Devils battle hard, but fall to Huron

The New Boston Huron basketball team showed up at Grosse Ile High School On Jan. 31 ready to play and it looked early on like it was going to be a rout for the visitors.

Throughout the first quarter of the game, the Chiefs were running the court and scoring at will. The Chiefs even had a 10-0 scoring run in the middle of the period that threatened to bury the home team before it even had a chance to get untracked.

At one point, Huron led by as many as 14 points.

Cam Driscoll made two three-point shots late in the period to help Grosse Ile keep its head above water, but even with his two important bombs, the Red Devils trailed 21-10 at the end of the first eight minutes of play.

Then, bam! The second quarter started and the roles were suddenly reversed and from the start of the second quarter on, it was a competitive and exciting ball game.

Grosse Ile’s Dominic Cappellino was unconscious as the second quarter started. He launched a deep three-ball and hit it, then another, and another and another. In all, the junior, who would finish with 16 points in the game, hit four three-pointers in the second quarter and none of them even hit the rim.

Cappellino shot his team back into the game and Grosse Ile and the Red Devils picked up the pace on defense, as well. The Red Devil closed out the second quarter on a 13-0 scoring run Grosse Ile outscored Huron 18-8 in the second quarter and at halftime Huron’s once-formidable lead was down to one – 2928.

And it was a back-and-forth game from that point on.

Driscoll scored the first basket of the second half and Grosse Ile finally led 30-29. Grosse Ile twice more took the lead in the second half, but the Chiefs responded each time.

Grosse Ile led 37-36 as the third quarter began to drain away, but the Chiefs scored six straight points at the end of the period and took a 41-37 lead into the final quarter.

Grosse Ile fired back and with 5:11 to play in the game, the Devils grabbed their final lead of the night 44-43.

Huron scored the next time down the court and never trailed again. The Chiefs scored 12 of the final 19 points of the night, including five free throws in the dying seconds and walked off with a 55-51 victory.

The loss ended a three-game winning streak for coach Corey Bammer’s team.

Cappellino was the team’s leading scorer, followed by Driscoll with 14 and Tyler Swick with nine. Ethan Miller had five points and Joseph Molnar had four.

The loss left Grosse Ile with an 8-5 overall mark. They had 5-3in Huron League play and trail only first place Flat Rock (8-0) and second-place Riverview (71). With the win, Huron (5-6 overall) moved within a game of the Red devils in the league standings.

Grosse Ile faced Riverview on Feb. 3 and Monroe Jefferson on Feb. 7.

That leaves the club with four league games left: At Flat Rock Feb. 10, at Airport Feb, 14 and at Milan Feb. 17 and home against Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central on Feb. 22.

Grosse Ile will then close out the regular season with non-league games against Monroe, Dearborn Advanced Tech Academy and Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard.

The Michigan High School Athletic Association district tournament begins March 6 and Grosse Ile will play in a loaded district at Huron. Also at that district will be state-ranked Summit Academy, Flat Rock, Riverview and the host Chiefs.