×

Hillman tops Rogers City; runs streak to 48

News Photo by Jonny Zawacki Hillman’s Brandon Banks goes up uncontested for an easy layup during the third quarter of a North Star League boys basketball game on Thursday at Rogers City High School.

ROGERS CITY — Something had to give on Thursday as the top two teams in the North Star League did battle in Rogers City.

Both teams came into the contest with the same amount of wins, but it was the Hillman boys basketball who came away victorious, extending its regular season winning streak to 46 games and North Star League win streak to 48 after defeating the Hurons 69-54.

“Hats off to my guys, coming off a back-to-back playing what we feel was the top two teams in the league, I think it was characteristic of our town. You put your hard hat on every day and you go to work,” Hillman coach Eric Muszynski said. “At times it looked like there may been a bit of fatigue, but down the stretch I thought we looked pretty solid. Rogers City is a good team and it’s always tough in our league to win on the road and to get one on their court was huge.”

The Tigers (7-0, 4-0 NSL) wasted no time putting points on the board and were shooting the lights out early on as they made four of their first five shots from beyond the three-point line as Andrew Funk and Brandon Banks hit two triples apiece in the opening minute to give Hillman an early 12-0 lead and forced Rogers City coach Matt Ponik to use a few early timeouts.

“Hillman caught fire early and when you’re in a 12 point hole that early against a team like that, it’s tough to come back from,” Ponik said. “I told the boys during the timeout that they can either respond, work hard and get back in this or curl up and let this game get out of hand.”

The Hurons refused to give up and battled the entire first half, cutting the lead to single digits late in the first before Hillman scored seven of the last 10 points to take a 23-11 lead after one quarter.

Rogers City (6-2, 5-2 NSL) did all it could again in the second quarter and cut the lead to single digits early, but the Tigers continued to create scoring opportunities and opened up a 23 point lead with just under three minutes left in the half.

Just when it looked like Hillman was going to run away with an easy victory, the Hurons stormed back, going on a 11-2 run late in the half to cut the lead to 13 heading into the break.

“I felt like early on we were running our sets and we were hitting gaps and that was opening up shots that we could hit and that’s when we’re at our best when we stretch the floor and attack. We did get away from that a little bit, but tonight we were fortunate to get off to a hot start early,” Muszysnki said.

Rogers City came out of the break and again got to within single digits and cut the lead to eight points on two separate occasions in the third quarter, but it was as close as the Hurons got as Hillman refused to let its lead slip away as it executed down the stretch an earned a hard fought victory.

“The effort was there, but we just have to make better decisions to give ourselves a better chance in the end. Overall, I was happy with the way the boys responded. Both the team and I are still learning and we’ll continue to get better,” Ponik said.

Banks had the hot hand early, pouring in 16 of his game-high 22 points in the first half to led Hillman. Funk collected 12 points and Gunnar Libby added 14 points in what was a bit of an off night for the Tigers star, but Hillman displayed just how deep of a team they are.

“Gunnar sat a bulk of the second quarter and I didn’t think our team skipped a beat and that’s huge because when you get into the thick of the league and postseason play, guys are going to try and take him away any way possible,” Muszynski said. “I think more and more teams are finding out is we have really good balance and I think that’s why we are where we’re at.”

The Tigers will have three home games next week, starting on Tuesday when they host Au Gres.

The Hurons were led by Jacob Hilla who scored 12 points. Brendan Koss added nine points and Phil Grambau and Matt Altman chipped in with eight points in the losing effort.

The Hurons will have another test on Monday when it hosts the reigning district champion Onaway Cardinals.

——

HILLMAN (69) — A. Funk, 4 1-2 12; G. Libby, 4 5-11 14; B. banks, 8 2-2 22; B. Kolcan, 2 3-6 7; J. Juergens, 0 3-5 3; C. Wittman, 2 0-1 4; K. Henigan, 3 1-2 7.

ROGERS CITY (54) — M. Altmann, 3 1-3 8; B. Koss, 4 1-2 9; E. Delke, 2 1-4 5; A. Radke, 1 4-5 6; J. Hilla, 4 1-1 12; J. Hein, 2 2-3 6; P. Grambau, 2 4-6 8.

Jonny Zawacki can be reached via email at jzawacki@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5690.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today