Joe Gales
(Photo by Nicci Plummer)
A stout Bridgman boys basketball team managed to survive an 84-73 overtime battle Monday with visiting Mendon.
The Hornets took a 38-35 lead into the locker room and both teams came out firing in the second half, with Bridgman making up two points in the third quarter. Down three late, Mendon’s Marcus Craft buried a triple with 12 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to an extra period.
That’s when the offense stalled for the Hornets, which were outscored 14-3 to slip to 14-3 overall this year. It also marked the end of a school-record 13-game winning streak.
Marcus Craft
(Photo by Nicci Plummer)
“The guys played hard,” Mendon coach Dave Swanwick said. “We got good production out of all the guys; we just needed to get a couple of defensive stops and we didn’t tonight. … We went cold in the OT — missed our first five shots. It was a good game to prepare us for next week’s district game.”
Five Hornets reached double figures, led by Joe Gales’ 18 points. He finished with five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Zach Darmofal ended the evening with 14 points, five rebounds and a pair of steals and Craft added 11 points, three boards and four assists.
Both Jordan Medich and Parker Cupp registered 10 points, adding four and three rebounds, respectively.
The Hornets shot 39.7 percent from the field and connected on 12 of 37 attempts from behind the arc.
Logan Slaughter pulled down eight rebounds to go with six points, and Kyle Wiswell and Elijah Klepper each chipped in two points.
Matt Hendricks scored 10 of his 14 points in overtime for Bridgman, which was led by Tyler Grodtke’s 27 points.
Mendon hosts Kalamazoo Home School Tuesday and Cassopolis Thursday to finish the regular season.