Long Saint winning streak over Hurons nearly snapped in hard fought game

Not without a fight. That is how the Hurons’ four-game winning streak ended at the hands of perennially tough St. Ignace across the bridge Tuesday night, 61-58 Playing without the services of forward Tiffiny Krueger, who went down in the pre-game warm-ups with an ankle injury, the Hurons played inspired basketball, coming back several times when it looked like the Saints might pull away. “I’m really proud of my girls. I thought we played well. We played really, really hard. You couldn’t ask for more effort,” said coach Karl Grambau.

The Hurons responded to the constant pressure, and fast break style, trademarks of the Saints’ style of play, with a gritty effort. Rogers City played through foul trouble by several starters and overcame a 13-point deficit to come back and take the lead.

“When we lost Tiffiny in warm-ups everybody else picked it up. They are really playing so well as a team. We were down by at least 10 and we could have just quit, but we didn’t,” Grambau said. WITH 2:48 left in the third quarter, Saint center Liz Stempki hit two free throws to make it a 45-32 Saint lead and the game had the feel of being on the verge of getting out of hand. Then came the Huron charge. Ashley Fleming got the run going by snaring a rebound and banking a shot off the glass. The next time down the court senior guard Megan Hanson got an offensive rebound, the third of the Huron possession, and hit a short shot. Then, on the next Huron possession, Dana Fairbanks fed Fleming inside for a jumper. Sara Dove kept the run going when she drilled a three-pointer. Then Fleming scored inside again to cap the Huron flurry. The Saints led 45-43 as the third quarter ended.

The run didn’t stop as the fourth quarter began. Fleming, who faced the shadow of constant double-teaming inside, got upcourt quickly and took a pass from Laura Konieczny before laying in a soft shot to tie the game at 45-45. The Hurons had scored 13 straight points over a span of three minutes to tie the game.

THE SAINTS quickly regained the lead, but Becky Bruning’s short jumper from the right corner found all net to tie the score again at 47-47 with 6:43 left in the game. A Saint three-pointer made the lead 50-47, and then Bruning took a charge, as the Saint fans yelled their displeasure at the referee’s call, giving Hurons possession. Fleming didn’t waste the chance when she hit another of her game-high 24 points. A great hustle play by Hanson broke up a Saint lay-up attempt and drew an offensive foul. Again the Hurons took advantage as Fleming connected on one of two free throws to tie the game at 50-50. Another Saint three-pointer was answered by a short shot by Konieczny to make it 53-52 with 4:04 left. Fleming scored on an acrobatic shot inside, then moments later scooped up a loose ball under the Huron basket, shot one off the glass and the score again was tied at 58-58 with 1:13.

BUT THE Saints scored quickly on a Stempki jumper with 1:00 minute left, and then added their final point on a free throw by Ashley St. Louis with 40 seconds left. The Hurons lost possession and a chance to break a long losing streak against the Saints. “We almost got our first win here in many, many years. That l

osing streak against St. Ignace is one notch bigger but when they come to Rogers City we are hoping to end it there, because I think we proved tonight we could play with anybody. We just have to keep playing on a high level, ” Grambau said. The Hurons trailed 14-6 after the first quarter and 29-22 at halftime.

Dove scored 13 while Hanson added six in the Huron effort. THE JV Hurons, coached by Amanda Munger, lost 63-33 to the Saints. Rogers City fell behind 25-8 in the first quarter and trailed 38-13 at halftime. Jenny Fleming had 12 points while Chelsie Brege had eight and Simone Kapala scored seven.

LAST WEEK in Newberry, the Hurons overcame a 9-0 deficit in the first quarter to gain a 51-31 win. Ashley Fleming scored 22 points, 14 in the first half, to key the win. Rogers City trailed 11-9 at the end of the first quarter and led 27-14 at halftime. Fairbanks scored eight while Bruning and Hanson each scored six points in the win. THE JV team came away from Newberry with a 45-27 win. Brege scored 15 points while Kapala and Jenny Fleming each scored seven. The team improved to 3-1 with the win. Rogers City (4-1) hosts Alcona tonight (Thursday) and plays at Posen Tuesday.

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