Wednesday, December 17. 2008
Harbor Beach wins early-season thriller...
CASS CITY — Who says December games have to be slow and stale?
Instead of the usual turnover-plagued, poorly-played games teams sometimes produce this early in the season, Harbor Beach and Cass City both turned in a March-like effort here Tuesday night. The Pirates came back from a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit, putting four players in double figures en route to an exciting 64-61 Greater Thumb Conference crossover decision over the Red Hawks.
“I thought it was a very good game for so early in the season,” said Cass City coach Aaron Fernald. “ I thought both teams played pretty well. I think it was a good game for both teams early in the season.”
The Pirates rallied from a 51-44 hole early in the final quarter, finally taking the lead with less than a minute to play. The Red Hawks had a chance to tie with 3.9 seconds left, but split a pair from the line, only narrowing the gap to one. Pirate Jacob Murawske then capped a nifty opening-night performance with two free throws with 2.2 seconds to play to seal the victory.
“Any time you come down here and get a win, you have to be happy,” said Harbor Beach coach Ron Wruble. “We were a little tight in the first half, but we played pretty well in the fourth quarter.”
Harbor Beach outscored the Red Hawks 20-10 over the final eight minutes, picking up every loose ball and getting most of the breaks. At least that’s how Fernald saw it.
“Those loose rebounds that were flipping all around — it seemed like they got them and we didn't,” he said. “And they made them count.”
Nobody made them count more than Murawske, who shook off a jittery start and scored 11 of his team-high 21 points in the final quarter, including a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line.
Pirate Eric Wilson also had a strong performance, scoring 14 points. Shane Ginther added 11 while Justin Braun chipped in 10 for Harbor Beach.
That foursome off-set the dominance of Red Hawk Chris Summersett, who poured in a game-high 26 points, but was held to just one bucket in the final period.
Summersett controlled the paint area for the better part of three quarters for the Red Hawks, scoring on several easy short jumpers and putbacks.
The Pirates were finally able to contain him late.
“Braun just got a little more physical with him and that helped,” Wruble said.
Added Fernald: “We couldn't get it into him in the fourth, but we also turned it over too many times.”
The Red Hawks led by as many as nine in the opening half, settling for three-point cushion at the break. They stretched the lead to seven several times before the Pirates made their push.
Harbor Beach used a 9-2 spurt to open the fourth quarter to tie the game at 53 with 4:25 to play. From there, neither team led by more than a bucket until Murawske drained two free throws with 25.6 seconds to play for a 62-58 edge.
Summersett immediately followed with a hoop to cut the gap back to two with 13.9 seconds left.
The Pirates were then fouled with 11.5 seconds to play, but missed the 1-and-1. After a scramble for the rebound, Harbor Beach was awarded the ball.
Red Hawk Austin Babich, though, picked off the inbounds pass and flung the ball up the court to a streaking Jeffery Mulrath, who was fouled going to the hoop with 3.9 seconds left.
Mulrath buried the first shot, but his second swirled in and out, with Murawske grabbing the rebound.
After Murawske's pair of tosses, the Red Hawks' tying half-court attempt banged off the backboard as time expired.
Besides Summersett, Babich had 12 points while Alex Varney and Brent Doerr added seven each for the Red Hawks.
Despite the loss, Fernald wasn't too upset at the way his 1-1 Red Hawks played.
“We know we're going to have a few growing pains,” said Fernald, whose team hosts Almont on Thursday. “We're starting two sophomore guards. This is the way they're going to learn.
“We're obviously not where we want to be yet, but I think we can get there.”
For the 1-0 Pirates, Wruble would like to see them rebound better. He admitted his team got killed on the glass in the opening half.
“We spend 20-30 minutes on rebounding every practice,” he said. “We have blocking dummies in there — we do it all. But we were just standing there at times in the first half. In the fourth quarter, we finally got a little more aggressive on the glass.
“Our guards were releasing too quickly. We can't run if we don't have the ball.”
Harbor Beach hosts Bad Axe on Thursday.
Cass City led 18-14 after one quarter, grabbing a quick nine-point advantage 40 seconds into the second period before the Pirates pulled to within 33-30 at the break.
Instead of the usual turnover-plagued, poorly-played games teams sometimes produce this early in the season, Harbor Beach and Cass City both turned in a March-like effort here Tuesday night. The Pirates came back from a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit, putting four players in double figures en route to an exciting 64-61 Greater Thumb Conference crossover decision over the Red Hawks.
“I thought it was a very good game for so early in the season,” said Cass City coach Aaron Fernald. “ I thought both teams played pretty well. I think it was a good game for both teams early in the season.”
The Pirates rallied from a 51-44 hole early in the final quarter, finally taking the lead with less than a minute to play. The Red Hawks had a chance to tie with 3.9 seconds left, but split a pair from the line, only narrowing the gap to one. Pirate Jacob Murawske then capped a nifty opening-night performance with two free throws with 2.2 seconds to play to seal the victory.
“Any time you come down here and get a win, you have to be happy,” said Harbor Beach coach Ron Wruble. “We were a little tight in the first half, but we played pretty well in the fourth quarter.”
Harbor Beach outscored the Red Hawks 20-10 over the final eight minutes, picking up every loose ball and getting most of the breaks. At least that’s how Fernald saw it.
“Those loose rebounds that were flipping all around — it seemed like they got them and we didn't,” he said. “And they made them count.”
Nobody made them count more than Murawske, who shook off a jittery start and scored 11 of his team-high 21 points in the final quarter, including a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line.
Pirate Eric Wilson also had a strong performance, scoring 14 points. Shane Ginther added 11 while Justin Braun chipped in 10 for Harbor Beach.
That foursome off-set the dominance of Red Hawk Chris Summersett, who poured in a game-high 26 points, but was held to just one bucket in the final period.
Summersett controlled the paint area for the better part of three quarters for the Red Hawks, scoring on several easy short jumpers and putbacks.
The Pirates were finally able to contain him late.
“Braun just got a little more physical with him and that helped,” Wruble said.
Added Fernald: “We couldn't get it into him in the fourth, but we also turned it over too many times.”
The Red Hawks led by as many as nine in the opening half, settling for three-point cushion at the break. They stretched the lead to seven several times before the Pirates made their push.
Harbor Beach used a 9-2 spurt to open the fourth quarter to tie the game at 53 with 4:25 to play. From there, neither team led by more than a bucket until Murawske drained two free throws with 25.6 seconds to play for a 62-58 edge.
Summersett immediately followed with a hoop to cut the gap back to two with 13.9 seconds left.
The Pirates were then fouled with 11.5 seconds to play, but missed the 1-and-1. After a scramble for the rebound, Harbor Beach was awarded the ball.
Red Hawk Austin Babich, though, picked off the inbounds pass and flung the ball up the court to a streaking Jeffery Mulrath, who was fouled going to the hoop with 3.9 seconds left.
Mulrath buried the first shot, but his second swirled in and out, with Murawske grabbing the rebound.
After Murawske's pair of tosses, the Red Hawks' tying half-court attempt banged off the backboard as time expired.
Besides Summersett, Babich had 12 points while Alex Varney and Brent Doerr added seven each for the Red Hawks.
Despite the loss, Fernald wasn't too upset at the way his 1-1 Red Hawks played.
“We know we're going to have a few growing pains,” said Fernald, whose team hosts Almont on Thursday. “We're starting two sophomore guards. This is the way they're going to learn.
“We're obviously not where we want to be yet, but I think we can get there.”
For the 1-0 Pirates, Wruble would like to see them rebound better. He admitted his team got killed on the glass in the opening half.
“We spend 20-30 minutes on rebounding every practice,” he said. “We have blocking dummies in there — we do it all. But we were just standing there at times in the first half. In the fourth quarter, we finally got a little more aggressive on the glass.
“Our guards were releasing too quickly. We can't run if we don't have the ball.”
Harbor Beach hosts Bad Axe on Thursday.
Cass City led 18-14 after one quarter, grabbing a quick nine-point advantage 40 seconds into the second period before the Pirates pulled to within 33-30 at the break.
Harbor Beach's Travis Schock goes high in the air against Cass City's Blake Messing.
Cass City's Alex Varney (3) goes to the hoop for the Red Hawks.
Travis Schock and Jacob Murawske go for a rebound in between a Red Hawk player.
Cass City's Austin Babich defends Harbor Beach's Eric Wilson.
Harbor Beach's Justin Braun goes up for a shot over Cass City's Chris Summersett.
