Rudyard to test Hurons in SAC showdown

Coach Karl Grambau?s charges face a Straits Area Conference showdown with league leading Rudyard Friday as the Hurons look to avenge an earlier loss. At the halfway point in the season, the Hurons (7-3) have won four of their last five. The only blemish came in a three-point loss to running-and-gunning St. Ignace at home January 16. With Tuesday?s snowed out game at Hillman rescheduled to March 2, the Hurons had time to concentrate on Rudyard.

LAST FRIDAY, the Hurons bolted out to an early lead and coasted to a 53-35 win over Alcona. A 17-2 first quarter saw the visiting Tigers manage only two free throws while the Hurons moved the ball well in a big opening burst. Rogers City used an effective press, and then converted several fast breaks for easy buckets. At the 4:14 mark, the Hurons started a 10-0 run to close the quarter. Adam LaLonde had a lay-up off a pass from Kyle Greene. Greene snared a rebound off his own shot, and then hit the put-back a moment later. Junior guard Chris Paschke filled the lane for two lay-ups off passes from Isaac Momrik. LaLonde?s inside shot with 16 seconds left closed the scoring run.

Alcona made its first field goal of the game at the 5:20 mark of the second quarter, but the Hurons poured it on to lead 27-10 at halftime.

FORCED TO launch a series of three-pointer attempts in the second half, the Tigers played the perimeter in the early going of the third quarter, sometimes resulting in three-pointers, but mostly leading to Huron fas

t break baskets. Tim Cercone scored off a Paschke feed to bring the lead to 35-17 with 3:28 left in the third quarter. After a Tiger bucket, Greene netted two free throws, then went coast-to-coast for another two points.

Rogers City led 41-24 at the end of the third quarter. Another 8-0 run built the lead to 49-24 to start the fourth quarter. With each team substituting freely at the end of the game, Alcona scored the final 10 points of the game, including a three-point banker at the buzzer. Leading scorers were Greene with 18, LaLonde with 14, Cercone with eight, Momrik with seven and Paschke with six points.

THE JUNIOR VARSITY took a hard-fought 71-57 loss to the Tigers. Alcona led 19-16 at the end of the first quarter and increased that lead to 35-25 at halftime. Justin Senff scored 21 points to lead his team in scoring. Justin Wilbert had 17 while Derek McLennan added 12. After hosting Rudyard Friday, and Rogers City travels to St. Ignace Tuesday before a February 10 contest at Onaway. The long string of away games continues with games February 17 at Pickford and February 20 at Posen. The next home contest is February 24 with Inland Lakes.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.