Bluestars beat Memphis 42-36

Earlier in the season, Port Hope lost 50-47 to Memphis.

Following the loss, coach Don Pitts challenged his team to pick up their game and to play with the heart and passion he felt they were capable of.

The pep talked worked as the team has rattled off 10 straight wins including their six point win over Memphis tonight.

Allyson Koglin led PH with 12, who had four players with at least 7 points. Overall, a really well rounded effort from the Bluestars.

In other games, Sandusky won by two points over Brown City 51-49.

Reese 72, USA 33

Ubly 41, BAd Axe 35

Vassar 68, Cass City 22

Peck 54, Akron-Fairgrove 53

Friday Night Highlights: Sandusky beats Reese; BC remains undefeated

Girls Basketball
Sandusky 73, Reese 57
In this highly anticipated matchup of two of the top 10 teams in the Class C state rankings, Marissa DeMott scores a game high 24 points to lead the Redskins to the 16 point win, while Lauren Krause added 20 (she hit five three-pointers). Overall, Sandusky put four players in double figures.
For Reese, Jade Ackerman led the team with 17.
In other girls action…
Brown City 58, Marlette 45
Kristen Greene continued her fantastic season with 23 points, while Marlette was led by a 19 point effort from Amara Wilson. Both these girls are having great seasons and could find their way on the first team of this year’s All-Thumb Team.
EPBP 51, Cass City 22
The Lakers were led by 13 points from Kacy Shetler. I believe this is five wins in a row for EPBP, who in typical fashion have started off slow but are coming on strong when the games count the most.
Harbor Beach 47, Deckerville 27
For everyone who thinks the GTE is a two team race think again…Harbor Beach continues to prove they are for real. You read this here first, this team is going to have a say in who this year’s champions are.
If they could get a win over BC or Sandusky, I think it would prove to everyone just how good this team is.
Hannah Wilson scored 11 for HB, while Tori Kraft added 10.
Mayville 69, Ubly 33
Ubly’s Nicole Franzel scored a season-high 22 points in her team’s 36 point loss.
USA 47, BCAS 39
Jenny Williamson scored 17 for the Patriots.
Vassar 48, Bad Axe 24
The Hatchets were led by six from Taylor Braun.

In boys action…
Kingston 64, Port Hope 41
It was one of Port Hope’s best offense efforts of the season, but still came up short in this one.
Travis Phillips scored a team high 11 points for the Bluestars.
North Huron 68, CPS 65
The Warriors remained perfect on the season, winning their 30th straight (I believe) regular season game, just getting by CPS.
Sean Clancy led the team with 22, while Eric Dhyse, Kevin Rice and Mike Bucholtz also scored in double figures.
A close call for North Huron, who has had a couple of closer games lately, going back to the Owen-Gage game….however I think in the end the team will be better for it.
We also have to keep in perspective that is the result of that HUGE target on this team’s back; everyone wants to be the one to end the win streak and hand them their first loss of the season.
Peck 58, Caseville 25
Sharpe scored eight points for Caseville.

Ubly outlasts Sandusky

Ubly beat Sandusky yesterday 57-53 in OT in their GTE opener. The Bearcats, who were 15-of-18 from the line through the final moments of the extra session, missed their final four from the charity stripe to let Sandusky get back into it.
The Redskins really impressed me with their defense in this one. Weber and TK combined for 16 points in the first, but they were held to just five points total over the next 28 minutes.

For Ubly, Justin Cleary sparked the team with outside shooting, while Marshall Leipprandt made a statement, scoring six of his team's first seven points in the fourth to help Ubly tie the game.

It's early in the season, so this doesn't necessarily mean much in the leaue title race, but good to open the league games with a fun, competitive game.

Here are some other scores from the night:

BCAS 57, Cass City 46

Brown City 49, Mayville 36

Dryden 27, Kingston 24

Harbor Beach 64, EPBP 47

Marlette 53, Deckerville 41

Memphis 54, Peck 43

North Huron 75, Caseville 62

Owen-Gage 66, Port Hope 38

Reese 57, Bad Axe 50

Vassar 46, USA 35

Warriors tested by Owen-Gage

I'm not sure if anyone was expecting much of a ball game when an undefeated North Huron team traveled to Owen-Gage against a one win Bulldog squad tonight. But that was exactly what they got as O-G laid it all the on the line despite losing 62-50.

The Bulldogs led 18-12 after the first and stretched the lead to 14 (26-12) with 5:57 to go in second. However, North Huron ended the quarter on a 18-7 run to cut the Bulldog's advantage to three (33-30).

The Warriors took over in the third as they opened on a 14-0 run and outscored O-G 23-4 in the critical third. Sean Clancy scored 13 of his 28 points in the third.

In the fourth, North Huron led by as many as 16 early (55-39), but the Bulldogs tried to make a game of it as they cut it to eight with 1:51 to go.

For North Huron, coach Paul Empkie felt the slow start was attributied to coming out flat and to this being the games first game of the new year. But he was impressed with how his team responded and how several players stepped up in the locker room at the half to say their piece and set the team straight.

For Owen-Gage, coach Derek Howard explained they already are looking ahead to districts and preparing for them with the remaining 15 or 16 games. He thinks that sticking with the no. 8 rated team in the state has to be a huge confidence boost for his team, but as he explained, he's not keen on moral victories and would like to see the team around .500 by the time the playoffs come around in March.