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- Val T.
- Feb 27
- 4 min read
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Lane Hook Reed Sommers
MONON — The young Caston boys basketball team is getting better on defense and just in time for the postseason.
Logan Mollenkopf and Lane Hook scored 12 points each, and Reed Sommers scored eight of his 10 points in the first quarter for the visiting Comets extended their winning streak to five with a 59-14 rout of sectional rival North White Monday.
North White’s Chris Annis scored the first basket of the second half, but Caston closed the game on a 27-1 run, holding the Vikings scoreless for the final 11:54.
Caston improved to 11-10. They are above .500 for the first time since they beat Lewis Cass to improve to 2-1 in the Cass County Invitational consolation game Dec. 6.
Caston’s defensive scoring average is 48.3 for the season but just 34.6 during their winning streak.
“I think really the last couple weeks here we’ve been playing much better on the defensive end of the floor,” Caston coach Carl Davis said. “I think we’ve been really intentional understanding our personnel and understanding what we want to accomplish with our scouting reports. I think our guys have just gotten better and more comfortable playing together as well.”
Annis scored six to lead North White, who fell to 2-19.
The game went to a running clock with 5:32 left, per the IHSAA Mercy Rule, on two Gage Thomas free throws. Gavin Mollenkopf added seven points, and Owen Chapman hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter for six.
The teams could meet again in the Class 1A, Sectional 50 final at Tri-County next week.
Sommers had a 3-pointer and a 3-point play in the first quarter as Caston rushed to a 16-6 lead.
“He came out ready to go,” Davis said. “Reed’s always an energizer and always gives us that pace that we need. When he’s under control, he does a great job of controlling the pace of the game, and I thought he did a good job of just being aggressive and looking to be on the attack from the start tonight.”
Gavin Mollenkopf drove from the high post for a layup and was fouled to open the scoring in the second quarter. He missed the ensuing free throw, but Sommers scored on a step-through move in the paint to increase the lead to 16.
Braylon Sipkema hit a 3 for North White, but the 6-4 Hook showed his versatility: First, he hit a 3-pointer from the right wing. Then he muscled in a layup on an inbounds play. He later added a turnaround jumper from the right baseline from the post after a Max Sommers 3-pointer.
A Logan Mollenkopf steal and layup made it 32-11 at halftime.
North White’s 2-3 zone was a test for Caston’s zone offense.
“I thought when they first switched, we were a little slow in terms of getting comfortable with it,” Davis said. “We had some empty possessions there the second part of the first quarter, but I thought we settled in, got a little more comfortable and started getting good looks. I thought we did a good job of going inside-out.”
Caston travels to North Miami for the regular season finale at 7:30 p.m. tonight. The Comets beat the Warriors 70-62 in the Miami County Invitational consolation game Dec. 28 in their previous meeting.
That marked Caston’s 11th straight win over North Miami.
“This is definitely the best North Miami team we’ve seen in awhile,” Davis said. “They’re just very dynamic offensively, and there are so many different guys that can score on a given night. … We can throw the game in December out the window because we’re two different teams at this point in the season.”
If Caston wins, they will finish in sole possession of third place in the Hoosier North. If North Miami wins, then Caston, Pioneer and North Miami will finish in a three-way tie for third.
Triton has already won the Hoosier North with an 8-0 record. Winamac went 7-1 and took second.
Caston also won the JV game 57-21. Tucker Woolever led Caston with 11 points, Geoffrey Foster had 10, Parker Zimpleman and Kaemen Lee had nine each, Thomas had six, Chapman had five, London Herd had three, and Kayden Rigney and Drew Williams had two each.
Caston 59, North White 14
CASTON (59) (11-10)
Drew McGrew 1 0-0 2, Reed Sommers 4 1-1 10, Logan Mollenkopf 5 1-2 12, Gavin Mollenkopf 3 0-3 7, Lane Hook 4 3-4 12, Jan Aguilar-Mendez 0 0-0 0, Carson Harness 0 0-0 0, Gage Thomas 1 2-2 4, Max Sommers 1 1-2 4, Tucker Woolever 0 0-0 0, Parker Zimpleman 0 2-2 2, Owen Chapman 2 0-0 6
TEAM: 21 10-16 59
NORTH WHITE (14) (2-19)
Chris Annis 3 0-2 6, Carter Applegate 0 1-2 1, Ephraim Denton 1 0-0 2, Braylon Sipkema 1 0-0 3, Fernando Perez Gomez 1 0-0 2, Ephraim Sanchez 0 0-0 0, Zander Brown 0 0-0 0, Charlie Williams 0 0-0 0, Dawson Reif 0 0-0 0, Alex Kneadler 0 0-0 0, Dakota Phelps 0 0-0 0, George Ayala 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 6 1-4 14
Three-point field goals:
Caston 7 (Chapman 2, M. Sommers, L. Mollenkopf, R. Sommers, Hook, G. Mollenkopf),
North White 1 (Sipkema)
Total fouls: Caston 6, North White 17
Fouled out: Sipkema (NW), 4:23, fourth
Turnovers: Caston 9, North White 11
Score by quarters
Caston 16 16 16 11 – 59
North White 6 5 3 0 – 14
