Saints Bounce Back With SAC Win Over Rudyard
Career Highs for Dan Olsen: 29 Points, 11 Boards
By David Latva

Dan Olsen St. Ignace

Senior Dan Olsen scored a career-high 29 points and 11 rebounds to lead the St. Ignace Saints basketball team to a 67-56 Straits Area Conference (SAC) win over Rudyard Friday, January 12.

The three-year player also added five assists. He recorded 10 points in the first quarter alone.

"I challenged him, and Dan responded," said Saints Coach Doug Ingalls. "Dan can score, but he has improved on his rebounding. Anthony Lester and Ben Matelski came off the bench to give us added energy, and that was a key."

Coach Ingalls said he was pleased at the Saints' 22 assists against the Bulldogs, as well.

The Saints bounced back from a defeat at Cedarville Tuesday, January 9, to improve their overall record to 8-1 and remain on top of the SAC standings with a 3-0 mark.

The Saints edged the Bulldogs in scoring in the first quarter (17-16). Then, in the second quarter, the two teams traded points early until the final 3:15 of the first half, when the Saints took the lead for good with an 11-3 run for a 34-28 halftime margin.

James Peterson scored five and Lewie Mullins, Gerrit Mortensen, and Olsen chipped in two points each.

Rudyard, 3-6 on the season and 0-5 in the league, scored the first five points of the third quarter to cut the Saints lead to 34-33, but Olsen scored nine, Nick Montie added four, and Jake Weiss and Mullins notched two to lift St. Ignace to a 17-2 offensive run for a 51-35 lead going into the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs closed out the game with a 21- 16 scoring edge in the final period as Jeff Briggs scored eight of team high 17 points.

Saints Stats: Dan Olsen, 29 points, 11 rebounds, five assists; Jake Weiss, nine points, seven rebounds, five blocked shots, four assists, three steals; Nick Montie, eight points, four rebounds; James Peterson, seven points, five rebounds, three steals; Lewie Mullins, six points, four rebounds; Gerrit Mortensen, four points, six assists, four steals; Anthony Lester, two points, four assists, three steals; Ben Matelski, two points, two steals.

Bulldogs Stats: Jeff Briggs, 17 points; Craig Wallis and Dan Bartley, 11 points; Owen McGrath, 16 points, Isaiah Otten, five points; Chastin McKelvie and George Kinsella, two points.

St. Ignace will travel to Rogers City to face the Hurons in a key SAC contest Friday, January 19.

Saints Drop JV Games

St. Ignace dropped a 66-50 decision to Rudyard during the junior varsity basketball game.

Saints Stats: Tyler Mapes, 15 points; Evan Everson, 13 points; James Halberg, 10 points; Kevin Guillard, five points; Matt Taylor, four points; Pat Schlehuber, three points.

Bulldogs Stats: Kyle Christiansen, 13 points; Todd Anderson, 12 points; Scott Coffey, 10 points; Kyle Jeffries, eight points; Andrew Otten, five points; Kiefer McCollum, Justin LaCoursiere, Davin Salo, four points; Tom Hendrickson, Jacob Bywater, Daine Pavolski, two points.