Hurons get by Wolverine to advance in district tournament
A hot-shooting second quarter propelled the Huron boys? basketball team into the second round of the district tournament. They were to take on Onaway Wednesday (after press time) for the right to play in the district finals against either Burt Lake Christian or Vanderbilt. Junior forward Chris Peacock sparked the rally, with three three-pointers off the bench in the quarter. His first gave the Hurons a 16-8 lead with four minutes left in the half. A 14-2 run was capped by a terrific steal on the defensive end by Chris Waibel, who fed Jordan Bellmore for a basket at the 1:31 mark. That gave the Hurons a 23-10 lead.
PEACOCK?S THIRD triple of the quarter came as time expired, giving Rogers City a 31-13 lead at halftime. Wolverine played the Huron evenly in the third quarter, but the Hurons closed the door in the fourth period. Leading 42-29 heading into the last eight minutes, coach Jesse Streich kept up the pressure, forcing turnovers by Wolverine. Devin Hilla?s banker, off a pass from Jesse Wilbert, gave the Hurons a 51-34 lead with 4:47 left in the game.
Then the Hurons held Wolverine scoreless for a four-minute stretch while getting a breakaway basket by Austin Brege and two free throws each from Brege and Wilbert. Waibel?s second three-pointer of the quarter gave the Hurons a 61-34 lead with just under three minutes to go. Waibel led three Hurons in double figures with 14 points while Brege has 13 and Wilbert added 10.
?I was pleased with our effort, although we were a little sleepy at times,? Streich said after the win. ?Overall I am happy with the way we played.?
BURT LAKE Christian, a 76-67 winner over host Gaylord St. Mary, was set to take on Vanderbilt in the 6 p.m. game Wednesday. The winner of that game faces the winner of the Onaway vs. Rogers City contest in Friday?s district championship. That game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. The winner of the Gaylord St. Mary district faces the winner of the Posen district in the first round of the regionals. That game is set for Tuesday at 7:45 at St. Ignace. The first game of the St. Ignace regional features the winner of the Pellston district vs. the DeTour district in a 5:30 p.m. scheduled start.
Rogers City ended its regular season with a 61-27 loss to Hillman last week. The juni
THIS IS the Hurons? first foray into the Class D district, as slipping enrollment has knocked Rogers City down a class after competing at the Class C level since the early 1970s. Rogers City won its last district title as a Class B school in 1961 and won its first Class C title in 1973. The team is looking for its third straight district title, winning one in 2009 under coach Tom Adrian and last year with Streich as coach.