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Wildcats fall to Central in district opener; Hillman’s treys down Mio

TRAVERSE CITY–The old saying goes that it’s tough to beat a team three times in a season.

The Traverse City Central girls basketball team managed to pull off the feat on Monday, but the Wildcats made sure to make the Trojans work for it. Alpena gave the Trojans all it had, but ultimately fell short in a Class A district quarterfinal 59-51.

Alpena (12-9) fell behind by double digits three times in the game and managed to rally back each time. Alpena cut Central’s lead to three, 53-50 with 50 seconds left, but couldn’t draw any closer.

“It got away a little at the end, but I’m real proud of the effort from the girls tonight,” Alpena co-coach Steve McCourt said. “We gave them everything we had, but just came up a little short at the end.”

Alpena trailed 32-29 at halftime and 41-35 after three quarters. Though the Central only outscored Alpena 18-16 in the fourth quarter, it proved a large enough gap to pull out a win.

Shelby Seaver led Alpena with 13 points, Jessica Marwede had 10 and Dakota Prevo added 12.

Despite the short ride in the postseason, McCourt was pleased with his team’s effort. Alpena finished with a winning record again and was in contention for the Big North Conference title for most of the year after graduated six players.

“To have only four returning players, most people would be in a rebuild, but we ended up in a three-way tie (in conference play),” McCourt said. “I look at the year and we were able to contend, we were competitive in all our games and I think we’re headed in the right direction.”

BOYS BASKETBALL

Hillman 72, Mio 53

HILLMAN–Gunnar Libby scored 24 points and the Hillman boys basketball team hit 17 three-pointers en route to a 72-53 win on Monday.

Hillman’s 17 triples are tied for ninth best in a single game in the state record book and propelled the Tigers (18-0, 13-0 North Star League) closer to another perfect regular season.

Jared Juergens added 12 points and Billy Kolcan had nine for Hillman, which led 38-25 at halftime.

Reilly McMaster led Hillman with 12 points and Andrew Hager added 11.

Hillman hosts Alcona today.

Rogers City 60, Fairview 56

Matt Altman scored 14 points and Jacob Hilla recorded a double-double as the Rogers City boys basketball team pulled away from Fairview on Monday for a 60-56 win.

Rogers City led 15-6 after one quarter, 29-24 at halftime and 43-41 after three quarters before holding off the Eagles in the fourth quarter.

Hilla finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds and Brendan Koss added 10 points.

“They just kept coming at us and got a lot of easy shots,” Fairview coach Rick Ebert said of the Hurons.

Rogers City hosts Pickford tonight and Fairview hosts Oscoda on Thursday.

Onaway 76, Joburg 58

JOHANNESBURG–Keaton Brewer recorded a double-double and the Onaway boys basketball team had a stellar outside shooting night in a 76-58 win over Johannesburg-Lewiston on Monday.

Onaway (10-9, 8-7 Ski Valley) jumped out to a 23-11 lead after one quarter and went into cruise control from there. Onaway led 46-32 at halftime and 66-47 after three quarters.

Brewer finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds and Trevor Wregglesworth had 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Wregglesworth was 6-for-6 from three-point range in the first half and Onaway finished with 13 triples for the game.

“We started out strong. We knew that Joburg was playing some really good basketball and we came at them,” Onaway coach Eddy Szymoniak said. “We came out and played phenomenal. Trevor and Keaton just dominated and our Big Three came up big again.”

Cody Cruse added 13 points and five boards for Onaway.

Onaway hosts Pellston tonight in its regular season finale.

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