The Year of the Bulldog!

Congratulations to the Owen-Gage basketball team, who added some more hardware to their trophy case with a 75-64 win over North Huron in the finals of the Class D District tournament in Caseville.

This one was simply AMAZING! I said on the radio that fans should donate on the way out the door, because this game was worth a lot more than the paltry $4 they had to pay to get in.

As for the fans, I arrived a little after six and there were already a contingent of die hards sitting in the stands, waiting for the game to start. Over the next hour, tons of fans trickled in... to the point that it was standing (or in some cases sitting) room only.

As for the game it itself, I have to imagine that Owen-Gage coach Arnie Howard told his team they needed to set the tempo of the game early. I'm sure he had no clue his team would execute orders so well.

The Bulldogs scored seven points in the first 24 seconds en route to a 21-6 first quarter lead and a 45-18 edge at halftime. As Howard explained it, he felt the team that relaxed first (and got rid of the jitters) would take control and his team did that.

It was a combination of explosive offense and a suffocating press on defense. As Owen-Gage's offense went, I'll just say I have never seen a player quite like Eric Zaleski; he's just so fast (I think I'll nick-name him "Flash").

It seemed like a North Huron player would score and two or three seconds later Zaleski had already gone coast-to-coast for a score of his own.

Zaleski scored 24 for the game (unofficial), including 17 in the first half.

But Zaleski couldn't do it alone and got a lot of help from Brandon Dubs who shot well, was dynamic defensively, and even made his presence felt in the post. But it was role players like Aaron Gaeth and Grant Champagne that turned out to be the difference. Gaeth with his scoring and Champagne with his rebounding, defense, and scoring as well.

As well as everything went for Owen-Gage in the first half, it was equally dicey in the second half. North Huron opened on an impressive run and worked hard throughput the quarter to cut it to 58-37.

While that lead seemed insurmountable, the Warriors did their best to make a game of it. In fact, North Huron used a 13-0 run late in the fourth to cut it to 66-60 with a minute to go.

However, the game slipped away from North Huron on the next play, when one of the Warriors was called for a foul and then got "T'ed" up for arguing the call.

This resulted in four free throws and the ball for the Bulldogs, who extended it to a three possession game and more.

While this wasn't the result North Huron had hoped for, there season ends in a game with several amazing stories. One of the most memorable was the gutsy effort by Brad Neumayer, who was obviously suffering some significant pain in his ankle.

Yet he still came in multiple times in the second half and made a significant contribution. North Huron coach Mark Krug was really smart about how he used him. When possible, especially late , he would alternate Neumayer in on offense and then get him out on defense.

Neumayer's effort was one of those performances that fans will always remember, because it was just so gritty.

If there is one thing Krug can take solace in after such a tough loss, is that his team will be returning a slew of talented players including Neumayer, Anthony Irvine, Kurt Dhyse, and Myke Schmidt.

Owen-Gage may be contemplating next season in another few days, as they face Kingston in the Regional opener. However, Howard and his team are entering with the right attitude (they are going to enjoy the experience of playing at Saginaw Heritage) that might just allow them to pull the upset of the century.

I don't believe that is what is going to happen, but I also didn't think the Bulldogs would score 75 points either (although I did pick them to win the District). I guess it just proves that anything is possible at this time of year, an upset of the Cardinals included.