Bulldogs (23-1) chase down Modeltowners (20-5) in 91-86 Boys Basketball Class C Regional Finals Win
Marquette, Michigan – The Rudyard Bulldogs quick speed was too much for the Gwinn Modeltowners as the Bulldogs go on to win the MHSAA Boys Basketball Class C Regional Final by a score of 91-86. The game was held at Marquette Senior High School in Marquette, Michigan on Wednesday, March 17, 2010.
In the first quarter, the Bulldogs outscored the Modeltowners by a score of 21-4. Gwinn had a hard time scoring as the Rudyard defense did a good job of keeping senior Kyle Aho out of the paint. When Gwinn did make their way inside, missed lay-ups, rebounds and put backs allowed Rudyard to gain a substantial lead with their quick and accurate offense. Rudyard moved the ball very well down low and made it look easy as the triple threat of Drew Otten, Devin Salo and Arik Hesselink kept Gwinn guessing as to who was going to score the next basket.
The second quarter saw Gwinn settle down and make a comeback as the scoring was pretty evenly matched. Rudyard held a slight edge in the scoring as the second quarter ended with a score of 26-23 for a half-time score of 47-27. Rudyard’s shooting percentage of 64.3% compared to Gwinn’s 21.4% for the first half was the difference in the game and Gwinn new that the defense would have to step up if they were going to have a chance.
Gwinn did just that as they came out in the third quarter with a vengeance. The Modeltowners stepped up their aggressiveness and out played, out shot and out scored the Bulldogs. The third quarter had Gwinn out scoring Rudyard, 26-18. The down side was that Gwinn got into foul trouble with several of its key players. Rudyard was also getting into foul trouble and both defenses had to be careful to in order to keep their best players in the game.
The fourth quarter had Gwinn out scoring Rudyard, 33-26. Gwinn never led the entire game and the closest they ever came to catching Rudyard was a six point difference midway through the fourth quarter. Gwinn got into foul trouble as Jordan Adediran and Luke Ghiardi fouled out with over three minutes left in the game. Several other Gwinn players were in foul trouble as well. Rudyard’s top scorer, Arik Hesselink, fouled out late in the fourth quarter as well. Hesselink had 30 points on the night. Gwinn almost tripled its shooting percentage in the second half by shooting over 60% but it wasn’t enough as Rudyard held on for the win and will advance to the MHSAA Boys Basketball Class C State Quarterfinals.
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Report and photos by:
Daryl T. Jarvinen
www.jarvinenphotos.com
331 Iron Street
Negaunee, MI 49866
(906) 475-4777 (Work)
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