Hurons take Chiefs in OT

A loud and supportive crowd came to their feet as the Hurons (3-2) took a 60-56 overtime victory over Cheboygan (2-2). Rogers City came back from an eight-point deficit in the third quarter, hit clutch free throws, and held off the Chiefs? three-point shooters when they had to. ?It was a great game. It?s fun to go into the Christmas holiday with a big Straits Area Conference win. Our conference will be awfully tight. Every game in the conference will be so tough,? said coach Karl Grambau. Trailing 39-34 heading into the fourth quarter, the Hurons mounted a charge. After a Cheboygan three-pointer, three free throws from Chris Santini and one from Justin Senff cut the Chief lead to four. Then a driving shot on the left side by Justin Wilbert made the score 42-40 with 5:18 left in the game. The next time down, Wilbert?s pass set up sophomore center Scott Kowalewsky for a banker, then the Huron defense went to work. Senff and Wilbert blocked shots with Santini coming up with the ball after the second block.

HE WENT coast-to-coast bring the score to 49-47 with 2:29 left in the fourth quarter. The teams traded misses on each end, setting up an exciting finish. With less than 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Wilbert missed an outside shot, Austin Fairbanks kept it alive by getting the rebound, Santini missed, Fairbanks snared the rebound and missed a shot in traffic. Cheboygan got the ball, reached half court and called timeout. With 19 seconds left, the Chiefs had the lead and the ball. Unable to get the ball in safely, the Chiefs turned it over. Fairbanks stole a pass at half court, hit Santini cutting to the basket and the game was tied with 10 seconds to go. Cheboygan rushed the ball up the court, but missed a shot as time expired, sending the game to OT.

In the extra frame, Grambau started Kowalewsky, Santini, Wilbert, Fairbanks, and Andy Tulgestke, sticking with the five who made the charge in the fourth quarter. Wilbert set the tone for the OT by hitting a three-pointer in front of the loud cheering student section. Moments later he scored at the end of the key play in the OT. Battling for an offensive rebound, Fairbanks went into the crowd, flinging the ball backwards to Santini in the paint, who tipped the ball to Wilbert for an easy bucket. The Hurons led 55-53 at that point and would never trail again.

A BASKET by Kowalewsky and three more free throws from Santini iced the win. Santini led the Hurons in scoring with 17 points while Wilbert added 14, with 10 coming in the fourth quarter and in the OT. Bret Karsten had 13 points and Kowalewsky scored seven and snared 14 rebounds. Fairbanks had 12 rebounds in the game. Rogers City led 15-12 after the first quarter and trailed 27-24 at halftime. ?I thought each kid played with the will to win tonight. You could tell by the way were diving for loose balls, getting rebounds, running the floor and everybody getting involved,? Grambau said.

The Huron fans gave the team a boost, providing constant cheering and attention to the game, a fact not missed by the coach or the players. ?Its fun to hear noise in the gym because our kids work so hard in practice. We hope that the fan support will keep getting better and better and we hope that we can do a good job on the floor to keep the fans excited,? Grambau said.

LAST FRIDAY, the Hurons fell behind early and lost 72-59

at Brimley. A 21-11 Brimley lead after one quarter grew to 34-20 at halftime. Karsten led the Hurons in scoring with 19. Santini and Kowalewsky each scored nine. THE JV HURONS fell victim to the turnover bug in a 56-40 loss to Cheboygan Tuesday. Cheboygan led 19-7 after the first quarter and 31-15 at halftime. Zach Karsten scored 11 while Jordan Zempel added eight. Last Friday against Brimley, the Hurons led 31-29 at halftime, but fell to the Bays 62-59. A 21-10 swing in the third quarter powered the win. Zempel scored 11 while Matt Schmucker, Cody Wirgau, Kevin Fairbanks, and Zach Karsten each scored eight.

The Hurons are off until January 3 when they play at Inland Lakes. They play at Sault Ste. Marie January 6, and at Alcona January 13 before the next home game January 17 against Inland Lakes.

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