Hurons, Bulldogs to play for district championship Friday at RCHS

 

Rogers City and Inland Lakes will square off to decide the district girls basketball championship after each school won semifinal games Wednesday. The Bulldogs of Inland Lakes defeated Posen 62-17 while the Hurons topped the Onaway Cardinals 44-42.

The Onaway vs. Rogers City game saw the lead change hands 10 times in the game. The last lead change came in the fourth quarter as Brooklyn Orr took a give-and-go pass from Alivia Freel to give the Hurons a 36-35 lead with 5:55 left. The pair combined on the same play one minute later to make the score 38-35.

Charlotte Box and Marley Szymoniak hit outside shots for the Cards around a banker by Huron Isabel Haselhuhn. With 2:39 left in the game, the Hurons held a 40-39 lead. The teams traded turnovers until the Hurons came up with a steal. Running down the right side, Orr hit Chelsea Myers with a perfect pass on the left side. Myers drove to the hoop, stopped to evade the potential block from a hustling Ema DeMaestri, and calmly buried the short jumper.

Moments later Haselhuhn made another layup to make the score 44-40.

But with 14 seconds left in the game, Szymoniak was fouled attempting a 3-pointer. She made all three from the free-throw line to cut the lead to 44-42. Rogers City was unable to inbound the pass in five seconds, creating an opportunity for the Cards. Box took the inbounds pass to the left of the Cardinal basket, drove to her right and Freel blocked her attempt to seal the win.

Natalee Hyde had 12 and Szymoniak added nine for Onaway. Orr led Rogers City with 16 points and Freel scored 11.

In the first game, Posen fell behind early as Inland Lakes bombed the nets for nine 3-pointers, four coming in the opening frame. Posen trailed 22-4 after the first quarter and 32-10 at halftime. 

Molly Chappa led Posen with eight points and Ella Hincka added four.

Tickets for Friday’s game may be purchased at GoFan by following this link: https://gofan.co/event/3306933?schoolId=MI10337