CASSOPOLIS — Undefeated Cassopolis knows that it has a big red target painted on its back.

So the Rangers do not expect anything to come easy as they try to defend their Class C district championship.

Cassopolis remained undefeated (21-0) with a hard-fought 67-57 victory over visiting Bridgman in the opening round of the state tournament.

The Rangers, who had defeated the Bees 71-51 in January, were unable to shake Bridgman during the opening 16 minutes of the contest.

The goal for Cassopolis coming into Monday night’s contest was to contain Bridgman’s red-hot Nick Boyd.

The Rangers were able to do that by using a trio of defenders to limit the Bees’ scoring machine to just seven points.

Seniors Kiambu Gary, Xander Smith and Brandon Anderson held Boyd to just 3-of-17 shooting from the field.

“That was our No. 1 thing,” Cassopolis coach Ricky Evans said. “We did not want him to go off. We just wanted to put pressure on him, bumping him and just having somebody there all the time. I think it frustrated him.”

Despite holding Boyd down offensively, the Rangers trailed 28-25 with less than a minute to play in the opening half.

Cassopolis, which will play winless Eau Claire (0-18) in the semifinals at Watervliet on Wednesday, closed out the first-half on a 6-0 run to take a 30-28 lead into the locker room at intermission.

The Rangers made some adjustments at halftime according to Evans and picked up right where they left off in the third quarter.

Cassopolis outscored Bridgman 11-2 to start the second half and then maintained a comfortable cushion for the rest of the contest.

“We had to have a talk about making a few little adjustments and trying to get our transition game going,” Evans said. “That is what we do. Xander and Brandon did very well. They stepped up real big.”

The Bees’ Hunter Adams scored a game-high 30 points and grabbed 25 rebounds.

The Rangers were led by Smith with 16 points. Anderson finished with 14 points, while junior Tyrese Hunt-Thompson added 12 points and nine rebounds.

“You just have to get it going and make some plays,” Anderson said. “Eventually everybody else will follow and it builds from there. Rick pulled us aside the other day and told us older guys this is our last go at it. We have had a great season so far, so we just have to keep it going.”

Devon Jennings also reached double figures for the Rangers with 10 points.

Brandywine at Watervliet

The Bobcats defeated the Panthers by 25 points earlier in the season, but they never got the chance to get on a run against Watervliet in the Class C district opener Monday night.

The Panthers (11-10) and Brandywine (15-6) were deadlocked at 17 after one quarter, while the Bobcats managed to sneak ahead by two, 26-24, at halftime.

Brandywine came out in the third quarter and opened up a five-point cushion heading into the fourth quarter after outscoring Watervliet 15-12.

The Panthers were able to recover and forced overtime by knotting the score at 47 by the end of regulation.

The Bobcats, who will face Hartford in the district semifinals Wednesday, outscored the Panthers 8-4 in overtime to advance.

Shane Brown had four of his eight points in the extra session, while Jaden Croom made three out of four free throws. Croom finished with a game-high 21 points.

Jordan Abrams and Derrick Miller score 17 and 10 points respectively for the Bobcats.

Garrett Matthews led Watervliet with 11 points.