News Photo by James Andersen Hillman’s Gunnar Libby (12) drives to the basket between several Oscoda defenders during a boys basketball game on Wednesday in Hillman.

HILLMAN–A title clinching victory.

Check.

A near record-setting performance.

Check.

A much needed pick-me-up.

Check.

The Hillman boys basketball team checked off all those boxes with ease on Wednesday, steamrolling its way past Oscoda 76-26 at Hillman High School.

The win clinched a fourth straight North Star League division title for Hillman (17-0, 12-0 NSL), who also extended its home and NSL regular season winning streaks. To commemorate their title, the Tigers cut down one of the nets at the end of the game as they’ve done in years past.

“It’s awesome, four years running. Every time you sit down at the beginning of the year (to discuss goals), the first thing you want to do is win your league championship,” Hillman coach Eric Muszynski said. “Our league is very tough this year; there’s eight teams that are .500 or better. I’m real proud of the guys. To win one on the home floor outright was sweet and it keeps getting sweeter every year.”

After some closer than desired wins against the likes of Rogers City and Fairview, the Tigers got back to doing what they do best on Wednesday; namely overwhelming the opponent on both ends of the floor.

“That shows the balance in our league. It’s been a grind and once you clinch a share you’ve got to find motivation again,” Muszynski said. “It was nice tonight to kind of relax a little bit and enjoy the ride.”

Gunnar Libby scored 40 points for the Tigers, who pulled away from Oscoda in the first quarter and never looked back. Libby’s performance moved him up to No. 2 all-time on Hillman’s career scoring list and ranks as the second best single-game performance in program history, behind Paul Bennett’s 41-point game in 1985-86.

“It was funny because when he was getting close, he gets in a pick-and-roll situation and what does he do? He finds Kory Henigan on a roll,” Muszynski said. “For him to get that tonight, it was nice to see him get there.”

Libby and the Tigers were dealing early and led 32-11 after one quarter and 59-16 at halftime behind an impressive array of shots.

With 2:56 left in the first quarter, Libby drove to the basket and missed, but Jared Juergens was there to get the rebound. Juergens missed the first putback attempt, tried again and scored. A minute later he drilled a triple as he fell down to extend Hillman’s lead.

There was also Libby’s buzzer-beating trey to end the first half, sending the Hillman crowd into a tizzy.

Shots like these were among the many that sank the Owls Wednesday as they, like many of Hillman’s opponents, simply had no way to keep up. Oscoda led 5-3 in the opening minutes, but the Tigers reeled off a 29-6 run in the remaining six and a half minutes.

Hillman knocked down seven three-pointers in the first half and was near perfect from the free throw line, going 10-for 12. There was also the dominance on defense which resulted in numerous steals and dominance on the boards, leading to second chance points.

Juergens added seven points in Hillman’s win and Kory Henigan and Brandon Banks each had six.

Already in control after eight minutes, the Tigers kept their momentum rolling into the second quarter, scoring seven points in the first 40 seconds to force an Oscoda timeout. The Tigers then put together nine and 11 point runs in between Oscoda baskets.

Libby played into the fourth quarter and continued to make incredible plays. He dished to Kyler Moir inside for an easy basket to open the fourth quarter and drove the baseline two minutes later to bring his point total to 38. He capped his night with a shot from just inside the three-point line with 4:27 to play.

Hillman will play at Posen on Friday.

Oscoda’s JV team topped Hillman 43-34.

——

HILLMAN (76): G. Libby 15 4-5 40; K. Henigan 2 2-3 6; J. Juergens 2 2-2 7; B. Kolcan 2 0-0 4; C. Kronholm 2 0-0 5; C. Wittman 1 0-0 3; B. Banks 1 2-2 6; K. Moir 2 0-0 5; B. Hunt 0 0-2 0.

OSCODA (26): T. Lamrock 3 0-0 6; B. Mallak 1 1-2 4; J. Church 2 0-0 4; N. Cochell 1 0-0 2; No. 20 2 0-0 6; A. Post 1 0-0 2; No. 23 1 0-0 2.