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CASSOPOLIS — Stephon Luckey is pleased with how his Cassopolis girls basketball team is handling adversity as the season nears its mid-point. 

Friday’s 61-22 Southwest 10 Conference win at home over Hartford was a good example of the progress the Rangers have made.

Cassopolis improves to 4-3 overall and 4-2 in the league, good enough for a fourth-place tie with Lawrence. Hartford falls to 1-5 in the league and 1-8 overall. 

“Collectively we haven’t shot that well over the last six games. Tonight was probably our best shooting performance of the season on free throws and from the floor,” Luckey said. 

Cassopolis made 23-of-75 attempts (31 percent) from the floor and 10-of-19 (53 percent) at the free-throw line. 

The Rangers were led by sharpshooting junior guard Ryley Bowsher, who fired in a game-high 22 points, including three of her team’s five triples in the contest. 

“When Ryley is knocking down her shots the rest of the team does pretty well. She’s a very good shooter,” Luckey said. 

Freshman guard Madison Nelson added 15 points, while junior JaMya Hart and freshman Madalynn Yakel added five points each and Mackenzie Boyer, Nola Hawkins and Cheyenne Redmond all ended the night with three points apiece. 

Luckey likes the spark that Nelson and Yakel since joining the varsity fulltime. 

“Madison does a little bit of everything for us on the floor. Madalynn is a good rebounder and leads by example. They both bring alot of energy for us,” Luckey said.  

The Rangers also held a 31-28 rebounding advantage against the Huskies. 

Yakel pulled down six rebounds for Cassopolis, while Bowsher grabbed five and Janayla Franklin added four. 

Hartford was led in scoring by Sianelli Rodriguez with six points and Graci Kinchen finished with four. 

The Huskies shot 8-of-40 (20 percent) from the floor and 5-of-15 (33 percent) at the foul stripe. 

Cassopolis bolted out to a 23-6 lead by the end of the first quarter thanks to Bowsher’s 12 points, including one triple.

The Rangers continued to use their quickness and defensive pressure in the second period to create additional turnovers by the Huskies. Cassopolis took advantage and scored off several of those miscues. Nelson drained a pair of triples and Bowsher added a three pointer during the stanza as well in building a 40-12 halftime advantage. 

Nelson added six points in the third quarter to help Cassopolis outscore Hartford 15-6 and increase its advantage to 54-18 entering the fourth quarter. 

“I like that we are starting to elevate our play and bringing it on a nightly basis. Tonight I liked how we responded after having not played in about a week due to school cancelations,” Luckey said. 

“We need to work on some things defensively, but I think these girls are starting to realize what we are requiring of them and what we expect.”