CASSOPOLIS — There is an old saying about the postseason. All you want to do is survive and advance.

And that is exactly what the Cassopolis girls basketball team did in the Class C district opener against visiting Bridgman Monday night.

There may have been more ice bags than smiles for the Rangers, who held off an upset-minded Bees’ team 60-51 to advance to Wednesday’s semifinals at Brandywine High School against Southwest 10 Conference foe Hartford.

The Rangers (12-9) and Indians (17-3) will meet in the second semifinal at approximately 8 p.m.

Cassopolis coach Janice Gatson said that the game between her squad and Bridgman was one of the most physical she has ever seen.

“It was bad,” she said. “It was definitely the most physical game we have played. Hopefully we regroup and everybody is OK to play.”

The Bees (3-17) were whistled for 29 fouls in the contest and had three players foul out.

The Rangers lost guard Lizzy Ocampo to a knee injury in the first quarter and struggled with foul trouble in the opening half.

After opening up a comfortable lead to start the game, the injury and foul issues allowed Bridgman to work its way back into the contest.

A 10-point advantage was erased by the Bees, who trailed by six points at the end of both the first quarter (16-10) and halftime (32-26).

Bridgman continued to cut into the Rangers’ advantage behind the play of center Lauren Keller, who scored a game-high 21 points for the Bees.

Bridgman would tie the game at 33, 35 and 37 in the third quarter, only to have the Rangers score the final four points to take a 41-37 advantage into the final eight minutes.

From there, senior Santaja Gibson took over as she scored 15 of her game-high 35 points. Gibson also hit 11-of-18 foul shots in the fourth quarter to help hold off Bridgman.

“She had a good game,” Gatson said. “She is a senior who is trying to hold on. She is not ready to go just yet.”

Cassopolis would make 27-of-42 free throws in the contest compared to the Bees’ 9-of-23.

Bridgman ended the night with 20 field goals, including a pair of 3-pointers, while Cassopolis had just 15 field goals, including a trio of 3-pointers.

Besides Gibson, Cassopolis got eight points each from Kiersten Hartsell and Telayah Coats.

The Bees also had Hannah Lundin and Savanna Tate with eight points each.

Wednesday’s semifinal against Hartford will be the third meeting between the two schools.

In its two previous meetings, the Rangers were defeated by the Indians 56-46 in January and 54-47 on Feb. 13.

“They will press us, we have to be able to handle the pressure,” Gatson said of Hartford. “We have to do a better job in that. That is one of our downfalls. If we handle the pressure on Wednesday we will be fine.”