For the second year in a row, the Brown City Green Devils captured the Harry Moore Classic championship. The Devils whipped North Branch in the title contest on Friday evening. (Photo by Joe Crawford)

The Brown City Green Devils put together a huge second quarter, with star forward Donovan Ogboh on the bench, and went on to crush North Branch, 58-29, to claim the championship at the Harry Moore Classic on Friday night. The Devils, who won the Moore title last year, will now take a 6-1 record into January's restart of the GTC East campaign.

The Devils started a little slow Friday night on the Broncos' home floor and trailed 11-9. They then saw Ogboh, a 6'2" senior that leads the team in scoring and rebounding, sit down with two fouls in the second quarter. BC never flinched, though, and outscored North Branch, 24-4, to go into the locker room with safe 33-15 lead.

"It was the first time all year that (Ogboh) has been in foul trouble and I didn't know how we'd react," said Coach Burton. "But, everybody stepped up."

Senior forward Jon Muxlow, who finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds, was a big part of the second quarter surge, explained Burton. "He played a great game, especially when Donovan went out. He really became aggressive on the glass. North Branch has good size but he was able to rebound... and he gave us some scoring punch on their other end of the floor."

Burton also added that another key in the second quarter, and in the game, was a defensive adjustment made by Assistant Coach Jim Seidell.

"We switched defenses from man-to-man to a zone and we were able to get some run-outs," said Burton. "When you make a change like that, teams react differently. (North Branch) started to force shots and we did a great job of getting out and guarding the perimeter. And, it's easier to run out of a zone. We probably got three or four buckets just in transition. It really changed the momentum."

BC went on to outscore the Broncos (2-6) 25-14 in the second half.

Junior guard A. J. Burton turned in a second straight strong, all-around performance for the Devils by finishing with a game-high 15 points and also grabbing seven rebounds. Ogboh had 14 points, Ed Rayba added four assists, and Josh Moffitt came off the bench to toss in seven points.

Brown City's Ogboh, A. J. Burton and Jack McPhail were named to the All-Tournament team along with Marlette's John Bishop, Capac's Dan Jackson, and North Branch's Justin Calvert.

Consolation game

Capac 72 Marlette 55

The Chiefs of Capac, who suffered their first loss of the season the night before, bounced back on Friday in the consolation finals of the Harry Moore Classic.

Marlette, now 3-4 overall, hung close in the first half and trailed by five, 39-34. However, the Chiefs (5-1) began to take control in the third quarter and built a 10 point, 56-46, lead and pulled away from there.

It was a frustrating tournament on the offensive end for the Raiders, said Coach Chris Storm. In a loss the night before to North Branch, Marlette shot just 33% from the floor. Against Capac, it was 38%, and just 27% in the second half.

"We had a pretty decent first half (against Capac)," noted Storm. "The momentum changed just before the half. We made a turnover and they came down and made a long three-pointer.

"Then, we struggled to start the third quarter – we've done that all season long," he added. "We had the pace we wanted, but they made a lot of lay-ups and we didn't get back on the press."

Senior guard Austin Comment led Marlette with 11 points and seven rebounds. Bishop, a junior, finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

For Capac, guard Jon Carroll tossed in 19 points and 6'6" forward Dan Jackson added 15.

Semifinals

Brown City 50 Capac 40

A complete defensive effort and hard work on the boards helped the Green Devils put away previously unbeaten Capac in Thursday night's semifinal contest.

Jackson scored 33 points in a win last week for Capac but was held to 13 points by Ogboh and friends

"Donovan was guarding him in the block and he did a real good job," noted Burton. "But, our perimeter guys did a great job defending and not allowing the ball to get inside, too."

Rebounding was another key factor for BC, which led by five, 23-18, at halftime and was up by as much as 13 in the fourth quarter. A. J. Burton led the Devils with nine rebounds and Ogboh and Jack McPhail each had eight.

"We've really done a good job rebounding this season, especially on the offensive end," Burton said. "I think A.J. and Donovan each had three offensive rebounds (against Capac.)."

Ogboh led all scorers in the game with 20 points. His three-pointer in the closing seconds of the third quarter boosted the Devils' lead to 37-30. McPhail finished with 14 and Muxlow added eight. A.J. Burton also had six points, four steals, and four assists.

N. Branch 54 Marlette 49

Coach Storm may still be scratching his head on the cold shooting night for his Raiders in Thursday's other semifinal at North Branch.

"We missed 20 shots that were under six feet away," said Storm.

Bishop scored a game-high 20 points for Marlette, sinking 10 of 19 shots from the floor. The rest of team shot a combined 10-of-43. The Raiders were 2-for-23 from beyond the arc.

After leading by eight, 28-20 at the half, Marlette still held a seven-point lead, 35-28, late in the third quarter. The Broncos then went on a 16-0 run in the final minutes of the third and first few minutes of the fourth to lead 44-35.

The Broncos, 1-5 entering the contest, were led by Calvert with 19 points. Marlette did hold the Broncos' 6'7", 270 pound center, Zac Hueter to just six points.

David Bliss added 12 points for Marlette while Comment had four assists and six steals.