a team-high six rebounds to go with his six points.

Cassopolis shot only 37-percent (21-of-56) from the field and especially struggled in the first half. The Rangers missed 21 of their 31 shots in the first half and Cassopolis coach Ricky Evans was asked if he wanted his team to take so many perimeter shots.

“That wasn’t my plan,” Evans said. “My plan was to run the offense and get inside. We had the speed to do it
“In the second half I thought we did a good job. We just dug too big of a hole.”

Bryce Saxton scored 19 points, had four blocked shots and three steals to lead the Rangers. Matthew Pittman added 13 points and seven rebounds.

Cassopolis also lost one of its top players to an injury in the third quarter when Deion Gatson left the game and didn’t return. Gatson totaled eight points and five rebounds.

“He got a cut on his nose in the third quarter,” Evans said. “He’ll probably have to have stitches. We missed him tremendously.”

EDWARDSBURG 64, CASSOPOLIS 55

At Edwardsburg

CASSOPOLIS 55

Brandon Anderson 2, Alex Emerson 4, Matthew Pittman 13, Bryce Saxton 19, Deion Gatson 8, Marquise Curtis 2, Kiambu Gary 3, Trevor Bruens 0, Xander Smith 4, Brylan Glover 0. TOTALS: 21 10-13 55.

EDWARDSBURG 64

Dante Razzano 12, Adam Kozinski 10, Nate Brown 10, Shane Streb 2, Jon Albrecht 15, Ben Robertson 5, Dylan Layher 4, Chase Tarwacki 6. A.J. Rosebush 0. TOTALS: 22 16-23 64.
Cassopolis                  12       23       39       55
Edwardsburg            12       33       50       64
3-point baskets: Cassopolis 3 (Pittman 2, Saxton), Edwardsburg 4 (Razzano 2, Albrecht, Robertson). Total fouls (fouled out): Cassopolis 20 (none), Edwardsburg 15 (none). Shooting: Cassopolis 21-of-56 for 37-percent, Edwardsburg 22-of-47 for 47-percent. Rebounding: Cassopolis 23 (Pittman 7), Edwardsburg 29 (Tarwacki 6). Turnovers: Cassopolis 13, Edwardsburg 19. Records: Cassopolis 0-1, Edwardsburg 1-0.