Huron eighth grade earns trophy at Optimist Tournament
The annual Optimist Club junior high boys basketball tournament was won by the Rogers City eighth grade and the Rudyard seventh grade Tuesday evening at Rogers City High School. Both the Posen seventh and eighth grade squads took runner-up honors during the event, which is traditionally conducted during the Christmas break. The Huron team, which won the trophy last year as seventh graders, set the tone in the first quarter jumping out to an 18-2 advantage at the end of the six minute period.
THE SECOND QUARTER was closer at 5-4, but Rogers City led 23-6 at halftime. It was close again in the third quarter at 4-3, but the Hurons put the game away with a 12-6 fourth quarter. The final score was 39-15. Cody Wirgau had a game-high 10 points for the Hurons. Scott Grulke had eight points, while Jordan Zempel had seven and Kevin Fairbanks six. Tyler Krajniak had five points for the Vikings, while James Michaels and Aaron Romel contributed four apiece. Rogers City defeated Rudyard 50-10 on Monday to advance to the championship game. Wirgau and Fairbanks combined for 30 points against the Bulldogs. Zempel had nine points. The Hurons are coached by Mike Grulke.
THE POSEN seventh grade dropped its championship game to Rudyard 47-25. Scott Couture had nine points in the game, while Justin LaPointe had eight. The Vikings advanced with a 31-27 win Monday against St. John in one of the closest games of the two-day tournament.
Pat Quaine was the lone player in double figures with 12 for the Wildcats. Nathan Street finished with eight for Posen. The Vikings are coached by Tim Romel.