Tall McBain squad ends RC hopes of regional title with 67-53 win in semis
by Richard Lamb, Advance Editor
Rogers City finished its boys? basketball season with a flourish that ended at the regional semifinals. A tall and talented McBain (21-3) squad showed why it was ranked number six in the state, taking a 67-53 win over the Hurons. For the Hurons, finishing at 9-15 by winning four of the last five games is reason to be proud. First-year coach Tom Adrian?s team suffered an eight-game losing streak that lasted through the month of February, but got his team together for the tournament. ?I want to congratulate my boys for their effort on the great season and in the playoffs. They are a great bunch of guys. I would be proud to have any one of them as my sons,? Adrian said.
Adrian said his team grew during the season, and he looks forward to more improvement next year. ?We had a little adversity in the season. We were playing some of the top teams in northern Michigan like Cheboygan, Rudyard, Cedarville, St. Ignace and all those good teams. But I am happy for the boys and the community that we got a district,? Adrian said.
MONDAY NIGHT?S regional semifinals featured one team who figured to be playing for a regional title, and one team which came in with more losses than wins. Records didn?t matter as the Hurons showed they deserved to be on the same court as the highly ranked McBain Ramblers.
After falling behind 11-0 in the game?s first three minutes, the Hurons showed the grit that won them the district championship three days before by coming back. Senior Justin Idalski drove the lane for the first Huron basket at the 4:33 mark of the first quarter and senior center Devon Ferris followed that with a tip-in of his own missed shot one minute later.
Erik Meharg completed the 6-0 Huron run, cashing in on a lay-up after stealing the ball at mid-court. The taller McBain squad kept attacking from inside, as they went on an 8-0 run to close the first quarter leading 19-6. A bucket from Tyler Szumila at the 5:56 point of the second quarter stopped a 6-0 McBain run which made the score 25-10. THAT STARTED a 9-0 Huron run, highlighted by five points from senior forward Jordan Zempel.
A critical point came with 3:04 left in the half when Adrian had to sit down Ferris, who had picked up his fourth foul. Evan Wagner and Kevin Fairbanks picked up the slack inside as Wagner scored five points after Ferris left and Fair
Rogers City cut the lead to five with 5:03 left in the third quarter after a three-point shot by Meharg and an old-fashioned three pointer, set up by Idalski?s steal, moments later. But McBain went on a 9-2 run to close the period leading 54-42. IN THE fourth quarter, the Hurons managed only a basket from Meharg off and inbounds play at the 6:25 mark and two free throws from Meharg with less than five minutes to play until Josh Curtis hit a free throw with 1:16 left in the game. During that span the Ramblers increased the lead to 64-48.
?We were happy to come back with four wins in a row at the end of the season. The boys are kind of down, but there are a lot of good teams in this regional,? Adrian said. Meharg led the team with 17 points and Idalski scored 10. Others making the scoring column were Wagner with seven, Zempel with six, Curtis scored three and the Hurons got two points each from Pat Quaine, Jordan Bellmore, Szmulia, Ferris and Fairbanks. Charlevoix (19-4) defeated Forest Area Fife Lake (20-3) 64-46 to earn a chance to play McBain in Wednesday?s regional finals.