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March 7, 2006Suttons Bay slips past Glen Lake againThe 2 teams went to OT 4 days agoSUTTONS BAY - Well, that certainly looked familiar.Four days after Suttons Bay edged Glen Lake in overtime after letting a big lead slip away in the regular-season basketball finale, the same thing nearly happened again. The Norsemen didn't need an extra period this time around, however. Ray Freund scored 22 points and Dan McKisson had 15 - including a free throw with 10.3 seconds left to give the hosts a three-point cushion - as Suttons Bay opened Class C district tournament action with a 55-52 victory over the Lakers. "That's the second time we've had a comfortable lead that proved to be not so comfortable," said Suttons Bay coach Todd Hursey, whose team is 11-10. "That's a credit to Keith (Shimek, Glen Lake's coach). His kids never quit. "I'm proud of the way our guys kept their composure down the stretch and did what they had to do to win." Glen Lake led only once in the game, 6-4 midway through the first quarter. After leading by as many as 12 points, the Norsemen were up 14-10 at the end of the first period, 30-21 at halftime and 42-37 after three. The Lakers (6-15) had several chances to tie the score at the end. Jason Popa, whose 3-pointer sent last Thursday's game into overtime, nailed a triple with 35 seconds remaining to pull Glen Lake to within 54-52. He stole the ensuing inbounds pass, but the Lakers couldn't convert. McKisson came up big for Suttons Bay with an offensive rebound and a free throw as time wound down, then the Norse held off Glen Lake in the final seconds. A 3-point attempt by the Lakers missed its mark with 3 seconds left. "I felt fine (down the stretch)," McKisson said. "I couldn't help but smile at it. We just had to get it to the right person at the right time... "I just looked at it like the worst we could do was overtime." Freund sparked Suttons Bay in the first half, hitting 6 of 9 shots for 13 of his team-high 22. He also had 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in the game. "We played tougher defense and tried to cut big Ray off," Shimek said. "He was too tough for us inside. "We picked it up and played well (in the second half), we just didn't hit the baskets we needed to." Three players scored in double figures for Glen Lake - Joey Wiejaczka (22), Ryan Dyksterhouse (13) and Popa (11). Up next for Suttons Bay is highly-touted Traverse City St. Francis on Wednesday night. "St. Francis has a great program," Hursey said. "It's one of those games where I hope we can just hang around as long as we can and get a few breaks. You never know - it's March Madness." McKisson agreed. "The state always has a few upsets every year," he said. "Why can't we be one of them?"
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