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.
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