BOYS BASKETBALL: Brandon snaps Holly’s FML unbeaten streak at 22
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
HOLLY — By his own observations, Ross Gauthier felt his team has not played very good defense this season.
Consider this week’s practices sessions a wake up call to the members of Ortonville Brandon’s boys basketball team — and the rest of the Flint Metro League.
Defense will be an emphasis for the Blackhawks.
Brandon’s defense was under full throttle Friday night at Holly, as the Blackhawks forced 15 turnovers, out-rebounded Holly 39-34, and simply frustrated the host Bronchos at both ends of the floor for most of 32 minutes of play and came away with a 68-61 upset in Flint Metro League play.
The Blackhawks snapped Holly’s 22-game league win streak and limited the Bronchos to their worst shooting night in six years.
“To be honest, I haven’t been the pressed with our defense at all this season — until tonight,” said Gauthier. “We didn’t have a game Tuesday, so we went from practicing defense about of out 50 percent of the time to about 90 percent of the time. I thought we played solid defense for most of the game and we were able to beat them.”
Holly (7-2, 5-1) finished an ice cold 19-for-62 from the floor (30.7 percent), 18-for-27 from the foul line (66.7 percent) and shot a dismal 3-for-24 from outside the three-point arc (12.5 percent). Brandon simply contested nearly everything that Holly did on the court.
“It was a rough day at the office,” sighed Holly coach Lance Baylis. “All good things must come to an end. It was bound to happen. We didn’t shoot the ball well at all. Adam Tooley didn’t make a single shot, Ian Hodges struggled. I am not singling anybody out. Everybody on our team missed a ton of shots, layups, open looks. But credit to Brandon. Their kids played really hard. It wasn’t anything that we haven’t seen. But they played good defense and we didn’t hit shots. It’s basketball.”
Brandon converted 22-of-53 shots from the floor (41.5 percent), swished 15-of-27 free throws (55.6 percent) and shot a crisp 9-for-21 from 3-point range (42.9 percent).
The Blackhawks used a 19-13 second quarter run to take a 27-23 lead at the break and their 16-11 edge in the third frame gave Brandon a 43-34 advantage entering the fourth quarter.
Behind an 11-0 run that started with 53 seconds left in the third quarter and ended with 7:05 remaining in the fourth quarter on a three-pointer by Clarkston transfer Luke Rekuta, Brandon built its biggest lead at 48-34.
Rekuta finished with 18 points off the bench, including four 3-pointers, to pace Brandon. Deshawn Jackson added 16 points and eight rebounds, Tyree Gibbs contributed 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Jack Monro chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds for the Blackhawks.
“I have been in a slump lately, to be honest,” said Rekuta. “But my coaches pulled me aside the other day and said they had confidence in my shot. Tonight the ball started (to go in).”
Kyle Woodruff scored 14 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter to go along with four rebounds and three assists for Holly. Ian Hodges was held to 15 points, seven below his average, and both Steven Redmond and Paris Partee (eight rebounds) scored six points apiece for Holly.
The Bronchos forced 21 turnovers — nine in the fourth quarter — and that helped the hosts go on a 12-3 rally to close the gap to 63-61 with 43 seconds to go. Holly went 0-for-4 from the floor down the stretch and Brandon closed with a 5-0 run to put the finishing touches on the upset.
“We came to life a little bit at the end, but we dug ourselves too much of a hole,” said Baylis. “We made a nice effort coming back. It wasn’t enough.”
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