Hurons defeat Boyne, lose to Saints in finals of holiday tournament
The Hurons got a measure of revenge for an overtime defeat earlier in the season by nipping Boyne City 54-53 in the first round of the Boyne City tournament Friday. That sent the Hurons into the finals December 28 against high-scoring St. Ignace, a winner over Cheboygan in the tournament.
IN THE Boyne City game December 27, Rogers City led 13-10 at the end of the first quarter, 30-21 at halftime and 41-37 at the end of the quarter. The Ramblers battled back, aided by an 0-for-7 Huron drought at the free throw line in the closing minutes. But the Ramblers couldn?t get by the Hurons as coach Karl Grambau?s team evened its record at 2-2.
?It was a good win for us,? he said of the opening round win over the Ramblers. Kyle Greene paced the attack with 22 points while Aaron Florip, in his first game of the season, added 14 points from his guard position. Junior forward Adam LaLonde scored 12 points in the win. In the championship game Saturday, the high-octane offense of the St. Ignace Saints was clogged by a hounding Huron defense. Having twice topped the century mark in scoring on the season, the Saints were held to 14 first half points by a dogging Huron defense.
ROGERS CITY scored the first basket and led 13-10 at the end of the first quarter and 22-14 at halftime. The Saints narrowed the gap to 34-28 at the end of the third quarter and pressed their way into the lead with less than 30 seconds left in the game. Rogers City led 47-40 with 2:01 left, but St. Ignace scored the game?s next 12 points to win 52-47.
?It was by far the best game we have played all year,? Grambau said. ?We couldn?t have played any better.?
Grambau was pleased that his team cut down on the turnovers which had pl
?The weekend games gave us some confidence. We played well as a team in the tournament,? he said.
LALONDE SCORED 14 points while Greene, who sat out much of the second and third quarters with foul trouble, had 10. Isaac Momrik added nine. The four-team holiday tournament will switch sites next year as Cheboygan will host the event. Rogers City will host the tournament in 2004 and St. Ignace will be the site of the tournament in 2005. The Hurons are off until January 7 when they host Pickford.
The JV lost both of its tournament games but no details were made available.
