Hillman pulls out miracle finish to top Hurons 49-48

by Richard Lamb– Advance Editor

Hillman pulled a rabbit out of its hat in winning a thrilling 49-48 game Tuesday in Hillman. Rogers City (1-3) saw an eight point lead disappear in the fourth quarter, and Hillman mounted a frantic comeback winning the game with a free throw with no time left on the clock. The game came down to the final two minutes. Trailing 45-44, coach Tom Adrian?s Hurons came out of a timeout with a play that had senior center Devon Ferris connecting on a turnaround banker.

That gave the Hurons a 46-45 lead with 2:10 left in the fourth quarter. Hillman?s defense had held the Hurons to just one point in the quarter up until that point. The lead didn?t last long, though, as Hillman?s Andrew Smith drained a three-pointer 20 seconds later to give Hillman a 48-46 lead. Hillman got the ball back and Smith missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving the Hurons a chance with 49 seconds left.

SENIOR GUARD Justin Idalski snared an offensive rebound and put it back to knot the game at 48-48. Hillman got the ball and missed a shot, with the rebound going out of bounds. The Hurons had the ball with 21 seconds left with a chance to win the game. Idalski got the ball on the right side, drove strongly to the basket and was fouled. But he couldn?t connect on either free throw, giving the home team a chance with 10 seconds remaining in the game. The Tigers quickly outlet the ball and then found Smith wide open outside the three-point arc. He launched a shot, which fell off-target, but as time expired, Ferris fouled him in a desperate attempt to block the shot.

Needing to make only one of his three attempts, Smith connected on the first try to win the game. Coach Adrian said the reason the Hurons had trouble is simple. ?We couldn?t make our dog shots and couldn?t make our free throws. That is the basic thing right there. We should have been up by 15 or 20 if we made our dog shots right around the basket,? he said. The Hurons were able to get to the rim, but not always finish. Rogers City led 15-10 after the first quarter, but Hillman took a 27-25 halftime lead. Ferris paced the scoring attack with 13 points while Idalski added 11. Kevin Fairbanks, Josh Curtis and Jordan Zempel each scored five points for the Hurons.

THE HURON J.V. squad (2-2) was on the winning side of a 55-53 game. Rogers City lost a 10-point lead but came through in the clutch to hold off a Tiger challenge. Chris Waibel scored nine of his g

ame-high 23 points in the fourth quarter. Jordan Bellmore, Devin Hilla, Chris Peacock and Joe Kasubowski each had six points.

LAST FRIDAY with St. Ignace in town, the visitors came away with a 71-60 win. Rogers City led 32-31 at halftime but lost momentum in the second half, trailing 53-47 at the end of the third quarter. Idalski had 18, Fairbanks scored 14 and Erik Meharg added 13 in a balanced scoring attack. Coach Chris Shay?s junior varsity won its first game of the season as it rallied from behind for a 49-48 win. Waibel scored 21 while Kasabowski scored 11 and Hilla and Bellmore scored 0 points each.

Tbe teams are back in action January 8 when they travel to Sault Ste. Marie. The next Huron home game is January 16 with Cheboygan.

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