Parker Haire goes up for a layup in Thursday’s win over Mayville. Haire scored a team-high 13 points.
Tom Gilchrist and Mike Gallagher
Advertiser Sports Staff
CASS CITY — Mayville’s boys basketball team escaped one trap this week in a win over Akron-Fairgrove.
The Wildcats, however, couldn’t fight their way out of the snare used by Cass City coach Aaron Fernald.
“We created some turnovers off the press and got some easy buckets. We’ve had trouble scoring a little bit this year, so that kind of helped us get going,” said Fernald, whose Red Hawks beat Mayville 69-28 on Wednesday night.
Cass City jumped to a 9-0 lead on the home court, and made it 15-2 after the first quarter.
“Mason Erla had a nice defensive game,” Fernald said. “Sawyer Cuthrell did, too, and Kyle Ross. They all had several steals in the game and we made some buckets off that and it kind of got us going.”
Mayville coach Mike Campbell said Akron-Fairgrove employed the same scheme of trapping defense used by Cass City, but that Mayville handled the pressure much better in a Tuesday victory over the Vikings.
“It’s a little 1-2-2 half-court trap and we had no problem with it against Akron-Fairgrove,” Campbell said. “Cass City ran (the defense) better. I don’t want to take anything away from Cass City — they beat us by 40 points. But we played awful.”
Parker Haire scored 13 points to lead Cass City, which upped its overall record to 4-11 with the win. Erla and Ross tallied 12 points apiece, while Logan Schenk added eight points and Cuthrell tossed in seven.
Branden Horne made a pair of 3-point shots in the third quarter for Cass City to help keep the Red Hawks well in front.
Dalton Bailey fights for a shot in Thursday’s loss to Cass City
Dalton Bailey and Andrew Morrison scored five points apiece for Mayville. “Bailey had another good night rebounding the ball for us,” Campbell said. “He’s having a really good season on the glass.”
Cass City led 32-10 at halftime and 51-22 after the third quarter. The Wildcats fell to 5-10 overall with the loss.
Reese 56, USA 41: The Rockets earned a big win over the rival Patriots in Friday night’s game at Reese. The Rockets held the USA without a point until the second quarter, and were leading the game 19-0 after one quarter. “If we can play defense we can get out and run,” said Reese coach Brian Kern. “we boxed out well, and got some good shots early,” he added. USA outscored Reese 41-37 in the final three quarters, but couldnt overcome the first quarter deficit. Jared Schrader led Reese with 12 points. Kyle Stockmyer scored nine points and grabbed six boards, and Mark Friezler added nine. Aaron Saenz led the Patriots with 11 points. “We did a good job defending Saenz,” stated coach Kern. “He’s a heck of a player.” Reese takes over second place in the GTC West with the win, and trail first place Bad Axe by two games. “We still have to play Bad Axe at home, and they have to travel to Vassar and USA, so we will see what happens,” said Kern. Reese (11-5, 5-2) will host Bad Axe on Wednesday.
Frankenmuth 67, Caro 34: The Eagles used strong defensive effort, and a big shooting game from Zac Janson to earn the victory over the TIgers on the road Friday night. Janson scored a game high 19 points for Frankenmuth, and knocked down six 3-pointers. The Eagles led 41-22 at intermission, and a 23-2 scoring run in the third quarter sealed the victory for Frankenmuth. Colton Zimmer grabbed 11 rebounds, and added six points and five assists for the Eagles, while Sam Bookmyer popped in eight points. Bailey Krueger led the Tigers with eight points. Caro (8-9, 6-5) will visit Garber on Wednesday, while Frankenmuth (12-4, 9-2) travels to Birch Run as they look to keep pace in the Tri-Valley East.
North Branch 66, LakeVille 46: The Broncos picked up a Tri-Valley East conference win on their home court Friday night. North Branch outscored the Falcons 20-8 in the first quarter to set the tone for the game. With a 33-22 halftime lead, the Broncos started the second half with a 17-9 scoring run to push their lead to 19 points. Curt Garza led North Branch with a game-high 19 points, and Zach Fish scored 14. Darrell Washington led the Falcons with 16 points. North Branch (7-10, 3-8) will travel to Millington on Wednesday.
Zac Janson fires a pass in Friday’s win over Caro. Janson scored a game-high 19 points, with 18 points coming off of 3-pointers.
Bay City All Saints 56, Vassar 52: The Cougars handed the Vulcans thier second non-conference loss of the season Friday. Vassar – now 8-2 in non-conference play- fell behind 27-18 in the first half, but outscored All Saints 18-11 in the third quarter to make it a two point game. The fourth quarter was back and fourth, but the Cougars would come out on top, outscoring Vassar 18-16 in the final quarter. Tyler Humpert scored a game-high 18 points for the Vulcans, and grabbed 15 rebounds as well. Colton Fabbro scored 13, and Blake Ruppal added 10. Justin Bates and Trevor Ambroziac both scored 17 points for All Saints. Vassar (12-5, 4-3) will visit USA on Wednesday.
Peck 73, Mayville 50: The Wildcats couldnt comeback from a 19-6 scoring advantage by the Pirates in the first quarter Friday night. “We played well for stretches, but we couldn’t overcome the athleticism of Peck,” said Mayville coach Mike Capmbell. After being outscored by 13 in the first quarter, Mayville played Peck closer in the remaning three quarters, and outscored the Pirates 12-10 in the final quarter. Cody Abrego scored 19 points for Peck, and Kyle Abrego added 18. The Wildcats were led by Andrew Morrison’s 19 points, while Dalton Bailey recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Mayville (5-11, 3-8) will travel to Caseville Tuesday for a conference matchup.
Unionville-Sebewang Area 57, Bay City All Saints 21: Aaron Saenz scored 21 points for USA and Brodie Wesolowski added 13 as the Patriots won at home Wednesday night. Coach Mark Gainforth’s USA squad led 25-12 at halftime and 47-25 after three periods. USA made 17 of 23 free throws.
Reese 75, Caro 69: “Caro made a run at us in the fourth quarter when we had about four turnovers in a row, but we kind of righted the ship and took care of the ball and made some free throws,” said Reese coach Brian Kern, whose Rockets held off the Tigers in Reese on Wednesday. Jared Schrader led Reese with 24 points while Drew Brechtelsbauer and Kyle Stockmeyer added 10 points apiece. Stockmeyer also grabbed five rebounds for the Rockets. Jake Galsterer scored five points for Reese and dished out 10 assists. Caro was led by Bailey Krueger with 20 points and Tanner Tysick with 16. “Early on we got out and ran and got in transition, and … we built a lead that way,” Kern said. “Our bench was huge in the game. The players who came off the bench made some important points for us and played well when they were in there.”