FULTON, IN. – It’s a basketball night for LaVille! As the end of the regular season approaches, coach Michael Edison’s club will travel to Caston for its final Hoosier North Athletic Conference of the season on Friday, February 17. The junior varsity game is scheduled to tip at 6 p.m., with the varsity game to follow. For those interested and can not attend, the LaVille at Caston game will be streamed at: https://www.ihsaatv.org/?B=524735 After a buzzer-beater from Collin Czarnecki lifted the Lancers to a 61-58 overtime victory at Whitko, the Lancers improved to 12-9 overall. Four LaVille players scored in double-figures, led by Czarnecki’s 21-point effort. Owen Smith and Michael Good added 14 points and Lucas Plummer netted 10 points for LHS. Trailing by nine points – 51-42 – Edison’s squad picked up the defensive intensity and went on a 9-0 run to tie the contest at 51-51 with under three minutes left in regulation. It all started on a 3-point bomb from Good, then baskets by Czarnecki and Owen Smith before Good finished off the spurt with two free throws. Both teams had a chance to win the game in the final minute, but both teams missed long range shots to send the game into overtime. Whitko’s attempt to take the lead hit the front and back of the rim before Smith corralled the rebound to set up for the final shot LaVille. Edison called a timeout with 30.7-seconds left to set up the final play. Smith then found Czarnecki for a 30-footer from the right wing at the buzzer that sent LHS to its first extra session victory of the season and first overtime game since a 63-62 win at Elkhart Christian Academy on January 16, 2021. “Several of our guys really stepped up and had big plays on the offensive end,” Edison said following the road win Saturday. “There were big drives by Owen, some big three-pointers from Collin Czarnecki, Michael Good was a force down low at times, and Lucas Plummer had some big plays as well. When Michael Good plays the way he did during some of those stretches he is very tough to stop. When I see that happen it makes me want to call every play we have in our playbook that gets him the ball.” Caston is 7-13 overall following a 58-29 loss at Lewis Cass on February 14. “Caston is extremely well coached and plays extremely hard,” Edison said of the Comets. “They will press a decent amount of time and then fall into a man-to-man defense for much of the game. They have several shooters and are very pesky on defense.” Being in the same conference, there are several teams that are common opponents for both LaVille and Caston. “Caston does not give up and keeps battling until the very end of the game,” said Edison. “They crash the boards hard and get easy buckets off of turnovers. They are a team that cannot be taken lightly as they will be very difficult for us if we are not mentally ready to go.” When asked to talk about some Comet players that LaVille will have to keep track of, Edison noted, “Caleb Stinson (#11) is probably their best all around player. “He averages about 10 points and 5 rebounds a game and is very active on defense. Talon Zeider (#4) is a good shooter from beyond the arc and gets a lot of steals on defense. Cain Schanlaub (#5) scores about 10 points a game and posts extremely hard. He is one of the top 5 post players we play all year long.” In the last 10 games, Caston is 4-6, including an HNAC win at Pioneer on Feb. 10. LaVille is 4-0 under Edison when playing in Fulton. Edison says that his team must come out ready to go against the Comets. “We need to come out with the right focus level,” Edison concluded. “We must take care of the basketball on offense, and we must not give up easy buckets to them.” LaVille is 3-3 in HNAC play, while the Comets are 2-4 in the loop. A Lancer victory could forge a tie with Culver Community, who finished with HNAC play at 4-3. Final placement is dependent upon the conference finale on Feb. 24 when Triton travels to Knox. Both the Trojans and Redskins are 4-2 in the HNAC. The IHSAA state tournament draw will be Sunday, Feb. 19 at 5 p.m. Like many other coaches, Edison is looking forward to finding out who his club will play. “I’m just waiting to see what our draw will be this Sunday,” Edison said of the 113th edition of Hoosier Hysteria. “I am looking forward to a very exciting sectional. “North Judson is clearly the favorite, but South Bend Career Academy is a dark horse that could surprise some teams. We did not beat Hebron earlier so they are also a team that could give us or any other team some fits. Sectionals are usually very exciting and I expect this to be nothing less.” G A M E D A Y Teams: LaVille (12-9) at Caston (7-13) Site: Caston High School Time: JV – 6 p.m. | Varsity: 7:30 p.m. Streaming: https://www.ihsaatv.org/?B=524735 Coaches: Michael Edison (212-133 in 15th year at LaVille). Carl Davis (52-85 in sixth year at Caston) Last Outing: LaVille defeated Whitko, 61-58, OT. Caston lost to Lewis Cass, 58-29 All-Time Series: LaVille leads Caston, 9-6. Last Meeting: Caston defeated LaVille, 57-51, Feb. 18, 2022 HOOSIER NORTH ALL TIMES EASTERN CONF AG OA DA AM Streak North Judson 7- 0 17- 3 60.6 45.7 14.9 Won 7 Triton 4- 2 11- 8 46.6 45.8 0.8 Won 1 Knox 4- 2 10- 9 50.8 52.1 -1.3 Lost 1 Culver 4- 3 9- 9 46.4 42.1 4.3 Lost 1 LaVille 3- 3 12- 9 53.9 51.9 2.0 Won 2 Caston 2- 4 7-13 47.3 52.6 -5.3 Lost 1 Winamac 1- 5 8-13 43.0 49.2 -6.2 Won 1 Pioneer 0- 6 3-17 40.7 54.6 -13.9 Lost 3 Friday, Feb. 17 Knox at Wheeler, 8 pm LaVille at Caston © , 7:30 pm North Judson at Argos, 7:30 pm Pioneer at Winamac © , 7:30 pm Tippecanoe Valley at Triton, 7:30 pm Saturday, Feb. 18 Knox at South Central, 7:30 pm North Judson at Hebron, 8 pm Pioneer at North White, 7:30 pm Tri-Twp. at Culver, 7:30 pm Tuesday, Feb. 21 Bremen at Triton, 7:30 pm Culver at Logansport, 7:30 pm Thursday, Feb. 23 Caston at North Miami, 7:30 pm Friday, Feb. 24 Culver at Bremen, 7:30 pm Lighthouse at LaVille, 8 pm North Judson at Kankakee Valley, 8 pm Pioneer at Tri-County, 7:30 pm Triton at Knox © , 8 pm Winamac at Rensselaer, 8 pm © Conference game