CASSOPOLIS — A lot of teams struggle in their first game back from Christmas break.

Despite practicing over the two-week layoff, some teams just cannot find their rhythm.

That was the case for host Cassopolis Tuesday night in its 37-30 Southwest 10 Conference loss to Decatur.

The Rangers seemed out of sync the entire night. Cassopolis was also unable to find a constant second scoring option for senior point guard Angel Gary. Gary finished with a game-high 17 points, but no other Ranger finished in double figures.

“It was like night and day from our last game,” said Cassopolis coach Janice Gatson. “We have other people who can score like Jadin (Wolfe), but they were unable to tonight. We practiced over the break, but it is not the same as in a game.”

Decatur jumped out to a 7-2 lead after one quarter, as it too struggled offensively to open the contest.

The Raiders (6-1) found its rhythm in the second quarter and outscored the Rangers 12-5 to open up a 19-7 halftime lead.

Gary got hot for Cassopolis in the third quarter, scoring eight consecutive points to cut the Decatur lead to 25-20. After coming up with a stop at the defensive end, the Rangers looked to close the gap even further, but an errant pass led to a turnover and a Decatur fast-break basket that upped the lead to 27-20 at the end of the third quarter.

Cassopolis never really threatened after that.

Besides Gary, the Rangers got six points from Wolfe.

Decatur was led by Regan Rose’s 16 points. Jania Green added nine.

Cassopolis hosts White Pigeon in another Southwest 10 Conference game Friday night.

 

Boys basketball

DECATUR — Visiting Cassopolis and Decatur were deadlocked at 48-48 late in their Southwest 10 Conference contest Tuesday night.

The Rangers outscored the Raiders 17-5 down the stretch to pick up a 65-53 victory.

The win improved the Rangers to 3-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play.

The Raiders drop to 0-4 overall and 0-3 in the Southwest 10.

Darrion Gatson scored a game-high 20 points to lead Cassopolis, which also got 19 points from Jerry Johnson and 14 points from Daishean Jamison.

Decatur was led by Ben Cerven’s 16 points. Colin Warkentien added 10 points.

The Rangers host White Pigeon in a Southwest 10 contest Friday night.