Varisty loses to Cheboygan 70-57; JV wins tournament over Chiefs
The Huron varsity and junior varsity each made the championship game of the Cheboygan Christmas Basketball Tournament. The JVs came away with a win over the hosts, while the varsity fell to Cheboygan in the finals.
The varsity Hurons never quite got on track as Cheboygan took a 70-57 win in Tuesday?s final. Great outside shooting by the Chiefs had much to do with the Huron loss.
The Hurons led only twice in the contest, after Isaac Momrik set up a bucket by Adam LaLonde after the Hurons won the opening tip. That lead quickly vanished as Cheboygan scored the next eight points, powering a 15-9 lead after the first quarter.
Aided by nine Cheboygan turnovers, the Hurons cut the margin to 33-30 at the half. A three-point bomb by junior guard John Jaeager and an old-fashioned three-point play, a basket, foul, and free throw, by senior guard Tim Cercone gave the Hurons a brief lead at the 2:59 mark of the second quarter.
The Chiefs went on a 13-2 run to begin the third quarter, leading 51-36 at the end of the frame.
Free throws by Jaeger, then a rebound shot by senior center Kyle Greene but the margin to seven at 62-55 with 1:26 left, but that would be as close as the Hurons came.
Greene had 24 points, 12 in the fourth quarter, while Cercone had nine, and LaLonde and Jaeger each scored eight.
THE JV played from behind the entire game, only to power to a fourth-quarter comeback. RC trailed 19-14 at the end of the first quarter, and 34-29 at the half.
The Chiefs held a six-point lead heading into the final frame.
?The kids played great defense, and defense is what wins games,? said coach Jason Wenzel.
That ?D? limited the Chiefs to just seven points in the final eight minutes, while the Hurons put up 16 in their best quarter of the tournament.
Derek McLennan?s basket and free throw tied the game, and then the Hurons turned in the screws.
Justin Wilbert paced the scoring with 17 points while Chris Santini added 12.
After a sluggish, turnover ?laced first quarter, the varsity Hurons found their game Monday in a 58-50 win over the Boyne City Ramblers.
?I thought the long layoff hurt us, but we got it going, especially after we started working the ball inside,? said coach Karl Grambau.
The Ramblers took advantage of Huron turnovers and made their own fortunes with an impressive performance on the offensive glass in building a 14-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The 6?5? Greene scored 12 for the Hurons and spent much of the time spreading the ball around to his teammates. Many times he was called upon to break the press and most times he did so, finding an open man many times for an easy basket. His pass to a cutting Chris Paschke made the score 16-13 in favor of Boyne with 7:21 left in the first half.
Boyne answered with two baskets, and then Coach Grambau called timeout. With his team giving up too many offensive rebounds and turnovers up to that point, the Hurons needed a change.
THEY CAME out of the huddle a more focused group, running off the game?s next eight points over 1:45 to take a 22-20 lead. Greene set up LaLonde, who established great position under the boards, on the first two baskets, and then Greene scored on a drive of his own.
Clay Hilla got his own rebound and put it back for the final points of the run.
Greene capped the comeback with a dunk to give the Hurons a 26-23 lead at halftime.
The Hurons stretched the lead to nine points at 39-30 as LaLonde hit a lay-up set up on an inbounds play with 2:51 left in the third quarter.
Jaeger?s rebound basket gave the Hurons a 41-37 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
Now with nearly two weeks of cobwebs shaken off, the Hurons held off a late Rambler rally to work their way into the tournament finals.
BOYNE TIED the score at 46-46, then 50-50 with 3:50 left in the game. But that would be their final points of the game.
Jaeger, in his first varsity game, missed two free throws, but LaLonde grabbed the rebound, passed to the top of the key to Greene, who flipped it to Jaeger in the left corner, where he buried a three-pointer to seal the win.
Two more assists from Greene to LaLonde and a Greene free throw finalized the score.
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Greene blocked several shots and did play the complete game, not checking out for a minute of rest.
LaLonde scored 16, Greene 12, Cercone 10, Hilla eight, and Isaac Momrik and Jaeger each added five for the Hurons.
THE JV Hurons earned a 54-45 win over the JV Ramblers earlier in the afternoon. The Hurons led 28-27 at halftime and 36-33 at the end of the third quarter.
Derek McLennan paced the scoring with 18, including 10 in the fourth quarter.
Justin Wilbert had 16 while Justin Senff added 13 and Chris Santini scored seven.
Following the tournament, the Hurons Onaway Tuesday, then play in Newberry January 9.