Douglass caps 3rd quarter surge with 3-pointer, helps Caston top Argos

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Madi Douglass (photo provided)

ARGOS — Madi Douglass scored nine of her game-high 16 points in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer that just beat the buzzer, to lead the Caston girls basketball team to a 31-21 win over host Argos at Phil Weybright Gymnasium Tuesday.

Grace Colvin added six points, and Allison Craig had four points and a team-high eight rebounds. Caston was playing their fourth straight game without starting post Natalie Warner due to a concussion.

Ellie Bollenbacher led Argos with 12 points and six rebounds. Kinzlee Kelly added seven points, and Lexi Gibson had two points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Caston improved to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the Hoosier North.

Argos dropped to 0-6, 0-2.

The game was tied 11-11 at halftime, and Caston was hanging on to a 15-14 lead when Douglass, Caston’s junior do-it-all guard, closed the quarter on a personal 7-0 run. She hit a driving runner, made two free throws and then a 3-pointer off a Gigi Berry assist from just in front of the Caston bench.

A Hadlie Coffing runner on Caston’s first possession of the fourth quarter pushed the lead to 10, and Argos never got closer than nine after that.

Still, the effort displeased coach Josh Douglass. Caston was playing their third game in five days and their sixth game in 13 days.

Coach Douglass said the team did not have a good practice on Monday.

“We didn’t have any offensive execution,” coach Douglass said. “I think we left that back at the gym at Caston, to be honest with you. It was a matter of just coming out and being ready to play. Argos did a nice job of plugging things up and talking on defense and just being up on us and doing that type of thing to create some pressure, but we didn’t execute at all.”

With Warner out, Craig had the defensive assignment on Bollenbacher, the last veteran from Argos’ most recent sectional title team in 2023.

“She did a nice job on her,” coach Douglass said. “As a whole, though, we’ve got to get better at rotating and talking and doing those things.”

Argos committed 26 turnovers and made just one of 13 3-point attempts.

“Caston played good defense, but the turnovers have been a constant battle for us,” Argos coach Nick Medich said. “I think for the season, we are averaging around 29 to 30, so we definitely have to get better handling the basketball.”

Argos played a man-to-man defense with Gibson on Douglass. With Haley Shafer coming off the bench to join Makenzie Smith and Leah Pizzuto, Argos typically had four guards and Bollenbacher in the post.

“Gibson, she’s our defensive player,” Medich said. “She takes on the challenges of playing these girls. We usually put her on the best player of every team. She’s pretty aggressive. She’s a smart defender. (Madi Douglass) had four points in the first half. I thought the first half, we played defense pretty well. Second half, I don’t know if we got tired, but the end of that third quarter really stung.”

Caston opened the game with a 4-0 lead on a Douglass driving layup and a Colvin transition layup, but Argos followed with seven unanswered points to take a 7-4 lead after one quarter. The run included a Kelly trey from the left corner and four Bollenbacher points.

Caston took a 9-7 lead in the second quarter as Colvin capped a 5-0 run with a driving banker, but a Bollenbacher driving layup and a Gibson lefty banker gave Argos an 11-9 lead.

Caston’s Ellie Zartman hit two free throws with 6.3 seconds left in the half to tie the game.

Three of Argos’ losses – Bremen, Culver Academy and Elkhart Christian – have come to teams that at least won their sectional last year. Bremen is currently ranked No. 10 in Class 2A, and Elkhart Christian, a sectional rival of the Lady Dragons, is No. 3 in Class 1A.

“I am extremely impressed with the attitudes of our girls,” Medich said. “They’ve improved dramatically from Day 1, and we are seeing improvement every game and every practice. The girls, at the end of games, we have conversations. We’re still laughing at ourselves sometimes. We’re still encouraging each other. The girls have been absolutely wonderful to coach. None of us want to lose, but we understand that this is a process, and they’re learning, and they get it.”

Caston 31, Argos 21

CASTON (31) (3-3, 1-1)

Hadlie Coffing 1 0-0 2, Camila Hernandez-Rios 0 1-2 1, Grace Colvin 3 0-0 6, Madi Douglass 6 3-4 16, Allison Craig 2 0-0 4, Ellie Zartman 0 2-2 2, Adyson Steininger 0 0-0 0, Gigi Berry 0 0-0 0, Lexie Field 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 12 6-8 31

ARGOS (21) (0-6, 0-2)

Leah Pizzuto 0 0-0 0, Lexi Gibson 1 0-2 2, Makenzie Smith 0 0-0 0, Kinzlee Kelly 3 0-0 7, Ellie Bollenbacher 4 4-7 12, Avery Binfet 0 0-0 0, Haley Shafer 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 8 4-9 21

Three-point field goals:

Caston 1 (Douglass),

Argos 1 (Kelly)

Total fouls: Caston 11, Argos 8

Turnovers: Caston 15, Argos 26

Score by quarters

Caston 4 7 11 9 – 31

Argos 7 4 3 7 – 21