Advertisement

CPS did everything right for a quarter to stun the Pirates (5-1) with a 14-10 lead. Junior James Lusher had a hot hand and poured in 10 of the points while senior Justin Taylor added the other four.

The Tigers' half-court defense continued to make Harbor Beach work hard on every trip down the court in the second quarter. But, the Pirates executed everything they needed to do, offensively. They began an 18-0 run by scoring inside on three straight occasions. Sophomore guard Alex Talaski then exploited a collapsing inside Tiger defense by connecting on three straight triples for a 28-16 lead.

"We knew coming in that (Talaski) had 14 triples already this season," noted Jeremy Macejewski, CPS coach. "We left him alone.... because they were hurting us inside.

"We knew they were a good three-point shooting team, but we wanted to help down inside, too." Macejewski then added, "They're a pretty well-balanced team. That's the bottom line. They had everybody step up."

The Tigers pulled within six, 33-27, on a triple by Todd Albrecht and back-to-back buckets by Lusher and Taylor early in the third quarter. But behind precision passing, the Pirates broke down the Tigers' defense again. They went on a 12-1 run to go up 47-29 by the early moments of the fourth quarter.

Lusher was the top scorer for the game with a career-high 21 points and also snagged 10 boards for the Tigers. Albrecht and Taylor were next in scoring with seven and six points.

Talaski led the balanced Pirate attack with 14 points. Brett Buchholz and Jason Volmering had eight and six points, respectively, all inside. Guard/forward Tom Sorenson, who had 21 in a win against Peck the night before, was held to seven points.

""We came into this with two things we wanted to do," said Macejewski on the tournament experience. "We wanted the kids to compete and have fun. It was an opportunity to play two big opponents, and this can only help us for the league."

CPS and Peck, which lost to Beach by two on Thursday, are the only unbeaten teams left in the NCTL They meet each other in a showdown at Peck on Tues., Jan. 8.

Consolation game

Peck 47 Cros-Lex 40

It was a battle of wills after both teams suffered tough losses in the semifinals the night before. It was the Pirates, though, that held together a little longer.

Peck, now 6-1 overall, came back from an early 7-2 deficit to go on top 14-10 at the end of the first quarter. The lead stayed at four, 24-20, at the break. The defenses held together for both sides the rest of the way. Peck's lead was 34-29 after three quarters.

In the semis, Peck just missed knocking of Harbor Beach in a rugged, physical contest, but found enough stamina to hold off an aggressive Pioneer squad.

"One thing I was worried about in this game was how our legs would hold out," mentioned Garnett Kohler, Peck coach. "I knew Cros-Lex would have more guys to throw out there than us, but our kids worked hard. They were beat up at the end, but they worked hard and got through it."

Kohler added that coming back from the early deficit also showed some grit. "Cros-Lex jumped out to that lead, but the kids kept with the system. Cros-Lex threw a lot of different defenses at us in the first half. The kids kept adjusting, and I think our defense was pretty good, for the most part."

Senior guard Michael Mann and junior forward Zac Overstreet each flipped in 12 points to lead the Pirates in scoring. Mann and senior Jesse Germain each pulled down seven rebounds.

The Pioneers fell to 1-5, but Coach Don Roberts is seeing some positive things from his young team, which had lost a tight game to CPS in the tourney semis after a late rally fell short.

"In our last four games, we've won one and the other three we were in their at the end. We just haven't found a way to finish," said Roberts.

"We played a much better ball game (Friday). We shot much, much better (than against CPS)," Roberts continued. "Our approach was "it doesn't matter' – there's no pressure, just go out and relax. And, we got off to a great start and we made Peck work for everything they got."

The Pioneers' Kelvin Esselink and Cameron Barrett led all scorers with 13 points apiece. Esselink, along with nailing three triples, had eight rebounds. Jacob Munger chipped in with six points and seven boards.

Semifinals

CPS 37 Cros-Lex 32

It was a battle of two stingy defenses, for the most part, in the tournament's opening semifinal contest at Peck on Thursday.

The Tigers, who led by13 going into the fourth quarter, had to hold off a furious rally by the Pioneers.

A quick, aggressive defense by CPS and some ice-cold shooting by C-L, led to the Tigers taking a 16-10 advantage at the half and expanding the margin to 13, 28-15, in the third quarter. The final three points, a last second triple by Ian Magri, would later prove to be very big.

"For the most part, we played a great defensive game," said Macejewski. "We were way out-sized, and playing an athletic team like (Cros-Lex), our kids stepped up to the plate."

Cros-Lex came to life in the fourth quarter.

After an early bucket by sophomore Anthony Mini, the Pioneers went to full-court pressure and forced the CPS into turnovers. They roared to a 13-0 run that tied the game at 28-28. Triples by Esselink and Barrett helped the cause.

Lusher broke the CPS drought with a driving lay-up. Moments later, he helped secure the win. Taylor made one free throw for the Tigers, but missed a second. That's when Lusher grabbed the offensive board and made the put-back for a 33-28 lead.

After C-L closed to within one, 35-34, Lusher and Taylor each had key rebounds that led to Pioneer fouls and a free throw each that closed out the win.

"We shot 27% for the game," remarked Roberts., "and it was worse than that before the fourth quarter. When that happens, you have to do all the little things right. I think a key was three offensive rebounds we gave up late in the game. They scored on two and pulled the other one out to run some time off the clock."

Macejewski, whose team had not played in a close game in three prior blowout wins in NCTL play, said his team persevered at the end. "It was not a typical game for us where we force a lot of turnovers (off a press or trap). We sat back in the half-court. We wanted to take away the penetration from their guards.

"In the fourth quarter, we got a little sloppy. We turned the ball over and made some poor decisions," continued Macejewski. "Give (Cros-Lex) credit. It's the first time we've seen a press like that."

Lusher, who had nine rebounds, and Taylor both scored 10 points to lead the Tigers. Josh Behnke added six. For C-L, Taylor Kasper, Munger and Barrett each had six points.

Harbor Beach 54 Peck 52

A signature win, early in the season, eluded the Peck Pirates, but just barely. The Harbor Beach Pirates, expecting to challenge for the GTC East title this winter, fought off Peck, the NCTL South leaders, in a physically demanding semifinal game at Peck.

The loss was the first in six games this season for Peck, which had not played a game outside of their Class D conference. It was a game, though, that proved that Kohler, in his first season as head coach, has his team heading in the right direction.

"I was really happy with our kids. They could've folded after being down 11 or 13 or whatever it was," said Kohler. "They kept battling through and really hit the boards. They showed some resilience."

The Pirates, the Peck version, were pounded early underneath by the physical play of Harbor Beach and trailed by double figures by the midway point of the first quarter. Peck closed out the quarter, though, on a 7-2 run that cut its deficit to eight, 24-16. Burns scored five of the points and Overstreet added a pair.

The Pirates of Peck went on an 8-2 run to start the second period and eventually tied the game at 29-29 on back-to-back buckets by Bryan Carrier and Mann. Before the half was over, senior guard/forward Tom Sorenson hit a triple that would propel Beach to a 34-33 lead at the break.

Sorenson, who played quarterback on HB's 12-1 team this past fall, was one of the biggest factors in the second half. Harbor Beach kept their slim one-point lead, 44-43, after three quarters, in a game that became more of a physical, half-court contest.

When Peck jumped in front.48-44, behind a bucket by Carrier on a nifty pass from Mann and a triple by Burns, in the opening moments of the last quarter, it was Sorenson that began to hold court. He scored six points in an 8-0 run, two buckets on tough power drives to the basket.

"Once (Harbor Beach) got down, he was the one that took over," said Kohler. "And, it was not like we weren't defending him. He was just going out and going over top of our guys."

Trailing by four, 52-48, Peck missed five shots in about a 20 second span that could have reduced the deficit. With16 seconds to go, Overstreet popped in a shot to make it 52-50. But, it was Sorenson that was fouled on the next possession and went to the line to sink a pair of free throws that sealed the win. Overstreet scored just prior to the buzzer for the final outcome.

"We didn't want this to be a physical game," Kohler explained. "Our kids handled it pretty well, though. Harbor Beach has big, physical players. It took us about a half a quarter to adjust to the physical play. But, it's not like we're not physical. We have some pretty good athletes."

Burns led a balanced attack for Peck with 11 points. Carrier and Overstreet each added 10 points and Mann had eight points and eight rebounds.

For Harbor Beach, who played without 6'3" guard Travis Schock because of an injury, Volmering and Talaski added 10 and 11 points, respectively.