Superior Central’s Addie Frusti dribbles up the court against the Mid Peninsula Wolverines.
Photo courtesy of Chelsea Martin.
By Ben Murphy
Beacon Correspondent
They nearly had it. The Superior Central girls basketball team let a late lead slip away, however, resulting in a tough-to-swallow road loss at Powers North Central on Thursday, 39-36.
“It was a disappointing loss after leading the whole game,” SC head coach Skip Rutter said. “We executed offensively decently most of the game, but defensively had some lapses, especially on closeouts, allowing them to hit some outside shots we should have been able to contain. Turnovers were an issue again and have been all year long.”
The shorthanded Cougars played admirably, holding leads of 18-11 after the first quarter and 22-15 at halftime. They were still ahead 28-26 after three quarters but faced a 37-36 deficit with 20 seconds to go.
“Ran a play with 20 seconds left, got a look with the play and then missed a put-back, point blank,” Rutter said. “Had to foul and ended with a three-quarter-court shot that missed.”
The Cougars were led by Addie Frusti, who hit three 3-pointers and finished with 16 points. Marissa Strohm also knocked down three triples and scored 11 points, while Aubrey Kroupa finished with seven points and pulled down 15 rebounds.
“Frusti and Strohm have been playing well as of late on the offensive side, which is a much-needed and welcome addition,” Rutter said. “As always, Strohm leads and anchors our defense. I was impressed with the tenacity and aggressiveness Kroupa showed on the glass all game. Our five starters all played close to 30 minutes, which is not ideal, but we have been short-handed most of the year and will have to continue to fight through fatigue.”
Superior Central (2-6 overall) hosted North Dickinson on Monday, hosts Big Bay de Noc on Thursday and will travel Monday to face Rock Mid Peninsula.
SC boys drop tough ones to Rapid River, Carney
What’s worse than one narrow loss? Two close setbacks.
That was the fate of the Superior Central boys basketball team last week, falling at home to Rapid River, 56-52, on Friday and dropping a road game at Carney-Nadeau on Jan. 20, 57-54.
“We had two competitive, exciting games, with both coming down to the final possession,” SC head coach Mike Lovell said. “Unfortunately, we came up just short in both contests.”
Against Rapid River, the first quarter ended in a 15-15 tie, with Superior Central getting five points from Ryder Kroupa and four each from Will Spranger and Andrew Charlebois. Spranger added seven points in the second quarter, but the Cougars trailed 33-24 at halftime.
In the third, Charlebois caught fire, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers and scoring 11 points in the period, though the Cougars still trailed 46-38 entering the fourth.
Charlebois added six more points in the final quarter, and Eli Valima and Ryder Kroupa each hit late 3-pointers, but it was not quite enough to complete the comeback.
“It was an exciting game that came down to small margins,” Lovell said. “We finished with 12 turnovers, which was a positive against Rapid River’s pressure. In games this tight, a few plays can swing the outcome. We’re continuing to work on finishing every possession on both ends of the floor, particularly boxing out and limiting opponents to one shot.”
Charlebois led the Cougars with 21 points. Spranger scored 14, Kroupa had eight points and eight assists, and Valima finished with five points and nine rebounds. Gavin Vining added four points and six rebounds.
“Kroupa did a nice job as our floor general, committing just two turnovers,” Lovell said. “Valima and Vining were strong on the boards.”
On Jan. 20, Superior Central dropped a narrow 57-54 road decision at Carney-Nadeau.
“We played well overall, but some nights it’s simply tougher to get the ball to go in,” Lovell said. “We shot 32% from the field, while Carney shot it well, which ended up being the difference. We actually had 11 more shot attempts than Carney, which typically leads to a favorable result.”
In a high-scoring first quarter, Kroupa scored seven points for the Cougars and Charlebois added six, but Carney led, 20-17, after one. Kroupa added five more points and Charlebois scored four in the second quarter, but Superior Central trailed, 36-29, at halftime.
The Cougars were down 48-37 entering the fourth, where eight points from Charlebois and five from Kroupa helped make things interesting.
Kroupa finished with 22 points, Charlebois had 14 points and seven rebounds, and Spranger added seven points and seven rebounds. Sam Charlebois scored five points, Vining had four points and seven rebounds, and Valima finished with two points.
For Carney, Sur Shepard led with 14 points, Cullen Kasbohm scored 12 and Kayne Wilson added 10.
Superior Central (7-6 overall) had a home game with Rock Mid Pen on Tuesday, hosts Big Bay de Noc on Thursday and will travel next Tuesday to face Rapid River.