In its first game of the season, the boys varsity basketball team defeated North in dramatic fashion, 58-54. South fell to North last year in the season opener, 57-49.
“The win is huge because it starts off the season right,” Brian Blanzy ‘15 said. “For it to be against North couldn’t have been a better way. There is no better feeling than taking down your rival.”
Head Coach Troy Glasser said that he was happy with the energy that his team played with, but said that they need to start executing better.
“We didn’t run our plays. We didn’t follow through and run our sets, and we didn’t rotate fast enough on defense,” Glasser said. “We didn’t box out, and then we had some unforced, uncharacteristic turnovers.”
Both North and South were playing an up-tempo style of offense to begin the game, and committed a few turnovers each. The speed of the game slowed down as the game progressed, and South took the lead after a tightly-contended first quarter, 12-10.
On the first possession of the second quarter, Sam Blanzy ’15 hit a three point shot to give South a 15-10 lead, and the crowd something to cheer about. After a brief exchange of words between players on North and South, Sam Kingsley ’15 hit a three point shot. That made six unanswered points on two three-point shots to begin the second quarter for South.
South’s offense continued to roll as it went on a 12-4 run in the second quarter. North was forced to call a timeout with 3:30 left in the half. South was up at the time, 24-14.
Brennan Buszka ‘17 was fouled hard on a fast break and went down. Benches cleared as the South players were not happy with North’s foul. Players, coaches and refs were all tangled up on the court for about a minute before the fights could be broken up by the referees. South’s Sam Hunter and North’s E’Shawn Rivers, both ’15, were ejected following the exchange.
“It got our team going because the fight came out and reimbursed the rivalry between the two schools,” Blanzy said.
This brawl came at the end of a 12-6 run by North, and play resumed with the score 30-26, in South’s favor. Nate Hall ’16 hit a free throw that sent the game to halftime, with a five-point South advantage, 31-26.
The ejection of starting point guard Hunter led to increased minutes for Hall, a Divine Child Transfer student.
North came out of halftime and went on a run, holding South to only nine third quarter points. Despite a lopsided third quarter in North’s favor, South was able to hold on to a 41-40 lead going in to the fourth quarter.
Both Blanzy’s ’15, provided South with a spark in the fourth quarter, scoring eight straight points for the Blue Devils. Their efforts contributed to a 11-5 South run, which gave South a 52-45 lead with 2:57 to go in the game.
After a North run, the Norsemen cut their deficit to two, and the score was 54-52 with :58.2 left in the game.
Jordan Maxwell ’15 hit four free throws in the last minute of the game to solidify a 58-54 victory.
The Blue Devils play again on Dec. 27 when they face Cousino High School at Northville High School and will meet with North one more time on Feb. 27 at North for their last game of the season.
“We don’t play again until the 27th, so it can be a bit of a grind,” Glasser said. “The kids have to stay engaged, work hard, and come to practice to improve.”
Photos by Ginny Hayden ’15
