Sports

Northville High School Varsity Boys Basketball Falls to Canton, 40-38

The team will next play when it hosts the Holiday Basketball Tournament next week.

- Submitted by S. Patrone

The Mustang boys varsity basketball team continued to improve their team chemistry as they took on the undefeated Canton Chiefs last Friday night. This contest would be a great defensive test for the Mustangs as the Chiefs boast two agile power forwards standing at 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-7.

The first quarter set the tone for the Mustangs as they showed their strong defensive skills against the Chiefs power forwards. The team executed flawless help side defense as seniors Jeff Hewlett and Andrew Poterala drew offensive charges and put the Chiefs on edge. That sparked an offensive attack as the ‘Stangs took the first quarter lead 15-8 with Brett MacDonald and Hewlett draining 3-pointers from beyond the arc.

The Mustangs continued to increase their defensive pressure as Poterala forced turnovers on back-to-back defensive sets. The second quarter proved to see the Mustangs offense click into high gear. Junior Nick Raad helped spark the attack with a quick seven points and sophomore Andrew Meacham grabbed two offensive boards for four easy putback points. The Mustangs took the halftime lead 27-17.

The third quarter found the Chiefs ready to play defense and find their groove on offense. Canton outscored the ‘Stangs 16-4 in the quarter capped off with a last second three-point basket which put the Chiefs ahead 33-31 at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter saw both teams battle back and forth for the lead. With the score tied at 33, Nick Raad broke the deadlock with a nothing-but-net 3-pointer from the baseline. The clock wound down to 12.9 seconds left and the Mustangs had the ball with the score tied at 38 a piece. Unfortunately, the Mustangs turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds play. The Chiefs took advantage and drove to the hoop forcing the Mustangs to allegedly foul. With 3.2 seconds left in the game, the Chiefs sunk both free throws and sealed the win 40-38.

The Mustang point guards of Hewlett and Raad gave the Mustangs a much needed boost offensively. Raad was on fire with multiple 3’s and two field goals for (10) points, while Hewlett mixed up the offense with penetrating drives and offensive boards for (9) points. Supporting Mustangs scorers were MacDonald (7), Meacham (6), Poterala (4) and Stewart Henzi (2).

The Mustangs will host a Holiday Basketball Tournament as defending champs on Dec. 28–29. Get into the game!

Note: A previous version of this story misstated the admission cost for the Holiday Tournament. It is not free.

Find out what's happening in Northvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Northville