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On C-A's next possession, the Cavs ran the clock down and with just 7.8 seconds to go in regulation, Chapman got the ball down low and was harnessed by three Charger defenders, drawing the foul.  With the game in the balance, Chapman calmly sank both free throws giving the Cavs the lead and eventually the win.  The Chargers had one last possession but Tyler Moreland couldn't get an open look at the basket.  Moreland drove to the hoop and tried to draw the foul as he just threw it up towards the rim as time expired.  The ball hit the back of the iron and the clocked ticked away as Chapman fittingly hauled down the rebound.

Chapman led Carman-Ainsworth with 15 points, while his teammate, Jon Lee had 12.  Powers' Shane Moreland had a game high 21 points, including 5 makes from downtown.  Brother Tyler had 6 on two threes. 

The Cavs established dominance down low, early in the game and made a living on 2nd and third chance shots.  They managed to build up and 8 point lead late in the first half but 4 quick Shane Moreland points quashed some of their momentum heading into the break.  Moreland hit and acrobat jumper and was fouled with just 3/10s of a second remaining in the half, cutting the lead to 22-18.  Moreland missed the free throw but they had gotten back into it.

The 2nd half was more of the same with defense ruling the evening and Carman-Ainsworth's presence underneath being the difference.  The Cavs had managed to build up a 7 point lead, mid-way through the third but Shane Moreland struck again, this time with back to back three pointers, trimming the lead to 1.  The Cavs, though, looked to be pulling away as they scored the quarter's final 5 points, the last on a Jon Lee bucket, pushing the lead to 35-29.  Kieon Arkwright made it a 7 point lead to start the fourth but back game Powers and the Moreland bros again.  Shane hit from behind the arc.  Patrick O'Brien cut the lead to 3 on a basket and then, it was Tyler's turn, as he hit from three point land, tying the game at 37.  Ty sank a free throw on the next possession to give Powers the lead with 4:30 remaining. 

The Chargers stopped the Cavs again on the other end of the floor, pushed the ball to Lucas-Perry in transition, who drove straight to the hoop.  Lucas-Perry was called for a charge, however.  Not happy with the call, LP was hit with a technical foul.  Jon Lee hit both tech free throws and re-claimed the lead for CA.  On the next trip down the floor, LP got a measure of revenge as hit nailed a three-ball from the top of the key, giving Powers a 41-39 lead with 2:05 to go.  The was then history, Chapman's history. 

If you can't wait to see these guys hook-up again, your going to have to hang on for 42 days.  The two Big Nine favorites will meet again at Carman-Ainsworth on January 25th.

Frankenmuth - Faced with a huge lead entering the fourth quarter against North Branch on Friday night, and coupled with the fact the Eagles play host to Holly on Saturday night; Frankenmuth coach Tim Crawford decided he would rest his starters and empty the bench, giving some players who might not normally get it a chance to play.  The decision almost came back to bite Crawford, but in the end, Frankenmuth had too big of a lead and the Eagles held on for the 77-60 win over the Broncos in Tri-Valley East Conference action.

The Eagles held a 66-36 lead over the Broncos at the completion of the third quarter, and with his players having to play two games in two nights; Crawford just felt that his starters needed a rest.  He just never thought his backups would let North Branch back in the game.  "We gave some guys a chance tonight, emptied the bench," Crawford said. "And then, in about four minute’s time, a thirty point lead was down to just twelve.  "That happened, but we held on to win."

North Branch opened the fourth by going on an 18-0 run over the first six minutes of the quarter before a lay-up by Frankenmuth's Nathan Kraft finally put the Eagles on the scoreboard in the final frame. So, with 2:33 left to play, Crawford was left with no other choice then to reinsert his starters.

"When North Branch gets (Zac) Hueter going, boy can he make a difference," Crawford said. "He was hurt at the beginning of the season and missed the first two games, but when he's healthy, he really makes it tough out there."  Hueter scored eight points in the fourth quarter during the Broncos scoring run and the big man ended up leading his team with 14 points, all of which came in the second half.  North Branch came within just ten points of Frankenmuth, when a Luc Bonner three-pointer with 1:07 left to play made the game 70-60 in favor of the Eagles, but some clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch from Frankenmuth's Brad Redford put the game away and kept the Eagles' record perfect for the season.

"I thought we played pretty well tonight," Crawford said. "We did some good things defensively in the first half to build that big lead; we shot the ball well again tonight.  "And Redford had another great game."  Redford finished with a game-high 36 points, despite the fact that the senior did not play for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, although his coach insists that for his team to win, they need Redford to score a lot of points.

"We need Brad to shoot the ball like he can," Crawford said. "When Brad shoots the ball well, we have a chance to win ball games. In order for us to be successful this season, we need Brad to score."  Redford came out of the opening gates on fire.  The 6-0 senior scored 12 points in both the first and second quarter, making good on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the three-point line. In fact, Redford outscored the entire North Branch team by halftime, as the Eagles led the game 43-20 at the break.  Frankenmuth's Ryan Keith also had a solid first half, scoring all nine of his points before halftime and led the Eagles by grabbing a total of seven rebounds.

In the third quarter, it wasn't just Redford who starting raining down three's. Teammate Jeremy Warnemuende hit three-straight three-pointers in the third frame, and finished the game with 18 points.

Redford contributed eight more points in the third, made two more from beyond the arc, and finished the night 6-for-11 from three-point range.  "When Brad shoots like that, it makes it easy for others to get open," Crawford said. "All Jeremy had to do was find an open spot on the floor, which he did.  "When Jeremy makes shots like that, that makes it hard for teams to double-team Brad."  North Branch had two other players score in double figures.  Justin Calvert had 13 points and Mike Keith finished with 12 for the Broncos.

"This was a good win for us," Crawford said. "Any night, any team can beat us. We're just going to do the best we can every night and hope that we can keep shooting the ball well.  "If we do that, than we can be successful."

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The Panthers got things going early with 6 unanswered points from big-man Jahred Rapin.  Mitch Mulcahy scored Nouvel's last 9 points of the quarter, including two threes, 1 with 2 seconds to go before the buzzer, pushing the lead to 17-10.  Western's Ryan Sebald hit from downtown to open the 2nd quarter and cut the lead to 4 but that was as close as they would get the rest of the game.  Nouvel closed the half out on a 12-3 run, holding the Warriors to just 6 2nd quarter points.  The major story of the 1st half was when Nouvel's Charles Sparks was asked to lock down Chad Jasman.  Jasman got off to a quick start but found the going touger with a stingy Sparks on him. 

In the 2nd half, Nouvel substituted early and often, bringing in fresh legs to keep the defensive intensity up.  Sparks, Mulcahy and Rapin rested for most of the 2nd half while other Panthers stepped up and answered the call.  The Panthers, who led by 21 points after the third, pushed the lead to over 30 point with 4 minutes to play.  With pride on the line, the Warriors did not give up and managed to cut the lead back down to 17 points, late in the final quarter.

Mitch Mulcahy led all scorers with 18 points, Jahred Rapin and Jonathan Ludka scored 12 a piece.  Ludka came on in relief and did a marvelous job controlling the tempo of the game.  Sparks added 8 for Nouvel.  Jasman and Sebald added 17 points a piece for the Warriors.  Jasman had 4 makes from beyond the arch. 

Alma - Snowy weather and bad roads couldn’t keep the Charlotte Orioles from invading Panther country.  Not even Mother Nature could stop these two teams from playing the game they love.  The Panthers just seemed to love the game a little more as they walked away with a 41-53 victory Tuesday night.

Traveling, blocked shots, and fouls plagued the game as both teams played their hardest for the win.  Alma took the lead early, with a Nick Grace field goal, and never looked back.  With five minutes on the clock, Luke Kanine made a basket on a break away steal, followed by a three pointer from Grace, making the score 0-7 Alma.  It seemed Charlotte had no answer for the Panther combination of Jake Blake and Adam Follett, as they blocked shots left and right.  The Orioles Derrik Southern was the first to find a way around the Alma defense putting Charlotte on the board with two minutes left in the first.  Another field goal by Kanine and a free throw shot by Charlotte’s Brendon Rankin put the score at 3-9 Alma at the end of the first.

An over abundance of traveling by both teams left the referees panting for air in the second quarter.  Nikolas Yunkovic started the Orioles off when he drained a three point shot.  The Panthers answered back with a field goal by Blake and a three pointer by Mike Hicks.  The last three minutes of the quarter brought with it an excess of fouls.  The first two fouls were on Charlotte’s Chet LaFave and Alex DeBack sending Kanine to the line to shoot four, making three.  The next two fouls were on Alma’s Ray Riley and Kanine.  These were followed by two more fouls and a last second shot for the Orioles by Alex Trayer to put the score at 15-19 Alma going into the half.

The third quarter brought even more traveling with the first basket not coming until two minutes into the quarter when Follett made his first shot of the ball game.  It would be another minute and a half before Charlotte’s Austin Montgomery would make a three pointer closing the gap to only three points.  But the Panthers couldn’t be stopped as they rallied to score 13 more points and held the Orioles to three points for the remainder of the quarter. Alma’s rally didn’t end at the buzzer as they carried the momentum into the fourth quarter. 

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