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- Val T.
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
Hook adds 15, hot-shooting Howard has 11
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Logan Mollenkopf Lane Hook
FULTON — The before-school walk-through practices that the Caston boys basketball team has at 7 a.m. are nothing new, but there might be a greater focus to them, according to junior forward Lane Hook.
There was no messing around in their Class 1A, Sectional 50 quarterfinal at home against North White Wednesday as they try to soar – in Logan Mollenkopf’s case, literally – to new heights.
Caston scored the first 19 points of the game and jumped out to a 34-2 lead in rolling to a 69-24 win.
Mollenkopf’s dunk on a fast break highlighted an 18-point, nine-rebound night. Hook added 15. Neither Mollenkopf nor Hook played in the second half. Brodie Howard hit three 3-pointers off the bench and added 11.
Carter Applegate and Charlie Williams scored six points each for North White, who also lost their regular season meeting 66-11 Feb. 5. North White played without freshman big man Isaiah Howard due to illness.
Caston improved to 16-7 and will play DeMotte Christian in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday. DeMotte Christian eliminated Pioneer 50-36 in Wednesday’s other quarterfinal.
North White lost their 15th consecutive game to finish 3-21. They have lost their last five meetings against Caston.
North White had 20 turnovers as compared to Caston’s 14, but 11 of Caston’s turnovers came in the second half with many reserves in the game.
As for North White’s turnovers, nine came in the first quarter. Many came against Caston’s fullcourt pressure in the opening moments. Caston coach Carl Davis called off the press after three minutes once the lead hit 14-0.
“I thought overall it was just going and pressuring the basketball and really not letting them get comfortable or get confident,” Davis said of the defensive objectives. “And I thought our guys did a really good job of coming out ready to go.”
Mollenkopf followed his dunk with a 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 8-0. A steal and layup from Carson Harness made it 10-0.
North White coach Chad Pio was out of 30-second timeouts just 2:03 into the game.
Caston kept up the pressure. Harness stole the inbounds pass and fed Hook for a layup. Then Logan Mollenkopf knocked away another inbounds pass, which Hook collected and took in for another layup.
The press was off, but the run continued.
A Logan Mollenkopf 3-point play off a putback and another Logan Mollenkopf putback bucket made it 19-0.
Zander Brown cut behind the Caston defense for a layup for the Vikings’ first points, but Caston went on another run.
Hook scored on a putback. Owen Chapman found Howard for a 3. Logan Mollenkopf scored in transition. Howard buried a corner 3 with four seconds left in the quarter to make it 29-2.
Harness found Howard for another 3 to start the second quarter, and a Gavin Mollenkopf post banker made it 34-2.
Hook said Howard hitting 3-pointers opens up the inside for lobs for himself.
“He needed it,” Hook said of Howard’s early 3-point shooting. “It’s a confidence booster. I would like for him to shoot the ball more than what he does already.”
North White started in a man-to-man. Hook muscled home a layup in the post as he was fouled and completed a 3-point play 15 seconds into the game. North White later switched to a zone, and Caston hit seven 3-pointers in the first half with four players hitting at least one.
“I thought we did a good job of beating it down the floor in transition,” Davis said of Caston’s offense against the zone. “So we didn’t really have a lot of opportunities to attack it in the halfcourt when they were set because I thought our guys pushed the pace.”
Caston went on another 19-0 run covering the second and third quarters. Gavin Mollenkopf had the first two baskets – one in transition and the other on an air ball putback – of the second half as the lead reached 56-11.
Gage Thomas scored all seven of his points in the second half as most of the starters rested.
“I think our guys have been really focused,” Davis said. “Our scout team has been great the last few days. That’s the goal. We have to keep getting better every day and not just coming into the sectional being satisfied where we are at.”
Hook was asked how he has gotten better since last year.
“It starts with the leadership position,” Hook said. “Last year, I wasn’t a very good leader. I wasn't as good as I wanted to be. So coming into preseason and the season, I feel like I stepped up my leadership position. I’m scoring the ball better and more efficiently and limiting my turnovers and rebounding at a higher clip. … I think I’ve grown into my body.”
And then there are those walk-throughs early in the morning.
“I think it’s top-tier,” Hook said of the team’s focus. “We’ve had an excellent amount of walk-throughs where we just come in at seven o’clock every morning before the games. We come in the walk-through. We run the stuff. We run it efficiently. I don’t think we can have a better group focus-wise. All the guys come in and do their thing. Overall, we’re just a very, very focused group. It’s been fun.”
Caston 69, North White 24
CASTON (69) (16-7)
Reed Sommers 0 0-0 0, Carson Harness 1 0-0 2, Logan Mollenkopf 7 2-3 18, Gavin Mollenkopf 4 0-0 9, Lane Hook 6 3-3 15, Owen Chapman 1 0-0 3, Mack Mappin 0 0-0 0, Gage Thomas 3 1-4 7, Kaeman Lee 1 0-0 2, Brodie Howard 4 0-0 11, Tucker Woolever 1 0-0 2, London Herd 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 28 6-10 69
NORTH WHITE (24) (3-21)
Damian Avendano 1 0-0 3, Carter Applegate 2 0-0 6, Ephraim Denton 0 1-2 1, Charlie Williams 3 0-0 6, Dawson Reif 2 0-2 4, Mason DeBoard 0 0-0 0, Zander Brown 1 2-2 4, Austin Parsons 0 0-0 0, James Thomas McQuinn 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 9 3-6 24
Three-point field goals:
Caston 7 (Howard 3, L. Mollenkopf 2, G. Mollenkopf, Chapman),
North White 3 (Applegate 2, Avendano)
Total fouls: Caston 7, North White 8
Turnovers: Caston 14, North White 20
Score by quarters
Caston 29 23 11 6 – 69
North White 2 9 6 7 – 24
