Advertisement

St. Francis (8-1 Lake Michigan Conference) survived by out-scoring Elk Rapids (1-8 LMC) 5- 3 in the second overtime to finally come away with a 61-58 LMC win at Elk Rapids.

Elk Rapids came out strong and led the game, 15-9, after one quarter before St. Francis rebounded and took a 26-23 lead into the half time break. The Gladiators increased the advantage to 36-31 at the end of three. The Elks rallied to take the fourth quarter, 19-14, to make it a 50-50 game at the end of regulation. Elk Rapids trailed by 10 points in the final stages of the contest, but the team extended the game by putting on a 10- point surge in the closing minutes.

"We scored the last 10 points to tie it," Elk Rapids coach Andy Kenney said. "I called a timeout with about four minutes to go to set up some plays and our press. We set up the plays for the big shots, and we made them."

The score stood at 56- 56 at the close of the first overtime, and Kenney knew the game would swing to the team that made the crucial buckets.

"I knew that both teams were tired and it would come down to whichever team made their shots," he said. "They made a couple of shots, and we didn't. That was the difference."

St. Francis sank a pair of two-point baskets and added a successful free throw in the second session while the Elks got a two-point basket from Mike Hubbell.

Brandon Isenhart threw up a long shot on the last play of the game that might have tied the score again, but the ball hit the front of the rim and bounced out. Skyler Hindes led the Elk Rapids scoring with 20 points. Sam Wittbrodt chipped in with 17 points while Isenhart, Garrett Gribi and Zac Dreffs all played great defensive roles against the bigger and stronger Gladiators. Ben Wheelock paced three Gladiators in double figures with 12 points.

Jacob Schell added 11 points and Corey Williams netted 10.

Elk Rapids (5-8 overall) travels to Harbor Springs on Friday, Feb. 9, and hosts Benzie Central on Tuesday, Feb. 13.