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The Rams saw all hopes of a second-half comeback disappear when they slipped into scoring funks in the third quarter of losses on Saturday, February 2 at Goodrich and last Tuesday at Durand.

At Goodrich, Montrose spotted the host Martians a 19-10 lead at the end of the opening quarter, but still hung around at intermission with a workable 32-21 deficit. But the Rams could muster just three points in the critical third stanza and went on to a 59-31 loss.

"We had some open looks at the basket, but just missed them," assessed Ram mentor Rick Ustishen. "They have good size and shoot the ball well, but I think we played decent defense against them. But our lack of offense hurt us. We need to be more consistent there."

Cody Groulx was the only player to reach double figures for Montrose with 13 points. Groulx also had seven rebounds and dished out a pair of assists. Preston Taylor added seven points and four boards while Brandon Rose scored four markers. Keith Boswell pulled down a team-high nine rebounds for Montrose.

The Rams connected on just 10 of 50 shots from the floor for a lowly 20% average and committed 22 turnovers.

Tuesday's 59-41 loss to Durand was eerily similar to the Goodrich contest as the Rams trailed by 10 points at halftime, 29-19, and came out of the locker room ice-cold in the third quarter. Montrose was outscored 12-3 in the third and fell into an insurmountable 41-22 hole heading into the final eight minutes of play. The Rams finally clicked for 19 points in the last quarter, but Durand answered with 18 points of its own and walked away with the easy win.

"Our effort was okay, but their inside game hurt us and we once again struggled on offense," remarked Ustishen.

Cory Hargraves registered a dozen points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and blocked a shot to lead Montrose. Groulx chipped in with 11 points and 6 boards. Jared Barber, Ricky Genson, Koby Stauffer and Brandon Rose each scored three points for the Rams.

Montrose committed just 12 turnovers in the contest, but made only 16 of 51 field goal attempts for a 31% average.

The pair of GAC losses drops Montrose to 5-7 in the league and to 6-9 overall.

Tribe guys split pair of TVC thrillers

Watching Chesaning's varsity boys basketball team is not a recommended activity for the faint of heart.

The Tribe's past two contests, in particular, were living proof of that premise as Jason Danek's Cardiac Kids won a 77-71 overtime thriller on Saturday, February 2 at Bullock Creek before losing a 66-65 heartbreaker at home against Freeland last Tuesday.

Joe Devota buried a trey in the waning seconds to tie BC, 60-60, and send the game into overtime on Saturday. Andrew Guzdial opened the extra session with a triple of his own and the Indians went on to score a whopping 17 points in the overtime period to capture the hard-earned victory.

The Indians, who had squandered a nine-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, won their fourth straight game behind Devota's 22 points. Cal Bishop contributed 18 points, 5 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots while Joe Bitterman added 13 points and 13 boards. Guzdial chipped in with 13 points and 7 rebounds and Cody Stoddard tallied six points, four boards and three assists. Cody Haughton sank five of six critical free throws in the overtime session.

Chesaning appeared poised to win its fifth game in a row as the Indians held a five point advantage over Freeland with just 30 seconds to go, but the visiting Falcons hit a pair of three-pointers at the end to hand the Tribe a one-point loss.

The Indians held a 49-46 edge after three quarters of a seesaw battle that was tied at intermission. But Freeland's fourth quarter comeback gave the Falcons their second straight one-point win over Chesaning. The Falcons pulled out a 44-43 triumph over the Indians earlier in the season.

Bishop led all scorers with 21 points. He also pulled down 10 rebounds. Devota scored 19 points while Stoddard notched 10 points and 4 assists. Bitterman canned seven markers and corralled eight caroms. Haughton added seven points and Guzdial distributed five assists.

The Tribe limited their turnovers to just 13 and shot a sizzling 49% from the floor, converting 25 of 53 field goal attempts.

"The Bullock Creek game was exciting and we executed in late-game situations very well and we put ourselves in position to win against Freeland," assessed Danek. "Obviously, we would have liked to have finished the game better against Freeland, but hopefully we will use that game as a learning experience. We are doing so many good things as a team, so we want to take the experience we gained from these last two games and continue to get even better."

The split of the two TVC-Central contests gives Chesaning a 4-6 mark in the conference and a 9-6 overall record.

NL bowlers lose to Genesee

New Lothrop lost both ends of a bowling match with Genesee on Saturday, February 2, as the boys lost to the Wolves, 28-2 and the NL girls lost, 24-6.

The girls won one of the two Baker games and received two individual game wins from Ali Kelbey. Kelbey rolled solid games of 170 and 181to aid the NL cause.

For the boys, Eric Lake earned the only Hornet points when he bowled scores of 189 and 182 to win both of his individual matches. Kevin Gasper and Casey Wendling rolled games of 203 and 202, respectively, but were unable to win their individual match-ups despite their solid scores.

The losses drop the NL boys to 3-4 in the GAC while the girls now stand at 2-5 in league play.

SC gals pull away to impressive hoops win over St. Louis, 61-47

ST. CHARLES - Coach Larry Mishler has been patiently waiting for his St. Charles team to put all of the pieces together in a single night of basketball. He finally got his wish as his girls dismantled a good St. Louis squad, 61-47, last Tuesday.

"This felt absolutely great!" exuded Mishler after the game. "We played a solid game from start to finish on offense and defense. The nice thing was that everyone contributed to the win."

The Lady Bulldogs spotted the visiting Sharks a 16-14 lead after the opening quarter before dominating in the second quarter with an 11-2 scoring edge. St. Charles expanded its 25-18 halftime lead to 43-31 at the end of the third and coasted home to the convincing 61-47 win. The 'Dawgs maintained a double-digit lead throughout most of the second half.

Five juniors combined to score 53 points for St. Charles, led by Megan McSweyn, who recorded 15 points to go with 10 rebounds. Jordan Mishler tallied 11 points and 10 boards while Jessy Gonzales added 10 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals. Kaleigh Bashans was solid with nine points, seven rebounds and four steals. Jade Tribfelner scored eight markers. Seniors Brooke Braley and Natalie Trier completed the scoring with four points each. Braley also pulled in six rebounds.

St. Charles converted 24 of 49 shots from the floor for a solid 48% average against a St. Louis squad that entered the game with a 5-3 mark in the TVC-Central.

The win improves St. Charles to 2-8 in the conference and to 3-12 overall.

Second-half collapse cost SC guys, 52-49

ST. CHARLES - A 12-point lead at halftime wasn't enough last Tuesday as St. Charles' varsity boys basketball team dropped a disappointing 52-49 decision to visiting St. Louis.

St. Charles used a 23-9 outburst in the second quarter to grab the lead, but the visiting Sharks gnawed away at the deficit by posting a 15-10 advantage in the third quarter to close to within 39-32. St. Louis then went on a 20-10 tear over the final eight minutes of play to steal the win.

Justin Hedrich and Tyler Nieman spearheaded the SC offense by scoring 12 points apiece. Hedrich also grabbed 10 boards for the 'Dawgs. Ryan Humpert contributed 10 points and a pair of blocked shots while Dugan Roosa added nine markers, six rebounds and a pair o f blocked shots. Marshall Davenport recorded four points and six rebounds and Matt Schalow gathered in eight caroms.

The Bulldogs sank 18 of 45 shots from the floor for a 40% average.

The loss drops St. Charles to 3-6 in the conference and to 4-11 overall.

Hornet guys grab huge win over Hamady, follow with romp over Genesee

NEW LOTHROP - In a battle for first place in the GAC-Blue, New Lothrop's varsity boys basketball team pulled out a thrilling 40-38 win on its own court against Hamady on Saturday, February 2. Three days later, the Hornets had a much easier task in turning away visiting Genesee, 70-40.

"I told our guys that this game would be won at the free throw line. We didn't play a great game, but played good enough to win," commented Hornet coach Joe Corkran, in reference to the showdown between two teams that entered the contest tied with just one loss each in the GAC. "Hamady put a lot of pressure on us for 32 minutes, so we had to fight for every point today."

New Lothrop trailed by a 29-25 margin heading into the fourth quarter, but the Hornets rallied over the final eight minutes to capture a key win that gives them sole possession of first place in the GAC-Blue. It took a Brian Sheridan lay-up with just three seconds left in regulation to finally seal the victory for the Hornets. Kyle Moore made the pass that led to the deciding basket.

The key stat that came shining through at the end of the game was, as Corkran predicted, the numbers at the free throw line. While Hamady struggled at the charity stripe, missing all but 7 of 21 opportunities, the Hornets converted 14 of 25 freebies.

Brandon Baryo led all scorers with 14 points. He also pulled down nine rebounds as the Hornets out-boarded the Hawks, 35-26. Ryan Praski scored eight points while doing a masterful job against the pressing Hawks defense. Sheridan finished with nine markers, including his game-winning basket, and Moore chipped in with six points.

On Tuesday, the Hornets utilized a 20-2 third quarter advantage to bury the Wolves. New Lothrop led just 32-20 at intermission before going on its third-quarter tear.

Baryo again led all scorers with 15 points to go with 8 rebounds. Praski contributed 13 points and 5 assists while Trevor Vincke added 11 markers and 6 boards. Justin Sammons scored nine points and Sheridan logged eight points and eight rebounds. Jason Henige had a strong floor game with five assists and five steals.

"Our helpside defense was outstanding, the best it has been all year, and we took good care of the basketball," commented Corkran, whose squad committed just 12 turnovers in the contest. "This was a great team win for us. We played tough for 32 minutes and everyone contributed."

With the wins, New Lothrop now sports a 13-1 conference record and a glossy 14-1 overall mark.