Sault boys basketball scores huge comeback win over visiting Alpena

SAULT STE. MARIE – Most every coach in any sport has a story to tell about a game or two that aged them 10 years or nearly sent them to an early grave.

If Sault boys basketball coach Mike Fitzner didn’t have such a story already, he has one now. He and his team white-knuckled the whole roller coaster ride on their way to a 67-64 win over the Alpena Wildcats on a non-conference matchup on Monday night.

The Sault came out and executed its game plan nearly perfectly for three quarters and built a 13-point lead at 50-27 after an Easton Fitzner corner three-pointer with 2:52 left in the third quarter. They built their lead by pushing tempo and getting easy baskets in transition instead of having to grind every possession against a much taller Wildcat squad.

“I had seen them on film,” Fitzner said of Alpena. “But they are bigger than they looked on film and they really took it to us down low. They got a lot of easy baskets in the paint and the controlled the rebounding.  We knew we wanted to get out and run and not have to contend with that height on every possession, and early on, we did that.”

One of the best examples of the Sault’s transition play happened with just a minute left in the first half. Sault forward Kaydin Lujan raced out from the key to swat an Alpena three-pointer out of the air and pushed it ahead to Ryan Teneyck for an uncontested layup to make the score 35-31 Blue Devils.

The Blue Devils led 51-45 heading into the final eight minutes when the roller coaster started going down-hill at a high rate of speed. The Wildcats hit a couple quick buckets and then Tucker Bright knocked down a triple from the win to put Alpena on top 52-51.  Things got worse for the Sault as the shots that all seemed to fall in the first half were now coming up just short or just a bit too long.

Bright struck twice more with three pointers, another from the wing and then from the top of the key and the Sault trailed by nine, 62-53 with just 2:43 left.  The teams traded baskets and with just 1:41 left, the Sault still trailed by nine, 64-55, forcing a time-out by the Sault.

“I told them that we have to keep grinding,” Fitzner said simply of his message in the timeout. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

What happened was that the Sault came out with a press that they had never used before, not even in a practice and used it to force four consecutive Alpena turnovers. Those turnovers turned into 10 straight Sault points, including eight of them by Dominic Haller.  He hit a baseline jumper with 1:27 left and took a pass from Carter Oshelski after a steal for a foul and free throw after a Wildcat blocking foul.

Haller had four triples on the night but saved his biggest for last.

After Nate Koepp got a layup off yet another Wildcat turnover, the Sault forced another one and got the ball back with 25 seconds left. Haller came from the right wing to the top of the key and took a pass in rhythm and stepped into the game-winner.

“Credit to Dom for stepping up,” Fitzner said. “He knocked down the big three and stepped up and made the free throws at the end as well.  I’m really happy for him and want to credit all our guys for the way they competed.”

Haller scored a game-high 27 points on the night, including his final eight in the last 1:30 of the game.

“I felt pretty good about the shot,” Haller said afterwards. “I had hit a couple already so I was feeling good and then when I caught the ball, I was just open.  I couldn’t pass up that look.”

In addition to Haller, Oshelski was also in double figures with 12 points.

Colt Gray led the Wildcats with 25 points, while Bright was also in double figures with 16.

The Sault, 4-2, will travel to Newberry on Tuesday for a date with the Indians.

In the JV game, the Sault came out on the wrong end of another nailbiter, falling 46-45 after Jace Manning got a steal and hit a game-tying triple with just under 10 seconds left.

Trevin Maleport led the Devils with 11 points, and Manning finished with 10.

ALPENA  19      14      12      19 – 64

SAULT   19      18      14      16 – 67

ALPENA – Srebnik 9, Bright 16, Gray 25, McEwen 8, Duthier 6. FT: 7-9; F: 13; Fouled out: None; 3PFG: 5 (Bright 4, Srebnik 1).

SAULT – Oshelski 12, Koepp 8, Teneyck 2, Fitzner 5, Haller 27, Lujan 6, John Gravelle 7. FT: 7-11; F: 14; Fouled out: None; 3PFG: 8 (Haller 4, Oshelski 3, Fitzner 1).

This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Sault boys basketball scores huge comeback win over visiting Alpena