By JAMES

ANDERSEN

News Sports Editor

ROGERS CITY-The Oscoda boys basketball took advantage of opportunities on Friday.

The Owls used a 9-0 run to start the second half to gain some distance from Rogers City before going on to defeat the Hurons 52-46 at Rogers City High School.

Nathan Nagel scored 13 points and Jacob Pike added 11 points for the Owls (4-8, 3-6 North Star League) who overcame some early foul trouble and a late rally attempt from the Hurons (4-7, 3-5 NSL).

“The team’s effort was phenomenal,” Oscoda coach Seth Alda said. “The execution wasn’t great, but the effort was phenomenal.”

Oscoda led 42-30 after three quarters, but Rogers City cut the lead to six two different times late in the fourth quarter, the last time with 1:25 left after a triple from Matt Altman made it 49-43.

The Hurons fouled the Owls over the remaining time and still had a chance to get back into the game after the Owls went 2-for-10 from the line. Rogers City couldn’t convert any open looks however and didn’t work the ball inside.

It was a frustrating ending to a frustrating half for the Hurons, who turned the ball over on their first four possessions in the third quarter and generally struggled on both ends of the floor in the second half.

“The first four possessions were just unforced turnovers. I don’t know. We moved the ball in the first half, but I don’t know what happened. We stopped getting the ball inside,” Rogers City coach Jesse Streich said. “They gave us a chance at the end, but we couldn’t score on them.”

Rogers City trailed just 27-25 at halftime, but the struggles to start the second half, turned Oscoda’s lead from two points to 11 and the Hurons were outscored 15-5 in the third quarter. The Owls were able to surge ahead despite some foul trouble with its starting lineup, including leading scorer Kyle Charters, who picked up three fouls in the first half.

He finished with eight points after sitting for much of the first half.

“Rogers City’s played primarily zone the last few years we’ve played them. They switched to man-to-man and threw us off, but we’ve been working on it in practice, getting ready for their 1-2-2, so we were able to settle down,” Alda said. “We hit shots too. Sometimes it just comes down to hitting shots.”

Oscoda ran out to a 14-5 lead to start the game, but the Hurons rallied back and trailed 14-12 after one quarter, thanks in part to two big shots from Andrew Radke. The two teams played tug-of-war with the lead in the second quarter and the Hurons briefly held a one-point lead. Oscoda pulled ahead to take the halftime lead, but the Hurons might have had the play of the game when Josh Belusar converted a missed layup at the buzzer.

Alex Hincka and Altman led Rogers City with nine points each and Radke added seven.

After Oscoda’s third quarter run, Rogers City worked its way back to within six with three minutes left in the quarter, but a lack of offense doomed the Hurons chances to pull closer.

Rogers City’s JV team won 56-22 behind 30 points from Phil Grambau. Kaleb Budnick added 13 points and Luke Tulgestke added 10.

Darius Fulton led Oscoda with seven points.

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OSCODA (52): N. Nagel 5 3-7 13; K. Charters 3 2-4 8; G. Huebel 2 1-2 7; D. Socha 3 0-1 7; J. Pike 3 4-6 11; D. Thomas 1 0-0 2; H. Post 1 2-3 4.

ROGERS CITY (46): E. Delke 2 0-0 4; C. Tulgestka 2 0-0 6; A. Radke 3 0-0 7; A. Hincka 3 3-7 9; J. Hein 0 1-3 1; M. Altman 4 0-0 9; J. Belusar 1 0-0 2; J. Hilla 1 0-0 3; C. Karsten 1 0-0 2; B. Koss 1 0-0 3.