RC bounces back for win over Bulldogs

by Richard Lamb, Advance Editor

A determined Huron basketball team took over at the opening buzzer and never looked back in a convincing 72-42 win at Inland Lakes Tuesday. ?They played very well tonight. We had a rough one up in Rudyard but we rebounded and played very well tonight,? said Huron coach Jesse Streich. ?We had no let downs tonight. We have usually been playing two quarters and then taking two quarters off. Tonight we played four good quarters.?

In a possible preview of a district tournament game, the Hurons ran out to a 14-2 lead to start the game, at which point coach Jesse Streich substituted all five starters. ?WE ARE a lot bigger than they are and our big guys came to play,? Streich said. The Hurons tight zone forced the Bulldogs outside, but they started connecting on three-pointers to close the gap to 14-10. But after a timeout, an inside shot by Tim Bober and a lay-up from Chris Vogelheim brought the score to 18-10 at the end of the first quarter.

That started a 16-2 Huron run, which ended on two more baskets from Bober. Erik Meharg had a long two-pointer and a baseline drive, Evan Wagner snared two rebounds before canning a shot, and Chris Waibel had a jumper in the Huron run. Andy Grulke rebounded a missed shot and hit the follow-up to end the half with Rogers City leading 35-21. With Streich substituting freely, the Hurons increased their lead to 54-30 at the end of three quarters.

Meharg led the team with 21 points on a variety of drives, three-pointers, short jump shots, and easy layups after steals. He had four steals and two assists in a solid overall game. Bober scored 10 points while Wagner added 10 points and eight rebounds. LAST SATURDAY the Hurons lost in Rudyard 64-48. Rogers City trailed 21-10 at the end of the first quarter and 36-27 at halftime. Meharg scored 14 points and Vogelheim had all of his points in the first half. Erik Hessilink scored 19 to lead Rudyard. The district tournam

ent starts next week with the finals set for Rogers City March 12. Whittemore-Prescott hosts Alcona Monday and Rogers City plays the winner of that game Wednesday at 7 p.m. In the bottom half of the bracket, Inland Lakes hosts Oscoda Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. with the winner moving on to Friday?s finals. The winner of the district plays March 15 at the Traverse City West regional semifinal against the winner of the Manton district. The regional final game is set for March 17 at Traverse City West with the winner advancing to the March 23 quarterfinal at Sault Ste. Marie against the winner of the Marquette regional.

THE HURON junior varsity improved to 11-6 with a win over Inland Lakes. Rogers City jumped out to a 15-5 lead after the first quarter and cruised to a 53-42 win. Chris Peacock scored 20 while Chase Grulke added 10. The Hurons lost 52-42 to Rudyard after falling behind 23-21 at halftime. Devin Hilla scored 14 and Josh Vogelheim added 13. Both teams host Hillman Friday in the last game of the regular season.

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