Saints Post Huge Road Win at Rogers City, 69-62

Lewie Mullins St. Ignace

Road victories are important to win league championships, and St. Ignace posted a key Straits Area Conference (SAC) win with a 69- 62 decision at Rogers City Friday, January 19.

"Rogers City is a tough place to play and to come away with a win is huge," said Saints Coach Doug Ingalls. "Our team intensity was a key and when Rogers City made a run, we responded."

St. Ignace, 4-0 in the SAC and 9- 1 overall, led 19-17 after the first quarter as Gerrit Mortensen scored seven points and Jake Weiss chipped in six for the Saints.

The host Hurons opened the first two minutes of the second quarter with a 9-0 run for a 26-19 lead, but the Saints came back as James Peterson started a 15-1 run scoring four consecutive points, followed by a Dan Olsen bucket, two consecutive triples from Mortensen, and another triple from Olsen to give the Saints a 34-27 lead inside the three-minute mark of the first half.

Rogers City tried to wipe out the Saints lead before halftime, however, Anthony Lester answered with a long range three-point field goal to boost the Saints lead to 39-34 going into the break.

Anthony Lester St. Ignace

St. Ignace senior Lewie Mullins kept the Saints in the game in the second half with a career-high 13 points and recorded 11 rebounds on the game. The Hurons, however, outscored St. Ignace 17-9 to take a 51-48 advantage into the final period.

Olsen and Lester scored during the first 45 seconds of the fourth quarter and Mullins chipped in one free throw as the Saints took a 53- 51 scoring edge with 6:38 left in the game.

Rogers City tied the score at 53 before Mullins answered with two field goals for a 57- 53 lead. The Hurons then scored eight straight points to take a 61-57 lead at the 3:50 mark.

Olsen scored a two-point field goal to end the Saints drought and Lester hit his second triple at 3:15 to add to the run. The Hurons, however, tied the game at 62 on a free throw with 2:05 left.

M u l l i n s ' three free throws and Olsen and Mortensen's twopoint buckets pushed St. Ignace ahead. Then the Saints defense took over, holding the Hurons scoreless down the stretch to earn a conference win.

"Lewie kept us in the game in the fourth quarter and Anthony hit a three-point field goal in the final period," added Coach Ingalls.

St. Ignace scored 28 field goals, six treys, and seven of 12 free throws, while Rogers City made 21 field goals, four triples, and 15 of 23 from the charity stripe.

Saints Stats: Dan Olsen, 17 points; Gerrit Mortensen, 15 points; Lewie Mullins, 13 points, 11 rebounds; Jake Weiss, 10 points; Anthony Lester, eight points; James Peterson, six points.

St. Ignace will battle Cheboygan in a SAC contest Friday, January 26, at LaSalle High School and then travels to Gaylord to face the Blue Devils Tuesday, January 30.