St. Ignace Saints Fight off Rudyard Bulldogs 54-46 for District Title
Class C District Action at Newberry High School
By David Latva

Craig Wallis (23) of Rudyard drives to the hoop for two points against Saints' Dan Olsen and Jake Weiss (24) in the district final game.

The old saying that it is tough to defeat a team three times in one season came true as the St. Ignace Saints boys basketball team had to hang on to defeat a determined Rudyard Bulldogs team 54-46 for the Class C district championship Friday, March 9.

With the win, the Saints (19-3 overall), earning the team's first district title since 2001, advanced to the Class C regionals in Escanaba to battle the Negaunee Miners Friday, March 16, at 6 p.m. The Miners (19-3 overall in the Mid-Peninsula Athletic Conference) beat the Ishpeming Westwood Patriots 34-21 and, in the district finals, beat the Ishpeming Hematites 43-38 to advance to the regionals.

In the other Class C regional match-up, the Houghton Gremlins (20-2 overall in the West-Pac Conference) will face the Norway Knights (12-8 overall in the Mid- Peninsula Athletic Conference) in the nightcap.

The regionals championship game will be at 4:30 p.m., Saturday, March 17.

"Rudyard's record is deceiving," said Saints Head Coach Doug Ingalls. "They are a strong team and Coach Ross had his squad ready to play."

The Saints Lewie Mullins (44) connects on this key free throw late against Rudyard.

Rudyard, 7-15 on the season, played with strong intensity at the start. Bulldogs player Jeff Briggs scored seven points to lift Rudyard to a 13-10 lead after the first eight minutes.

Jake Weiss caught fire offensively with three triples for 11 points in the second quarter as the Saints outscored the Bulldogs 21-8, which included a 9-0 scoring run to take a 31-21 lead at half-time.

Rudyard opened the second half with a 7-1 margin to slice the St. Ignace lead to 33-29 with five minutes left in the third quarter before the Saints turned a 9-1 run into a 42-30 lead. Rudyard's Craig Wallis, however, drained two treys to cut the Saints lead to 42-36 going into the final period.

Rudyard's Arik Hesselink scored four points and Dan Bartley made a two-point bucket to start the fourth quarter, notching the score at 42 with 5:36 left in the game.

Lewie Mullins ended the Saints scoring slump with two free throws before Wallis tied the game at 44. Gerrit Mortensen, however, hit a huge trey from the left corner with 2:46 on the clock for a 47-44 Saints lead. One minute later, Wallis made two free throws for a 47-46 score at 1:49 left in the game.

The Saints Anthony Lester (14) plays tough defense on the Emeralds Jared Turan (34) during the regional semifinal win.

The Saints pulled ahead with a Weiss drive-in-the-lane score at the one-minute mark for a 49-46 lead. Free throws from Dan Olsen (four) and Weiss (one) iced the game for St. Ignace.

"I am happy for the district championship, especially for the seniors," said Coach Ingalls. "This is a great group of student-athletes that have worked hard this year and earned the success, especially with just two returning starters coming into the season."

The Saints scored 18 field goals, five triples, and were 13 of 16 from the free throw line while the Bulldogs made 18 field goals, three treys, and shot seven of 15 from the charity stripe.

St. Ignace Stats: Lewie Mullins, 14 points, three rebounds, two steals; Jake Weiss, 14 points, six assists, five rebounds, two steals; Dan Olsen, 13 points, seven assists, four rebounds, four steals; James Peterson, six points, four rebounds; Gerrit Mortensen, five points, six rebounds, two assists; Ben Matelski, two points.

Jeff Briggs (4) hits this threepoint field goal for Rudyard in the district finals at Newberry.

Rudyard Stats: Craig Wallis, 16 points; Jeff Briggs, 13 points, Arik Hesselink, nine points, Ban Bartley, six points, Chastin McKelvie, two points.

Come-from-behind

Win Advances Saints

to District Title Game

The Saints overcame poor shooting and a five-point, first-half deficit to defeat the Manistique Emeralds 69-58 in the Class C district semifinals Wednesday, March 7.

The Saints came alive in the second half, outscoring the Emeralds 47-31 in the second half.

Manistique (8-13 overall), a member of the Mid-Peninsula Athletic Conference, led 14-12 after the first eight minutes and held a 13-10 advantage in the second quarter for a 27-22 halftime lead.

The game was tied five times during the first two quarters, in which the Saints only lead was 18- 16 at the 5:55 mark of the second quarter before the Emeralds outscored St. Ignace 11-4 for a five-point lead at the intermission.

Dan Olsen kept the Saints in the game with 13 first-half points, finishing with 28 for the game, which included shooting 10 for 11 from the free throw line.

"We lost our composure in the first half, but everyone played well in the second half and contributed in huge ways," said Coach Ingalls.

Saints freshman Gerrit Mortensen opened the second half hitting one of his three three-pointers for the game, to give the Saints a 34-33 lead with 4:14 remaining in the quarter. The Saints never trailed again, although the Emeralds continued to make it a close contest.

St. Ignace continued with a strong offensive effort as Olsen scored seven, Jake Weiss chipped in five points, and Lewie Mullins scored one to extend the Saints advantage to 49-41 going into the final period.

The Saints increased the lead to 59-42 with a 10-1 scoring run to begin the fourth quarter but Manistique cut the St. Ignace lead to 61-53 with 2:22 left in the game.

Inside the two-minute mark, Anthony Lester saved the ball from going out of bounds and flipped the ball back to Jake Weiss for a lay-up that proved to be the deciding field goal.

"Ben Matelski, Anthony Lester, and Nick Montie played huge on defense, and free throws were the big difference," said Coach Ingalls.

The Saints shot 13 for 15 from the free throw line in the second half.

The Saints scored 25 field goals, six triples, and were 13 of 16 from the free throw line. The Emeralds made 21 field goals, six treys, and went 10 of 17 from the charity stripe.

St. Ignace Stats: Dan Olsen, 28 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals; Gerrit Mortensen, 16 points; Jake Weiss, 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots; Anthony Lester, six points, four steals; James Peterson, four points, six rebounds, six assists, one block shot; Nick Montie, two points; Lewie Mullins, one point.

Manistique Stats: Josh Mickelson, 20 points; Corey Gonyea, 17 points; Cody Kangas, seven points; Terry Martin and Jared Turan, five points; Brandon Lawrence and Jared Martin, two points.

Bulldogs Upend Host

Indians in District Opener

The Rudyard Bulldogs outscored the Newberry Indians 21-9 in the third quarter to turn a 35-32 deficit into a 53-44 win in the Class C district semifinal Tuesday, March 6.

The Bulldogs started with a 17- 12 lead after the first eight minutes before the Indians recorded an 8-1 advantage in the second quarter for a 20-18 half-time lead.

Newberry held a 15-14 scoring edge in the third quarter to take a three-point lead into the final period before Rudyard exploded for a 12-point scoring run that iced the win for the Bulldogs.

Rudyard Stats: Jeff Briggs, 18 points; Craig Wallis, 12 points; Arik Hesselink, nine points; Dan Bartley, six points; Chastin McKelvie, five points; Todd Anderson, three points.

Newberry Stats: Allan Mergener and Derek Dake, 14 points; Joe Patrow, 10 points; Greg Hatulla and Brett Massey, three points.