It was a tale of two halves for the Cassopolis Rangers Tuesday night.

The Rangers played extremely well in the first half and then struggled over the final 16 minutes of its BCS Athletic Conference non-divisional contest against visiting Comstock.

But Cassopolis made just enough plays to rally from a pair of deficits to beat the Colts 54-52.

“It has been like that all year and I cannot put my finger on it,” said veteran Cassopolis coach Ricky Evans of his team’s inconsistent play. “First half we played very well. We came out and we were boxing out everything. Then we come out in the second half and they did not want to rebound.”

The Rangers trailed 7-0 as starters Tyrese Hunt-Thompson and Shane Los, Cassopolis’ leading scorers, sat on the bench due to disciplinary reasons.

Once Hunt-Thompson and Los got into the game, the Rangers went on an 18-2 run to end the first quarter to open up an 18-9 advantage.

Cassopolis (8-2) stretched that lead to 34-21 by halftime.

Comstock (4-7) outscored the Rangers 20-7 in the third quarter to tie the score at 41-41 heading into the final eight minutes of play and actually took a five-point lead (50-45) midway through the fourth quarter.

Another Cassopolis run, this one 9-2, allowed the Rangers to reclaim the lead.

A pair of free throws by Los with 52.8 seconds remaining sealed the victory.

Comstock got a pair of opportunities in the final 25 seconds from the game’s leading scorer Tyreese Gardner. He finished with 23 points and 23 rebounds for the Colts.

“The first half we kept a body on him and kept him on our backs,” Evans said. “The second half it was like they did not want to touch him anymore.”

Los and Kiambu Gary both had 14 points for Cassopolis, which rebounded from a 70-57 loss to Lake Michigan Catholic Monday night.

Hunt-Thompson finished with 12 points and Xander Smith 10 points.

The Rangers travel to New Buffalo Friday night for a BCS Blue Division contest.

 

CASSOPOLIS 54, COMSTOCK 52

At Cassopolis

COMSTOCK 52

Vernard Whitehead 3, Shaune Caster 3, Tyreese Gardner 23, Seth Ansel 13, Shane Easter 8, Jared Place 2, Connor Kent 0, A.J. Byrd 0. TOTALS: 22 4-12 52.

CASSOPOLIS 54

Davonte Goins 4, Trevor Bruens 0, Brylan Glover 0, Zander Smith 10, Kiambu Gary 14, Shane Los 14, Tyrese Hunt-Thompson 12. TOTALS: 22 7-16 54.

 

Comstock      9          21       41       52

Cassopolis    18       34       41       54

3-point baskets: Comstock 4 (Ansel 3, Gardner 1), Cassopolis 3 (Hunt-Thompson 2, Gary 1). Total fouls (fouled out): Comstock 17 (none), Cassopolis 11 (none). Varsity records: Comstock 4-7, Cassopolis 8-2. J.V. score: Cassopols 48, Comstock 45.