Feb. 6: Blue Water basketball roundup
Teams are keeping fans on their toes this basketball season, and last week taught us a few key lessons:
Freshmen can play high-level basketball. A double-digit deficit can become a major victory. And upsets can happen anywhere at any time.
Northern freshmen step up in OT victory
The Port Huron Northern boys basketball team clinched the MAC-White Wednesday on their home court with a 75-72 victory over Romeo.
And if that wasn’t exciting enough, the Huskies traveled to New Haven for an even closer game Friday, in which they topped the Rockets 85-82 in overtime.
Tyler Jamison scored more than a third of Northern’s points on Wednesday with 36 – and 11 rebounds – but he was out with illness Friday, leaving the offense in the hands of three freshmen: Alex Jamison, Amir Morelan, and Cam Harju.
Alex Jamison recorded 28 points to lead the Huskies, while Morelan had 22 and Harju added 20. Needless to say, the future is bright for the Northern boys basketball program.
The Huskies (14-1, 9-0) will host Grosse Pointe North Tuesday for the final MAC-White game.
Richmond stays perfect in league standings
At the end of a three-game week, the Richmond boys basketball team traveled to Imlay City for a key conference matchup. Prior to the tip, the Blue Devils were leading the BWAC at 6-0, and the Spartans were right behind at 5-1, ready to even the score.
And through the first half, it looked like they might do it. Imlay City came out aggressively on both ends of the court with lockdown defense and a quick, disciplined offense. By halftime the score was 25-25.
The Blue Devils found their footing, however, midway through the third and pulled away late in the game to win 52-38. Senior D’Quan Haskins led his team in the effort with 20 points. Sophomore Zander Nash led the Spartans with 14.
Richmond (13-1, 7-0) will host Yale and Almont this week while Imlay City (7-7, 5-2) will travel to Armada and host Croswell-Lexington.
St. Clair secures MAC-Gold, Mariners still in the running
It was a big week for the St. Clair girls basketball team. On Tuesday, the Saints traveled to Fraser – a team they’d previously beaten on their home court by just five points – for the first of the final two league games of the season.
They managed another five-point victory, 47-42, and were led by senior Erin Seros with 11 points and junior Audrey Schindler with 10.
The team followed that up with another victory on the road at Lake Shore, 54-25, to finish league play at 9-1, clinching a share of the title. Marine City currently stands 8-1 and will host Fraser tonight for its final league game.
Thursday’s win over Lake Shore was one of the Saints’ most well-rounded offensive efforts of the season. Seros led with a season-high 21 points, while seven other teammates contributed, including junior Tabitha Furlin with 10 and sophomore Allie Komarowski with six.
Shake up in BWAC girls basketball
For the last two years, the BWAC had a clear conference leader as Imlay City finished on top in undefeated fashion. This year, however, is proving a bit more interesting.
The Spartans dropped a pair of league games last month, first to North Branch and then to Almont, falling the defending champions to second place at 6-2.
But last week, Imlay City rebounded in overwhelming ways with 30-plus-point victories over Armada and Richmond. The team remains in second at 8-2 with four games left to play, including the rematch against North Branch on Feb. 17.
Things also get more interesting as Algonac, which was previously 1-8, handed the league-leading Broncos their first conference loss of the season, by a narrow 36-33 margin.
Looking ahead
The final MAC games will be played early this week before the tournament begins on Thursday, Feb. 9. Marine City’s girls will host Fraser for a chance of a share of the MAC-Gold title.
The Port Huron High boys, which clinched a share of the MAC-Silver Friday, will play their final league game at Marine City on Tuesday. St. Clair, which is still in a three-way tie at 6-3 within the MAC-Silver, will battle for second place in the league against Marysville.
The BWAC boys teams will be in action on Tuesday and Friday this week, while the girls will play their league games on Thursday, with the exception of Richmond and Almont, who will play before the boys game on Friday.
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For in-game updates and other news, follow Calli on Twitter @ newberry_calli
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