With 6 minutes left in the game, Huron’s Lewis Willis went one-on-one with his man taking him down low and rolling in two points to give Huron a 32-21 lead over Dexter in the second semifinal game on Wednesday at Skyline HS.
It was a rare attack of the basket for the River Rats who slow played it against the Dreadnaughts. It wasn’t pretty but it was enough as Huron knocked out a very good Dexter team 43-28 to advance to Friday’s championship game (7 p.m.).
LJ Dewolf’s triple from the corner with 3:18 left in the game gave Huron a 39-26 lead and all but sealed the deal.
The River Rats will face Skyline in the finals. The Eagles have won both meetings with their city-rival and bring an undefeated record into the championship game.
Huron was led by Willis with 13 points. Avery Lewis had 10 points Dewolf had nine points, David Olawale scored six and Devin Womack had four points.
The Dreadnaughts, who have beaten quality teams such as Pioneer and Ypsilanti, couldn’t put enough offense together against the aggressive River Rats. Dexter was led in scoring by Brady Rosen with 12 points and Drew Bishop with seven.
Bishop fouled out of the game in the final minutes and received a well-deserved standing ovation from the Dexter fans. The senior, along with fellow senior Brady Rosen, capped off an impressive career with a strong senior year.
Bishop gave Dexter an early 6-2 lead as the Dreadnaughts proved they were not going to get rattled from Huron’s pressure.
Dewolf knocked down a triple to cut the deficit to 6-5.
But Dexter’s Drake Doyle hit a jumper and Colin Parachek scored inside to give the Dreads an 11-8 lead after one quarter.
The River Rats picked things up in the second quarter – well, kind of. Lewis Black scored inside to give Huron a 12-11 lead and Dewolf hit another triple to make it 15-11 with 5:45 left in the second quarter.
Womack drove the ball to the basket and scored to give Huron a 17-11 lead. Rosen knocked down a jumper and the teams headed to halftime with the River Rats leading 17-13.
Both offenses continued to struggle to find a rhythm in the third quarter. Lewis Willis knocked down a triple to give Huron a 20-15 lead with 5:10 left in the quarter.
Rosen scored to cut the deficit to 20-17. A few minutes later, he scored again to cut the lead to 22-19 with 3:30 left.
Womack nailed a triple to push Huron to its biggest lead at 27-19 with 1:50 to play in the third. A put-back by Olawale give the River Rats a 29-19 lead after three quarters.
