Caston boys basketball roundup: Comets find ‘urgency,’ hold off Maconaquah at Miami County Invite

L. Mollenkopf scores 27, Hook adds 22, Harness hits 4 treys

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Boys basketball

BUNKER HILL — The Caston boys basketball team found the urgency to hold off host Maconaquah in the first round of the Miami County Invitational Monday.

Logan Mollenkopf scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Lane Hook scored 22 and pulled down seven rebounds, and Carson Harness hit four 3-pointers and scored 13 for the Comets in an 81-72 win.

Caston improved to 6-1 and earned a matchup in the title game at 7:45 p.m. tonight against Peru, who outlasted North Miami 44-39 in the other first round game. Caston, playing in the Miami County Invitational for the ninth straight year, has never won this tournament. They had been 0-2 in the Miami County Invitational against Maconaquah prior to Monday.

Caston’s win overshadowed Maconaquah sophomore swingman Jack Gochenour, who scored a game and career-high 35 points. Caiden Richards added 13 for the Braves, who dropped to 0-6.

Caston had three different 18-point leads in the third quarter – 57-39, 59-41 and 61-43. But Gochenour went off. He scored Maconaquah’s last five points of the third quarter, and he scored 14 points in a four-minute span of the fourth, and when he converted a 3-point play in transition with 2:51 left, the lead was down to 73-70.

But Gochenour never scored again, and Caston closed it out on an 8-2 final burst with all eight points coming on free throws. Gochenour eventually fouled out with 20.8 seconds left.

“I thought we just (became) intentional, and we played with urgency,” Caston coach Carl Davis said. “I think that was the story of the whole game. When we did that, good things happened, but I felt like we came out here without that urgency that we needed for four quarters. When this team plays with urgency, they’re capable of playing with anyone, but I thought a good example tonight of when we don’t bring that what another team can do to us.”

While Caston brought back all five starters from a team that won 13 games last year, Maconaquah graduated all five starters from a team that made it to semistate in Class 3A.

“It’s a huge factor,” Maconaquah coach John Burrus said of Caston’s experience relative to his own team’s. “We’re totally up against it. All those starters have probably played seven or eight tournaments in their career. That’s our first. So we’re definitely up against that experience, but I thought we showed some resilience, and I also thought we kind of knew what we were doing to get back in the game.”

Maconaquah led 19-14 at one point in the first quarter on a pullup 15-footer from Gochenour before Caston went on an 11-0 run that bled into the second quarter. The Comets would never trail again.

Harness hit a corner 3-pointer from in front of the Maconaquah bench with four seconds left in the quarter to cut the deficit to two.

Hook hit a free throw, Mollenkopf hit a free throw, and Harness downed another 3 from the right wing. When Hook found Mollenkopf in transition for another 3, the lead was six.

Treys from Hook and reserve Brodie Howard eventually pushed the lead to 37-25, and it was 39-29 at halftime.

Freshman Levi Merritt hit a short banker for Maconaquah to keep them within 43-36 in the third quarter, but Gochenour missed two free throws, and that sparked a 14-3 Comet burst.

Gavin Mollenkopf hit a layup, Drew McGrew made two free throws, and Logan Mollenkopf turned a steal into a layin.

Harness and Hook hit 3s during the run, and when Hook turned a blocked shot directly into a Logan Mollenkopf layup in transition, the lead had grown to 18.

“Just more experienced,” Logan Mollenkopf said afterwards when asked how this year’s team is better than last year’s. “We’re stronger, we’re faster, and we’re getting after it more. And we’re fighting. We’re fighting. We’ve got a chip on our shoulder. Last year, we didn’t have the season we wanted to, so this year, we’re coming back, and we’re ready.”

Caston hit eight 3-pointers against Maconaquah’s halfcourt zone, but they also continued to attack the basket. The 6-4 Hook typically had a four-inch height advantage over the nearest Maconaquah defender.

Caston also outscored Maconaquah 25-11 from the foul line.

“I thought we did a good job of getting the ball to the middle,” Davis said. “I thought we got good looks. We had a couple late where we didn’t finish them the way we need to finish them, but I thought for the most part all night, we got good looks at the basket.”

Caston 81, Maconaquah 72

CASTON (81) (6-1)

Owen Chapman 2 0-0 4, Carson Harness 4 1-2 13, Gavin Mollenkopf 2 0-0 4, Logan Mollenkopf 8 10-16 27, Lane Hook 7 6-8 22, Drew McGrew 0 4-6 4, Reed Sommers 0 4-6 4, Gage Thomas 0 0-0 0, Brodie Howard 1 0-0 3

TEAM: 24 25-38 81

MACONAQUAH (72) (0-6)

Caiden Richards 5 0-0 13, Jaxon Cole 1 0-0 2, Jack Gochenour 12 9-15 35, Marcell Sims 3 0-0 6, Levi Merritt 2 0-0 4, Treason Ambrose 3 0-0 6, Cohen Helmuth 2 0-0 4, Tristyn Herschberger 0 1-2 1, Evan Zeiser 0 0-0 0, Tyler Adams 0 1-4 1

TEAM: 28 11-21 72

Three-point field goals:

Caston 8 (Harness 4, Hook 2, L. Mollenkopf, Howard),

Maconaquah 5 (Richards 3, Gochenour 2)

Total fouls: Caston 18, Maconaquah 26

Fouled out: Ambrose (MAC), :41.7, fourth; Gochenour (MAC), :20.8, fourth

Turnovers: Caston 12, Maconaquah 19

Score by quarters

Caston 17 22 26 16 – 81

Maconaquah 19 10 19 24 – 72

Caston 72, Logansport 71 (OT, Dec. 23):

Gavin Mollenkopf scored on a layup at the buzzer to give Caston their first Cass County Invitational title since 2004 with a win over Logansport at the Berry Bowl Dec. 23.

The winning basket was Gavin Mollenkopf’s only points of the game and came on an assist from younger brother Logan, who hit three 3-pointers and led the Comets with 24 points. Lane Hook added 21, including six in the overtime. Reed Sommers added 14, all after halftime.

Eli Baldwin led Logansport with 24 points, and Logan Lange and R.J. Clem added 17 apiece.

Caston made more free throws (12) than Logansport attempted (10).

Logansport led 23-20 at halftime. Caston took a 42-37 lead going into the fourth. The game was tied at 60 after regulation.

CASTON (72) (5-1)

Reed Sommers 5 3-3 14, Carson Harness 3 0-0 8, Logan Mollenkopf 8 5-7 24, Gavin Mollenkopf 1 0-0 2, Lane Hook 8 4-4 21, Andrew McGrew 0 0-0 0, Owen Chapman 0 0-0 0, Gage Thomas 0 0-0 0, Brodie Howard 1 0-0 3

TEAM: 26 12-14 72

LOGANSPORT (71) (5-2)

Lange 7 0-0 17, Jones 3 0-0 8, Q. Jackson 0 0-0 0, Baldwin 8 7-8 24, Clem 8 1-2 17, Hopper 1 0-0 3, Burrage 1 0-0 2, K. Jackson 0 0-0 0, Bell 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 28 8-10 71

Three-point field goals:

Caston 8 (L. Mollenkopf 3, Harness 2, Sommers, Hook, Howard),

Maconaquah 7 (Lange 3, Jones 2, Baldwin, Hopper)

Total fouls: Caston 16, Logansport 17

Turnovers: Caston 14, Logansport 7

Score by quarters

Caston 11 9 22 18 12 – 72

Logansport 10 13 14 23 11 – 71

Caston 49, Lewis Cass 32 (Dec. 23):

Lane Hook scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half as Caston pulled away from the Kings to win their first round game at the Cass County Invitational at Logansport Dec. 23.

Logan Mollenkopf added nine points, Carson Harness had seven, and Andrew McGrew had six.

Julian Levine led Lewis Cass with 12 points, and Brennan Deeter had nine.

Caston led 25-22 at halftime and extended the lead to 36-26 after three quarters.

LEWIS CASS (32) (2-2)

Johnson 1 0-0 2, K. Gray 0 0-0 0, Deeter 4 1-5 9, Levine 5 0-0 12, Cotner-Graves 2 0-0 4, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Lobenthal 0 0-0 0, Lutane 1 0-0 3, B. Gray 0 2-2 2

TEAM: 13 3-7 32

CASTON (49) (4-1)

Reed Sommers 1 1-2 3, Carson Harness 2 2-3 7, Logan Mollenkopf 4 0-0 9, Gavin Mollenkopf 0 1-2 1, Lane Hook 11 0-0 23, Andrew McGrew 2 1-2 6, Owen Chapman 0 0-0 0, Gage Thomas 0 0-0 0, Brodie Howard 0 0-0 0, Tucker Woolever 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 20 5-9 49

Three-point field goals:

Lewis Cass 3 (Levine 2, Lutane),

Caston 4 (L. Mollenkopf, Hook, Harness, McGrew)

Total fouls: Lewis Cass 12, Caston 8

Turnovers: Lewis Cass 8, Caston 12

Score by quarters

Lewis Cass 12 10 4 6 – 32

Caston 12 13 11 13 – 49

Bremen 50, Caston 32 (Dec. 19):

Lane Hook scored 13 of his game-high 15 points in the second half for Caston in a home loss to Bremen Dec. 19.

Gavin Mollenkopf and Logan Mollenkopf had six each, and Carson Harness had five.

Chase Devine and Hartley Mitole had 13 points each to lead Bremen. Riley Tener added 11.

Bremen led 29-10 at halftime.

BREMEN (50) (6-0)

Hickman 0 0-0 0, Mitole 4 2-2 13, Devine 4 3-4 13, Tener 5 0-0 11, Miller 3 0-0 6, Wildauer 1 0-0 3, Rodriguez 1 0-0 2, Nunemaker 1 0-0 2

TEAM: 19 5-6 50

CASTON (32) (3-1)

Reed Sommers 0 0-0 0, Carson Harness 2 0-0 5, Logan Mollenkopf 3 0-1 6, Gavin Mollenkopf 2 2-2 6, Lane Hook 5 3-4 15, Drew McGrew 0 0-0 0, Owen Chapman 0 0-0 0, Brodie Howard 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 12 5-7 32

Three-point field goals:

Bremen 7 (Mitole 3, Devine 2, Wildauer, Tener),

Caston 3 (Hook 2, Harness)

Total fouls: Bremen 10, Caston 11

Technical foul: Devine (BRE)

Turnovers: Bremen 4, Caston 12

Score by quarters

Bremen 11 18 12 9 – 50

Caston 6 4 12 10 – 32

Caston 63, Carroll (Flora) 52 (Dec. 12):

Logan Mollenkopf scored 14 points to lead a balanced Caston scoring effort in a road win over Carroll Dec. 12.

Gavin Mollenkopf and Lane Hook added 11 each, Carson Harness and Brodie Howard had nine each, and Reed Sommers had seven.

Caston led 36-25 at halftime before Carroll cut the deficit to 47-42 after three quarters.

CASTON (63) (3-0)

Reed Sommers 3 0-2 7, Carson Harness 3 0-0 9, Logan Mollenkopf 6 1-3 14, Gavin Mollenkopf 4 1-2 11, Lane Hook 5 0-0 11, Drew McGrew 1 0-0 2, Owen Chapman 0 0-0 0, Brodie Howard 3 0-0 9

TEAM: 25 2-7 63

CARROLL (FLORA) (52) (0-5)

Hayden 0 0-0 0, Duff 7 5-7 21, Shuler 1 0-0 3, Skinner 4 0-1 8, Butcher 1 2-2 4, Jamison 0 0-0 0, Ray 3 0-0 6, Hale 4 2-2 10

TEAM: 20 9-12 52

Three-point field goals:

Caston 11 (Howard 3, Harness 3, G. Mollenkopf 2, Sommers, Hook, L. Mollenkopf),

Carroll 3 (Duff 2, Shuler)

Total fouls: Caston 10, Carroll 10

Intentional foul: Sommers (CAS)

Turnovers: Caston 11, Carroll 9

Score by quarters

Caston 17 19 11 16 – 63

Carroll 10 15 17 10 – 52