Caston, Lewis Cass make history with semistate showings

Feb. 21—Both Caston and Lewis Cass made history by winning regional championships and making a run to the semistate this year.

Both teams had similar fates in their semistate contests. They both played in close games that went down to the fourth quarter, and it came down to them having some shots roll off the rim while their opponents had shots that rolled in in the closing minutes.

Both teams lost to private school powerhouses, as Caston lost to Michigan City Marquette and Cass was downed by Andrean.

But both Cass and Caston can make the argument that they were the best teams in their programs' history.

For Caston, the regional championship was years in the making with a senior class that was determined to make history seemingly from the time they entered high school.

After close calls in each of the last two years, the Comets broke through by winning their first sectional title since 1985 and second all-time in girls basketball. They needed to erase a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat defending champion Tri-County in the final. The Comets followed that up with a pummeling of defending state runner-up Bethany Christian in a regional game on their homecourt in Fulton.

In the Comets' last four years they've gone 15-7, 18-7, 20-3 and 22-4, steadily improving with hard work throughout.

They were led by their senior class of Isabel Scales, Addison Zimpleman, Macee Hinderlider, Annie Harsh and Alexa Finke, while junior Olivia Thomas and freshman Madisyn Douglass were also part of the main rotation.

The seniors have one more season together this spring with softball and the Comets will see if they can make a return trip to the State Finals.

They've had the best run in school history in girls basketball as well, not to mention volleyball.

Looking back at the 1985 Caston girls basketball team, the sectional championship was actually unexpected.

"I wasn't expecting this kind of year, and the nice thing about it is these girls will all be back next year," said then Caston coach Floyd Henson to the Pharos-Tribune following a 50-43 sectional championship win over Rochester.

Nancy Townsend scored 26 points and Andi Miller and Edie Unger had key baskets down the stretch for the Comets. Rhonda Brown and Traci Lockwood were also key players.

The '85 girls basketball team won Caston's first sectional title in any sport. The Comets lost to No. 3-ranked Wawasee in a regional game to finish the season 18-4. Townsend and Unger were named to the All-Loganland team.

Winamac avenged a sectional loss to Caston the next season in 1986 with a 47-41 win in the final. Caston left some points at the foul line shooting 9 of 16 while Winamac shot 7 of 9. Caston finished with a 17-3 record while Winamac improved to 16-4.

Townsend averaged 16.7 ppg and Unger averaged 16.0 ppg and 9.4 rpg their senior seasons.

Caston also had some good teams in the late '80s and early '90s with Debb Stevens as the coach. The best player was Scales' aunt, Heidi Scales. The Comets went 14-5 her senior year in 1991 and lost to undefeated and 19th-ranked Winamac 54-45 in a sectional game.

Lewis Cass' run this year was more unexpected coming off a 7-17 season. But coach Kyle Amor was hopeful going into the season.

"This is an ambitious group. A group of girls that have had success in every other sport. We have track and cross country stars that have advanced to regionals and state. Our softball team won a sectional last spring. We have kids that want and expect to have success," he said in this year's season preview article.

It all came together this year for the Kings. Led by seniors Kinsey Mennen and Faith Helvie, foreign exchange student Heta Kosunen, junior Mylie Sipe and sophomores Aftin Griffin, AnnaLeigh Hedrick and Ava Hubner, the Kings were the most improved team in the state this year and finished 22-4.

The Kings started off their tournament run by surviving defending champion North Miami in overtime in sectional play. They then routed Winamac in the final. They shut down Fremont in the regional championship.

While looking back at Lewis Cass' history in girls basketball, Steve Ford's teams in the early 2000s stand out. While it's difficult to choose a best team, the team with the best record was the 2001-02 squad, which went 20-4 and lost to Shenandoah 47-44 in overtime in a regional championship game.

Cass had a 34-25 lead on Shenandoah early in the fourth quarter before the Raiders came back to win with the help of a march to the free throw line. The Raiders shot 21 of 29 for the game to the Kings' 8 of 10. Shenandoah went on to finish state runner-up to Southwestern before winning the title the next year.

Betsy Bowser was a junior the 2002 season and averaged 15.5 ppg. She went on to play at Cleveland State and Lincoln Memorial. Lindsay Leffert was a senior versatile player who averaged 12.3 ppg and went on to play at Findlay. Other key players for the Kings were Kari McRae, Adrianne Robison, Kirby Taylor and Kim Silvers.

Cass also won four sectional titles in the 1970s and three in the '90s before winning five in the first six years of the 2000s. This year's title ended a 19-year drought.

Both programs have some talented groups coming but it could be a while until they match the heights of 2024.