Mollenkopf scores 22, Hook adds 14 as Caston beats Argos

Austin leads Dragons with 18

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

ARGOS — Logan Mollenkopf scored 22 points, and Lane Hook hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer as part of a 14-point night as the Caston boys basketball team routed Argos 74-31 at Phil Weybright Gymnasium Dec. 4.

Mekhi Austin led Argos with 18, but no other Dragon had more than five.

Caston improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Hoosier North. Argos fell to 0-2, 0-1.

Caston was already leading 23-12 in the second quarter when they went on a 20-0 run to increase the lead to 31. They went on another 17-0 run covering the second and third quarters as the lead reached 60-16.

Six different Caston players scored in the second quarter, and three different players – Hook, Reed Sommers and Brodie Howard – hit a 3 in that quarter.

Argos’ primary defense was a 2-3 zone.

“I thought our guys were really aggressive, which helps,” Caston coach Carl Davis said. “I thought we executed our stuff early that we called out. … I feel like our guys do a really good job of looking for each other, and I thought we did a good job of screening the zone on a couple possession tonight too, but the biggest thing is if you beat the zone down the floor and get some scoring opportunities that way, it really kicks your offense into gear.”

Argos junior Kenyan Beldon played in the season opener against Bremen but is no longer a member of the team, according to coach Nick Kindig. Argos is already playing without the suspended Joel Trump, Zhayne Hellums and Mack Calhoun. Trump is suspended for the season, and Hellums and Calhoun are not expected back for several more games.

Also, senior Kyle Penn is out for the season with an injury.

Four Argos players – Yahir Fajardo, Emry Stackhouse, Cameron Duff and Ayden VanDerWeele – saw varsity playing time even though they are not listed on the varsity roster.

Argos coach Nick Kindig credited Austin’s leadership in getting them “accustomed to what we do and getting guys to the right places.”

“He played a lot better in the second half tonight,” Kindig added. “He didn’t press as much. He didn’t try to force things. He just played under control and took what the defense gave him there in the second half.”

Kindig was asked which of his younger players stood out.

“I liked what I saw out of Ayden VanDerWeele,” Kindig said. “He was only able to play a quarter because he played four quarters of JV. Him and Yoyo (Fajardo), they played mostly JV tonight. They came in when we were in foul trouble, so we had to use them early in the first half there, and I liked what I saw of them. They play hard. They still got a lot to learn. Both of them didn't even play basketball last year, so they’re both kind of learning on the fly here. But they play hard, and that’s 90 percent of it, so I was really impressed with what those two guys brought us tonight.”

Logan Mollenkopf and Hook combined for 26 of Caston’s first 29 points. Logan Mollenkopf started the 20-0 run with a putback and four straight free throws. Then Sommers hit a 3, Owen Chapman scored on a layup in transition, Brodie Howard hit a 3, Chapman got a layup, Carson Harness turned a steal into a layup, and Hook had a steal and a layup.

Logan Mollenkopf and Howard had 3s, and Caston also got two layups off inbounds plays on the run that started the second half.

The game was originally scheduled for Feb. 10 but moved up to Dec. 2. Had a game not been moved up, Caston would have had a 17-day layoff between their first two games. The Pioneer football team’s success – they made the Class 1A state championship game – necessitated the start of the Cass County Invitational being moved from Dec. 3 to Dec. 23 and put a crater into Caston’s schedule.

Inclement weather pushed the game back two days.

“We really appreciate Argos accommodating us this week,” Davis said. “We had that gap open up because of the Cass County tourney and tried some other things and it didn’t work.

Caston 74, Argos 31

CASTON (74) (2-0, 1-0)

Reed Sommers 2 0-0 5, Carson Harness 2 0-0 4, Logan Mollenkopf 7 7-9 22, Gavin Mollenkopf 2 0-1 4, Lane Hook 5 2-3 14, Drew McGrew 1 1-2 3, Owen Chapman 3 0-0 6, Gage Thomas 0 0-0 0, Brodie Howard 3 0-0 8, Tucker Woolever 0 0-0 0, Geoffrey Foster 3 0-0 8

TEAM: 28 10-15 74

ARGOS (31) (0-2, 0-1)

Mekhi Austin 8 2-3 18, Jack Jones 0 0-0 0, Ethan Samuels 2 0-0 5, Aiden Samuels 0 0-0 0, Angelo McMillen 1 0-0 3, Lucas Lowry 0 0-0 0, Yahir Fajardo 1 0-0 3, Emry Stackhouse 0 0-0 0, Cameron Duff 0 0-0 0, Ayden VanDerWeele 1 0-0 2

TEAM: 13 2-3 31

Three-point field goals:

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

Argos 3 (Fajardo, E. Samuels, McMillen)

Total fouls: Caston 8, Argos 13

Turnovers: Caston 10, Argos 15

Score by quarters

Caston 21 25 16 12 – 74

Argos97312–31