Girls top Cheboygan; host Rudyard Friday
by Richard Lamb, Advance Editor
The Huron girls? basketball team has one game left to tune up for the district tournament. It comes Friday against Rudyard, who lost to the Hurons 53-47 Jan. 21. It all comes down to stopping standout forward Emily Jeffreys, a four-year starter, who scored 20 points by halftime the first time the teams hooked up in the U.P. Rudyard (8-9) lost to St. Ignace (16-1) 87-42 last Friday.
That sets the stage for another showdown with Inland Lakes (7-12) in Monday?s district opener. The Hurons (9-10) defeated Inland Lakes twice this season, 51-45 in the first game of the season and 39-27 again one week ago. If Rogers City wins Monday, they host Oscoda (3-15) Wednesday. The Owls have two wins over Skeels Christian and one over AuGres. Oscoda lost 58-0 to Arenac Eastern earlier in the season.
LAST FRIDAY at Cheboygan, the Hurons stole a 62-60 overtime win from the Chiefs. The Lady Hurons trailed 13-9 at the end of the first quarter, after trailing 11-4 in the early-going. Logan Schuiteman scored off a give-and-go pass from Sara Carpenter to make the score 21-20, Cheboygan with 3:16 left in the first half. Tight man-to-man defense held Cheboygan without a point for nearly three minutes, allowing RC to take a brief 22-21 lead, after free throws by Greta Grambau and Schuiteman.
Cheboygan came out nailing three-pointers in the third quarter, hitting three straight to go up 37-28 with 4:07 left in the quarter. ?I was surprised that even their post players were shooting three-pointers,? said coach Emily McLean. ?But we found out they were not an inside team. They liked to drive and then kick out.?
Grambau answered with two threes of her own and a put back by Carpenter cut the lead to 41-35. Rogers City trailed 45-37 at the end of the third quarter. After trailing the entire second half, the Hurons tied the game with 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Katie Tulgestke tied up a Cheboygan player with possession going to the Hurons. With 20 seconds showing on the clock, Grambau inbounded the ball to Schuiteman, who drove to her left, finding Grambau o
The senior guard flung up a shot that found nothing but net to send the game into overtime. IN THE extra frame, Cheboygan came out scoring the first four points. Then Schuiteman hit both ends of a one-and-one tie the score at 57-57. then Schuiteman took a charge on the other end to give the Hurons the ball. Then Grambau connected on two free throws to ice the game. Grambau led the team with 24 points while adding eight steals and four assists. Schuiteman scored 14 points with five rebounds and two steals. Carpenter added 13 points while grabbing nine rebounds.
?I told them Cheboygan was a little bit more aggressive so our screen and rolls would work against them, and they did,? McLean said. IN THE junior varsity contest, RC started the evening with a 34-25 win. Playing their trademark tight zone defense, the junior Hurons shut out Cheboygan in the second quarter and led 15-4 at halftime. Nikkie LaLonde?s 15 points led the team while Rebecca Meredith added nine. Amanda Smolinski led the team with 10 rebounds.