Drew Otten (13) of Rudyard scores this first half field goal over Derek Ferris (14) of Cheboygan Friday, January 8. Trojans Post Win Over Saints

The Cedarville Trojans used a strong outside scoring effort and free throw shooting to post a 92-63 home non-conference win over the St. Ignace Saints at John Duncan Gymnasium Tuesday, January 5.

The Trojans made seven threepoint field goals, all in the first-half, connected on 25 of 34 free throws (73%) from the charity stripe, and four players scored in double figures for Coach Dave Duncan.

St. Ignace scored the first field goal of the game before Cedarville answered with three consecutive triples for a 9-4 lead. The Saints never looked back as Zach McFarlane scored 11 first-quarter points to build the Trojans lead to 26-10 after the first eight minutes.

The Saints outscored the Trojans 20-15 in the second quarter to cut the Cedarville lead to 41-31 at halftime and closed the margin to seven points at the 5:00 mark of the third quarter as Gerrit Mortensen, the leading scorer in the Upper Peninsula with 31 points, notched 25 during the first 19 minutes.

Zach McFarlane (34) of Cedarville flies to the basket and is defended by the Saints’ Evan Everson (24) during the Trojans’ win over St. Ignace Tuesday, January 5. Also pictured are Tyler Kanitz (10) of Cedarville and Grant Simmons (42) and Gerrit Mortensen (3) of St. Ignace. The Trojans, ranked sixth in the state poll and fourth in the Upper Peninsula poll, used a tough defense to shut down the Saints offense, outscoring St. Ignace 46- 23 in the final 13 minutes to record the win.

Trojans statistics: Andrew Jaroche, 24 points, five assists; Zach McFarlane, 21 points; Jordan Baker, 17 points; Tyler Kanitz, 14 points, eight rebounds; Matt Schlosser, seven points; Connor McLeod, six points, six rebounds; Michael Kenny, three points.

Grant Simmons (42) of St. Ignace drives to the basket as Connor McLeod (44) of Cedarville defends. Saints statistics: Gerrit Mortensen, 31 points, five rebounds, four steals; Austin St. Louis, five rebounds, 12 points; Evan Everson, nine points; Grant Simmons, six points, six rebounds; Cole Christiansen and Landon Marshall, two points; Curtis St. Louis, one point, three rebounds, two steals; Kevin Guillard, four rebounds.

Trojans Down Saints

in JV Game

The Cedarville Trojans defeated the St. Ignace Saints 75-60 Tuesday, January 5.

Trojans statistics: Josh Hester, 28 points; Matt Hill, 18 points; Jimmy Haske, 13 points; Tucker Haske, five points; Bobby Krackowski and Keith Bouschor, four points; Patrick Weaver, two points; David Andress, one point.

Sam Peterson DeTour Saints statistics: Eric Hepker, 17 points; Parker Simmons, 11 points; Aaron Colegrove, nine points; John Eby, eight points; Alexander Belonga, five points; Chris Belonga, four points; Brennan Danielson and Nate Montie, three points.

Saints Bounce Back With SAC

Win; Mortensen Scores 38

The St. Ignace Saints bounced back after a disappointing outing at Cedarville to down the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils 74-61 in a Straits Area Conference (SAC) home contest Friday, January 8.

"We had 24 turnovers against Cedarville and cut that in half against the Sault," said Saints Coach Jason Marshall. "We took better care of the ball, were more patient, and rebounded better."

The Saints, 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the SAC, led 18-14 after the first eight minutes and outscored the Blue Devils 25-14 in the second quarter for a 43-28-halftime advantage.

Sault Ste. Marie cut the Saints lead to 57-47 after the third quarter with a 19-14 margin before St. Ignace closed out the league matchup with a 19-14 scoring edge in the final eight minutes.

Saints statistics: Gerrit Mortensen, 38 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals; Cole Christiansen, 12 points, three assists; Austin St. Louis, eight points, 11 rebounds, five assists; Evan Everson and Grant Simmons, six points, five rebounds; Landon Marshall, two points, two rebounds; Curtis St. Louis, two points.

Trojans Extend Winning Streak

With EUPC Win Over Bays

The Cedarville Trojans extended their winning streak to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Eastern Upper Peninsula Conference after a 75-52 win over the Brimley Bays at John Duncan Gymnasium in Cedarville Thursday, January 7.

The Trojans were without varsity coach Dave Duncan, who was replaced for this game by junior varsity coach Scott Barr.

Cedarville held a 13-11-scoring edge after the first eight minutes before outscoring Brimley 22-8 in the second quarter for a 35-19-halftime advantage.

"The team opened up the their offense in the second quarter that carried over into the second half," said Coach Barr.

The Trojans completed the league contest with a 40-33 margin in the second half to post the win.

Trojans statistics: Andrew Jaroche, 26 points, six assists, five steals; Tyler Kanitz, 19 points, 11 rebounds; Connor McLeod, 16 points, 15 rebounds; Michael Kenny, seven points, nine rebounds; Zach McFarlane, four points, four assists, four steals; Jordan Baker, two points; Jeremy Sherlund, one point.

Bays statistics: Kyle Root, 18 points; Dylan Graham and Ty Root, 13 points; Michael Kuenzer, Josh Schreiber, three points; Dylan Schroder, two points.

Trojans Win JV Game

The Cedarville Trojans defeated the Brimley Bays 62-40 in the junior varsity game.

Trojans statistics: Matt Hill, 14 points; Josh Haske, 12 points; Bobby Krackowski, 10 points; Keith Bouschor, eight points; Derek Griffin, six points; Tucker Haske, four points; Danny Hitchens and Todd Hecht, three points; Jimmy Haske, two points.

Bays statistics available: Justin Graham and Lance Piche, nine points.

Outside Scoring Lifts

Chiefs Over Bulldogs

After sharing the Straits Area Conference (SAC) championship last season, Rudyard and Cheboygan found that in the first match-up of this season, the host Chiefs took the upper hand with timely outside scoring to down the Bulldogs 73- 60 Friday, January 8.

"We just couldn't finish our shots," said Bulldogs Coach Grant Ross. "We took good shots, but the ball didn't fall."

Cheboygan, 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the SAC, outscored Rudyard 58- 50 from the field, including a 30-6 margin from the three-point line and 15-10 from the charity stripe.

The Bulldogs, 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the conference, took their largest lead late in the first quarter at 17-12 before the Chiefs’ Jordan Spohn drained one of his four triples to slice the Rudyard lead to 17-15 after the first eight minutes.

Drew Otten, who led the Bulldogs with six first-quarter points, opened the second period with a two-point field goal, but the Chiefs answered with a 7-0 run for a 22- 19 margin at the 4:26 mark and held a 32-30-scoring edge at halftime.

Arik Hesselink and Ryan Hendrickson scored to open the second half to give Rudyard a 34-32 advantage, but that was the last lead for the Bulldogs as Cheboygan scored 11 unanswered points for a 43-34 margin with 3:54 remaining in the third quarter.

Cheboygan led 50-40 in the final minute of the third quarter before Hendrickson scored four points and Ben Harter chipped in two to slice the Chiefs lead to 50- 46 with 7:38 left in the game.

The Chiefs scored the next eight points for a 58-46 lead and maintained a double-figure advantage for the remainder of the game.

The Bulldogs shot 44% from two-point range and 15% from the three-point line.

Rudyard statistics: Drew Otten, 14 points, three assists; Scott Coffey, 12 points, 10 rebounds; Davin Salo, 10 points, three steals; Ryan Hendrickson, 10 points, three assists; Ben Harter, eight points; Arik Hesselink, four points, 12 rebounds; Ricky Gere, two points.

Cheboygan statistics: Nick Hancock, 23 points, five triples; Jordan Spohn, 22 points, four treys; Trevor Closs, 17 points, one triple; Adam Laur, four points; Derek Ferris, three points; Kollin Currie and Isiah Woodard, two points.

Bulldogs JV Post Win

The Rudyard Bulldogs junior varsity team defeated the Cheboygan Chiefs 41-29.

Rudyard statistics: Tyler Wilson, 13 points; Jacob McDonoff, nine points; Caleb Salo, eight points; Brandon Radle, six points; Cody Mesnard, three points; Garrett LaPonsie, two points.

Bulldogs Breeze Past Bays

The Rudyard Bulldogs breezed past the Brimley Bays 86-48 in a road game Tuesday, January 5.

The Bulldogs led 39-23 at halftime before outscoring the Bays 47-25 in the second half to post the win.

Rudyard statistics: Arik Hesselink, 22 points; Ryan Hendrickson, 15 points; Jared Clark, 12 points; Davin Salo, 11 points; Drew Otten, Ben Harter, and Scott Coffey, six points; Jacob McDonoff, four points; Ricky Gere, three points.

Brimley statistics: Michael Kuenzer, 11 points; Ty Root, 10 points; Kyle Root, eight points; Jared Parish and Dylan Schroeder, six points; Dylan Graham, four points; Donnie Lewis, three points.

Raiders Down Eagles,

Fall to Cougars

The DeTour Raiders defeated the Engadine Eagles 38-21 during a low scoring Eastern Upper Peninsula Conference home contest Thursday, January 7, and fell to the Superior Central Cougars 59-50 on the road Saturday, January 9.

The Raiders led 18-5 after the first half and held a 20-16-scoring edge in the second half.

Raiders statistics: Chase Livingston, 10 points, five rebounds; Tyler Anderson, nine points, seven assists, six steals; Ian Burton, eight points, 11 rebounds; Brandon Melcer, four points; Harry Reinfelder, one point, six steals.

Eagles statistics: Phillip Hood, 14 points; Michael Klobucher, four points, Kenny Oven, two points; Connor Frisch, one point. Middle Quarters

Hurt Raiders At

Superior Central

The middle quarters made the difference as the host Cougars outscored the Raiders 35-20 en route to the non-league win Saturday, January 9.

Both teams battled to a 13-13 score after the first eight minutes before Superior Central took a 29-23-halftime lead with a 16-10 margin in the second quarter.

The Cougars increased their lead to 48-33 with a 19-10 margin in the third quarter. The Raiders closed the final score to nine points after outscoring Superior Central 17-11 in the fourth quarter.

"We played much better against Superior Central and held them to a season-low 59 points," said Raiders Coach Rob Anderson. "We ran the floor well and mixed out offenses."

Raiders statistics: Tyler Anderson, 15 points, nine assists, five steals; Sam Peterson, 11 points, 12 rebounds, two blocked shots; Chase Livingston, 10 points, six assists; Brandon Melcer, seven points; Ian Burton, five points, 12 rebounds, five assists; Harry Reinfelder, two points.