Val T.
- Feb 14
- 3 min read

Caston tops Bethany Christian, wins first girls basketball regional

Next: vs. Marquette Catholic, noon Saturday at Frankfort

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

The Caston girls basketball team won their first regional title in school history with a 44-29 win over Bethany Christian at the Launching Pad Saturday. The seventh-ranked Lady Comets will play No. 5 Marquette Catholic at Frankfort in a Class 1A semistate semifinal at approximately noon Saturday. The semistate final is set for 7:30 p.m. (photo provided by Dee Brown)

Caston fans cheer on the girls basketball team during their 44-29 win over Bethany Christian in a Class 1A regional at the Launching Pad Saturday. The regional win comes one week after Caston won their first sectional title in 39 years. Along with Bedford North Lawrence and Lapel, Caston was one of just three teams in the state who played a regional on their home floor. (photo provided by Dee Brown)

A red wave passed through the Launching

Pad Saturday, and the Caston girls

Caston girls basketball coach Josh Douglass holds the net aloft after his team’s 44-29 win over Bethany Christian at the Launching Pad Saturday. The regional title is the first in school history and the second for Douglass, who guided Riverton Parke to a Class 1A regional title in 2012. (photo provided by Dee Brown)

basketball team rode it to their first regional title in school history.

Addison Zimpleman scored 14 points, Madi Douglass added 11, and Isabel Scales had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds as the Lady Comets handled Bethany Christian 44-29 in a Class 1A regional.

Scales also had a team-high six assists.

Macee Hinderlider had four points, Annie Harsh hit a 3-pointer and grabbed five rebounds, and Alexa Finke made the only shot she attempted and pulled down six rebounds.

Zoe Willems had 20 points for Bethany Christian, but Mariah Stoltzfus was held to six.

Stoltzfus had scored over 800 career points coming into the game, and she scored 24 in their sectional final win against Fort Wayne Blackhawk.

Against Caston, she went just two of 10 from the field, and Caston kept her off the foul line entirely.

Caston made more free throws (14) than Bethany Christian attempted (nine). Zimpleman went six for six from the line, and Douglass went six for eight.

Caston improved to 22-3. Bethany Christian, the reigning 1A north semistate champion, finished 18-7.

In the waning moments and with victory certain, Caston players embraced, and the red-clad student section flooded out to greet their heroes for a court storming after the biggest win in school history.

Caston drew Marquette Catholic for their semistate semifinal matchup at Frankfort this Saturday. The first semifinal between Union City and Clinton Central will begin at 10 a.m., and the Caston-Marquette Catholic game will start at approximately noon.

The semistate final is set for 7:30 p.m..

Caston has allowed 30.2 points per game, the second best defensive scoring average in the state. Neighborhood rival Lewis Cass, who like Caston is also 22-3 and who like Caston won their first regional title in school history Saturday with a 2A triumph over Fremont, is the only team in the state with a better defensive average (30.1 ppg).

They held Bethany Christian, who came in averaging over 48 ppg, to 24% shooting from the field. Only reigning Class 3A state champ Fairfield had held Bethany Christian to fewer points than the Lady Comets.

Already leading 27-17 at halftime, Caston continued to turn up the defensive heat.

Meanwhile, Scales drove through the lane for a 3-point play, and after a three-and-a-half minute scoreless drought for both teams, Douglass hit a top-of-the-key 3 to make it a 16-point lead.

A Scales steal led to a Zimpleman layup on a fast break to make it an 18-point lead.

Willems missed a 3, and then Scales drove the left baseline for another layup to complete the 10-0 run to start the half and increase the lead to 20.

A lefty runner in the lane from Willems ended the run, but the Lady Comets were well on their way to making history.

Caston 44, Bethany Christian 29

BETHANY CHRISTIAN (29) (18-7)

A. Chupp 0 0-0 0, Stoltzfus 2 0-0 6, Willems 6 7-9 20, C. Chupp 0 0-0 0, Horning 0 0-0 0, M. Chupp 1 0-0 3, Kern 0 0-0 0, Crume 0 0-0 0, Borgmann 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 9 7-9 29

CASTON (44) (22-3)

Macee Hinderlider 2 0-2 4, Addison Zimpleman 4 6-6 14, Madi Douglass 2 6-8 11, Isabel Scales 4 2-3 10, Alexa Finke 1 0-0 2, Camila Hernandez-Rios 0 0-0 0, Natalie Warner 0 0-0 0, Kylee Logan 0 0-0 0, Grace Wright 0 0-0 0, Olivia Thomas 0 0-0 0, Kaitie Hutsell 0 0-0 0, Annie Harsh 1 0-0 3

TEAM: 14 14-19 44

Three-point field goals:

Bethany Christian 4 (Stoltzfus 2, M. Chupp, Willems),

Caston 2 (Douglass, Harsh)

Total fouls: Bethany Christian 19, Caston 10

Turnovers: Bethany Christian 10, Caston 14

Score by quarters

Bethany Christian 4 13 2 10 – 29