Austin St. Louis (12) scores two of his 25 points over the Blue Devil’s Kurtis Dutcher (3) during the Saints win over Gaylord Tuesday, January 12. Saints Offense Explodes

To 79-69 Win Over Gaylord

The St. Ignace Saints exploded for their two largest offensive outputs of the season during a 79-69 home non-conference win over the Gaylord Blue Devils Tuesday, January 12, and a 84-50 Straits Area Conference (SAC) road decision against Newberry, Friday, January 15.

The free throw line was a key as Gaylord outscored St. Ignace 65-62 from the field, but the Saints held a 17-4 edge from the charity stripe, connecting on 17 of 19 (89%). The Blue Devils made four of six.

The trio of Gerrit Mortensen, Austin St. Louis, and Cole Christiansen combined for 68 points for St. Ignace. When the Saints use balanced offense, their chances of winning go up.

Cole Christiansen (22) drives to the hoop for two of his 15 points. St. Ignace led 16-12 after the first eight minutes and outscored the Blue Devils 19-16 in the second quarter for a 35-28-halftime advantage as St. Louis scored 18 points and Mortensen chipped in with 16.

Gaylord, a member of the Big North Conference, held a 17-16- scoring edge in the third quarter for a 51-45 score going into the final period. During the final eight minutes, both teams pursued baskets, as the teams combined for 62 points.

The Blue Devils cut the Saints lead to 56-52 at the 5:32 mark before Christiansen, who scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, answered with seven during the St. Ignace 9-2 run. This took the game to a 65-54 margin with 3:17 remaining, while the defense held Gaylord down the stretch to post the win.

Saints statistics: Gerrit Mortensen, 28 points, 11 assists, six steals, five rebounds; Austin St. Louis, 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists; Cole Christiansen, 15 points, two assists, two steals; Evan Everson, four points, three rebounds; Curtis St. Louis, two points, four rebounds, three assists; Grant Simmons, two points, two rebounds; Landon Marshall, two points, two rebounds; Kevin Guillard, one point, three assists.

Arik Hesselink Rudyard Saints Breeze to SAC Win

The Saints opened with a 13-5 lead after the first eight minutes and never looked back as St. Ignace outscored the Indians 29-12 in the second quarter for a 42-17 halftime advantage.

St. Ignace, 3-1 in the SAC and 6-2 overall on the season, held a 42-33 margin in the second half.

"Everyone scored and stepped up their play," said Saints Coach Jason Marshall. "We gave up just six offensive boards and shot 12 of 16 (75%) from the free throw line."

Drew Otten Rudyard Saints statistics: Gerrit Mortensen, 33 points, eight assists, four rebounds, three steals; Austin St. Louis, 16 points, five rebounds, four assists; Cole Christiansen, 10 points; Curtis St. Louis, eight points, two assists; Grant Simmons, six points, nine rebounds, two assists; Evan Everson, four points, six rebounds; Kevin Guillard, four points, two rebounds, two assists; Landon Marshall, three points, five rebounds.

The Saints will close out their January schedule with home games against Cheboygan Friday, January 22, Pickford Wednesday, January 27, and Rudyard Friday, January 29.

Saints JV Team Posts

Pair of Victories

The St. Ignace Saints junior varsity team defeated Newberry 57-40 Friday, January 15, and Gaylord 51-47 Tuesday, January 12, and fell to Sault Ste Marie 59- 53 Friday, January 8.

Mckinley Portice Pickford Saints vs. Newberry: John Eby, 20 points; Eric Hepker, 11 points; Aaron Colegrove, nine points; Parker Simmons, eight points; Brennan Danielson, three points; Kurt King and Nate Montie, two points.

Saints vs. Gaylord: Eric Hepker, 16 points; Parker Simmons, 14 points; John Eby, 10 points; Aaron Colegrove, one point.

Saints vs. Sault Ste. Marie: Eric Hepker, 17 points; Parker Simmons, 14 points; John Eby, eight points; Brennan Danielson and Nick Montie, six points; Aaron Colegrove, two points.

Hesselink, Otten Record Triple

Doubles in Bulldogs SAC Win

Seniors Arik Hesselink and Drew Otten recorded triple doubles in points, rebounds, and assists to lift the

Rudyard Bulldogs

to a 93-70 home Straits Area Conference (SAC) win over the Sault Ste. Marie Blue

Tyler Bennett Engadine Devils Thursday, January 14.

Hesselink scored 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists and Otten added 22

points, 11 rebounds,

and 10 assists to lead the Bulldogs offensive assault.

Rudyard, 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the SAC, led 24-17 after the first eight minutes and held a 17-16- scoring edge in the second quarter for a 41-33 halftime advantage.

The Bulldogs increased their lead to 65-53 with a 24-20 margin in the third quarter and outscored the Blue Devils 28-17 in the final eight minutes.

Bulldogs remaining statistics: Scott Coffey, 22 points; Ryan Hendrickson, 10 points; Ben Harter, five points; Jared Clark, four points; Willie Jacobus, three points; Ricky Gere, two points.

Blue Devils leading scorers: James Walton, 14 points; Dave Deuman and Steve Angeli, 13 points.

Ian Burton DeTour Mckinley Portice Sets School

Scoring Record at Pickford

Senior Mckinley Portice scored 25 points to lead the Pickford Panthers to a 73-43 Eastern Upper Peninsula Conference (EUPC) home win over the Engadine Eagles and became the school’s all-time career offensive leader with 1,281 points Thursday, January 14.

In the four-year span of 2006- 2010, Portice surpassed the mark of Richard Hanna, who scored 1,278 points from 1994 to 1998.

Pickford, 4-3 on the season and 2-1 in the EUPC, raced out to a 22- 6 lead after the first eight minutes and held a 36-20 halftime lead after both teams scored 14 points in the second quarter and outscored the Eagles 37-23 in the second half.

Panthers remaining statistics: Jacob Eddy, 11 points; Dylan Rye, 10 points; Nathan Gregg, nine points; Paul Morrison, six points; Josh Reid, five points; Tim Gough, three points; David Hurban and Issac Leach, two points.

Gerrit Mortensen (3) registered 28 points to lead the Saints over the Gaylord Blue Devils. Eagles statistics: Phillip Hood, 21 points,, six rebounds, four steals, three blocked shots, three assists; Michael Klobucher, 10 points, 10 rebounds; Tyler Bennett, 10 points; Michael Ramelis, two points, four rebounds.

Panthers Edge

Indians

The Pickford Panthers outscored the Newberry Indians 13-8 in the first eight minutes and hung on for a 47-45 road non-conference win Tuesday, January 12.

The Indians outscored the Panthers 37-34 in the final three quarters before falling three points short.

Panthers statistics: Dylan Rye, 18 points; Jacob Eddy, 12 points; Mckinley Portice, seven points; Paul Morrison, six points; Nathan Gregg, four points.

Raiders Use Balanced

Scoring, Strong Defense

The DeTour Raiders employed balanced scoring and strong defense to down the Brimley Bays during an Eastern Upper Peninsula Conference (EUPC) contest January 14.

"Defense has been a strong point of our game and that has helped our offensive flow," said Raiders Coach Rob Anderson. "We are still a work in progress and will improve with each practice and game."

The Raiders, 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the EUPC, took a 18-5 lead after the first eight minutes before both teams scored 13 points in the second quarter for a 31-18 halftime advantage.

DeTour outscored Brimley 22-8 in the third quarter for a 53-26 margin and completed the game with a 20-18-scoring edge in the final eight minutes.

Raiders statistics: Ian Burton, 21 points, 15 rebounds, four steals, four assists; Chase Livingston, 19 points, six rebounds; Brandon Melcer and Sam Peterson, 12 points; Harry Reinfelder, four points; Tyler Anderson, three points, 11 assists, seven steals; Brandon Kurkierewicz, two points.

Bays statistics: Dylan Graham, 20 points; Dylan Schroeder and Michael Kuenzer, six points; Jared Parish, five points; Donnie Lewis, four points; Josh Schreiber, three points.

Blue Devils Defeat Bays

The Brimley Bays were defeated by the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils 78-57 during a road nonconference Tuesday, January 12.

The Blue Devils held a 39-28- halftime advantage and outscored the Bays 39-29 in the second half to post the win.

Bays statistics: Kyle Root, 18 points; Jared Parish, 15 points; Dylan Graham, eight points; Michael Kuenzer, seven points; Ty Root, six points; Dylan Schroeder, three points.

Blue Devils leading scorers: Dave Deuman, 28 points; Steven Angeli, 19 points.

Brimley Falls to HLC

The Brimley Bays fell to the Harbor Light Christian Swordsmen 77-62 during a road game Saturday, January 9.

The Swordsmen led 43-29 at halftime and held a 34-33-scoring edge in the second half.

Bays statistics: Dylan Graham, 24 points; Ty Root, 20 points; Jared Parish, five, Keith Swendsen, four points; Dylan Schroeder, three points, Kyle Root and Donnie Lewis, two points.