Hurons take first game of districts over host Alcona

by Richard Lamb, Advance Editor

In the end it came down to free throws and how players handled pressure. Rogers City (7-14), in a bid to upset Alcona (9-11) on its home floor in game one of the boys? basketball district tournament, came away with a 55-53 win to move to the semifinals. The Rogers City vs. Whittemore-Prescott (2-18) game in Rogers City was scheduled after our press time. For results see PIAdvance.com.

The winner of Wednesday?s contest faces the winner of the Oscoda vs. Hale contest. Hale (20-1), which dismantled a very good Inland Lakes (17-4) team, 54-30 Monday at Inland Lakes earned their way into the semis with a win while Oscoda drew a bye. Hale?s only loss came to a much larger Pinconning squad at the Palace January 25. They defeated Mio, AuGres, Alcona, Fairview, Posen, Arenac Eastern, Atlanta and Hillman to close the regular season. The closest game came at Fairview, a 53-51 Eagle win. Hale defeated Oscoda 61-34 on January 6 at home and 37-36 January 19 in Oscoda.

FREE THROWS AND clutch play decided the game Monday night in the closing two minutes of play. With the Hurons leading the Tigers 48-46, senior forward Devon Ferris buried an inside jumper and was fouled. His free throw missed but Rogers City had a four-point lead with 2:23 left to play.

A quick Alcona bucket cut the lead to two then Alcona got the ball back and scored to tie the game at 50-50 with 1:29 left. Junior guard Erik Meharg went down hard with a foul trying to break the Alcona press. He left the game limping and held an ice pack on his upper right leg on the bench for the rest of the game.

Justin Idalski drove hard to the hoop, made the basket and was fouled. He missed the free throw, as the Hurons led 52-50 with 1:11 on the clock. Alcona missed a three-pointer and the Hurons called a timeout with 59 seconds left to play. Rogers City broke the press and got a shot, but missed as Jordan Zempel and an Alcona player grabbed the ball at the same time with the possession arrow pointing in favor of Alcona.

As the Tigers worked the ball outside, Idalski picked off a pass and picked up an Alcona foul. The Hurons, who had struggled all night at the free throw line, needed a pair at this point. Idalski delivered on the first one, banking it in off the glass and smiling at his teammates. The second shot glanced off the front of the rim and fell in, giving the Hurons a 54-50 lead with 35 seconds to play.

ALCONA WORKED the ball inside and scored with 21 seconds left. An Alcona player fell hurt after the shot, stopping the game and allowing Alcona to set up a frantic press. Rogers City got the ball inbounds to Idalski, who was fouled and made one-of-two from the line. The Hurons now led 55-52 with 20 seconds left.

The Tigers moved the ball quickly beyond the timeline and called timeout with 14 seconds left. They set up a play to the left side, drawing a Huron foul from Pat Quaine with 6.4 seconds left to play. Alcona made the first one, then called timeout to set up a play for an intentional missed free throw, trailing by two points.

The rebound bounced to the left of the rim and off a Huron player, giving the ball to Alcona with 4.1 seconds left. But the Tigers couldn?t get the ball inbounds, turning it over on the five-second rule.

That would not seal the game, as the Hurons got the ball in, then stepped out of bounds, giving the home team yet another chance to win or tie the game. Alcona set up for a three-pointer, but it fell off, giving the Hurons a thrilling win.

?WE WERE VERY fortunate to come away with a win on Alcona?s home floor. I didn?t expect anything less than for Alcona to battle us the way they did,? said a happy coach Tom Adrian after the game.

?I can?t say enough about my boys. They have been gearing for this district for the last 10 games. That is all I have heard because we have had a lot of good teams that we have played during the season and we had four of five of them that were rated in the top ten in the state. All the boys gave it their all. We had a couple of mental errors at the end, but that?s basketball.?

Adrian praised the play of Idalski, who at times has struggled at the free throw line this season, but came up with baskets when he had to. ?He has had a tough, tough season as far as free throws go. But he came through for us when we needed it,? Adrian said.

ROGERS CITY took an early 8-0 lead as Idalski scored four points and Meharg added a basket and an assist on Zempel?s jumper. Alcona came back to lead the quarter at 14-13. Evan Wagner?s basket on an inbound play gave the Hurons a five-point lead midway through the second quarter. Then with the Huron lead at one, Meharg and Josh Curtis combined on a great hustle play.

Curtis ran down an Alcona player from behind, tipping the ball away. Getting the ball back on the right wing of a fast break, he fed Meharg on the left side for a basket and the foul. Meharg sank the free throw, then followed that on the next possession with another three-point play, giving the Hurons a 27-20 lead with 2:36 left in the half. Alcona would cut the lead to 31-28 at the half, as Meharg scored 14 of his 17 points in the first half. Idalski led the team with 19 points. Others breaking into the scoring column were Wagner with eight, Ferris with six, Kevin Fairbanks with three and Zempel with two.

Rogers City connected on 10-of-22 from the line and Alcona

hit on 4-of-14. LAST THURSDAY, the Hurons regular season closed with a win 74-55 win over Onaway. Meharg scored 25, with five three-pointers, and Idalski added 11. Zempel and Fairbanks each scored eight points in the win.

The junior varsity closed its season with a 75-59 win. Rogers City led 16-12 at end of first quarter and 37-28 at end of half. Coach Chris Shay?s charges came out after halftime and outscored Onaway 23-11. Ten of the 14 boys scored in the game. High scorer was Jesse Wilbert with 20 followed by Chris Waibel-16 and Joe Kasubowski-11. The junior varsity finished with a record 13-7.

Friday?s district finals will be played at 7 p.m. at Oscoda High School. The winner of the Oscoda district faces the winner of the McBain district in the Gaylord regional.

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