Petoskey battles TC Central to OT, ends season in district final

TRAVERSE CITY — With all the battles the Petoskey boys’ basketball team had gone through this season, there was no way they would be rattled in a close game late at Traverse City Central Friday night.

Meeting the Trojans for a third time this season in Division 1 district championship game in the Trojans’ gym, Petoskey found themselves down a handful of points inside three minutes.

“As we’ve done many times throughout the year, we kept our composure, made defensive stops and put ourselves in position to win,” Petoskey coach Matt Tamm said.

The Northmen didn’t win it in that moment, however, though they did push things to overtime, where they came up just short in a 71-64 loss against Central.

It came as the fifth overtime game of the season, two of which came as wins.

“Just great battles this season,” Petoskey coach Matt Tamm said. “I’m so proud of this team. I had a lot of people after last year ask, ‘How are you guys going to be?’ I thought we’d be pretty solid and surprise some teams and a lot of people and we did.”

Along with the overtime games, which came against Grand Ledge, Cadillac, Traverse City West and Mount Pleasant previously, the Northmen also opened the year with a 74-66 battle against Brighton, edged St. Johns in a 73-65 final in a showcase event, topped Cadillac by one on a last second shot and fell by just three the last time they visited Central with a potential share of the Big North title on the line.

“Did we win them all? No, but we put ourselves in positon to and our guys are just battlers,” added Tamm.

Petoskey senior Cade Trudeau once again showed up Friday night for the Northmen, coming through with a new career-high 34 points and 14 rebounds in his final game as a Petoskey player

“Cade came to play,” said Tamm on his big man. “He left it out on the court. He came to battle.”

Traverse City Central star junior guard Anthony Ribel also finished with his second 30-point game against the Northmen this season, as he put up 32 points. Earlier this season, Ribel put up 34 points in the Northmen gym, then added 23 in the second meeting.

“He’s going to be my summer project,” said Tamm with a laugh. “How to defend this guy. Anthony is the real deal. The guy can score.”

The loss closed out an 18-7 season for Petoskey, while Central moved on to meet Mount Pleasant in a Division 1 regional semifinal in Gaylord on Monday, March 13.

The Trojans advanced throughout the district with a comeback one-point victory over Sault Ste. Marie, topped Marquette in double overtime Wednesday, then played to overtime with the Northmen.

The end of regulation came with a 57-57 tie between the Northmen and Trojans Friday, then the supporting cast around TC’s Ribel of Miles Smith and JJ Dutmers stepped up to deliver the victory.

Smith scored four of his seven points in overtime, while Dutmers scored six of his seven points in OT.

Petoskey led 19-14 after one quarter, with Trudeau scoring eight in the first, then Ribel got going for the Trojans and helped them out to a 33-30 lead at the half.

It was later a 44-38 game heading to the fourth and the Trojans out ahead thanks to another big quarter from Ribel and 3-pointers from Smith and Jaden Clark.

Along with Trudeau, Jimmy Marshall scored 13 points, had eight rebounds and two assists, while Jackson Jonker had six and three rebounds.

The Northmen depart four seniors in Trudeau, Jonker, Michael Squires and Evan Rindfusz, all of which Tamm will miss around the program.

“All four of these guys are intelligent young men and representatives of the community and Petoskey basketball,” he said. “They’re good role models and they’re going to have a lot of success in life. They did a great job representing us throughout the year.”

Tamm also had to thank his coaching staff and the parents around the program for all the work they’ve put into another strong PHS basketball season.

“Coach (Jason) Brecheisen and Coach (Andy) Kolp are fantastic guys,” said Tamm. “Coach Brecheisen really embraced taking over the offensive end this year and Coach Kolp handles a lot of the out of bounds. He’s the wizard on the bench. I love having these two guys around. Coach (Cindy) Okerlund, love having her and then Coach (Mike) Zenk, our strength and conditioning coach. Kirt Brower and his staff of Dan Hasty, Colin Green and Keith Young, did a good job with the JV. Del Ingalls provides assistance with individual workouts, scouting and running our Youth Tournament. Lastly, Jake Lee and his student assistant, Gavin Towner, provided a good experience for the ninth grade team .

“We also have to thank the parents for their support, their hard work and compradore and support of each other.”

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey battles TC Central to OT, ends season in district final