Boys Basketball: Flat Rock keeps rolling; Bedford wins first, Monroe sharp

FLAT ROCK – Friday was Hall of Fame Night at Flat Rock High School.

And the 2021-22 boys basketball team continued to play like it has plans to join the Hall someday.

The Rams reeled off their ninth straight win to run their record to 11-3 overall and 9-0 in the Huron League, dispatching New Boston Huron 66-55.

“It was a great atmosphere with the Hall of Fame game,” Flat Rock coach Rick Smith said. “It was an Oxford Remembrance Night on top of that. We had a moment of silence for that unfortunate situation.

“But once the game started it was game on. It was a great rivalry game and we played well.”

Flat Rock had great balance – Corey Lannon (15), Tim Murphy (12), Graham Junge (12), Joey Godfrey (11) and Alex Gillum (11) all scored in double figures.

Flat Rock led 18-15 after one quarter, 33-26 at halftime and 51-38 after three periods.

The transformation of the Rams this season has been astounding.

"We only won one game last year," Smith said.

Huron (1-11) also featured balance. Ethan Woolery scored 16 points, Sal Farrugia 14 and Rory Callahan 10.

Flat Rock ; 18 ; 15 ; 18 ; 17 ; - ; 66

Huron ; 15 ; 9 ; 12 ; 19 ; - ; 55

FLAT ROCK: Lannon 5 (2) 3-3 15, Emery 1 0-0 2, Gillum 4 (2) 1-2 11, Nemeth 1 (1) 2-2 5, Godfrey 3 (3) 2-2 11, Murphy 5 2-4 12, Junge 4 (2) 2-2 12. Totals 23 (10) 12-15 68.

NEW BOSTON HURON: M. Smith 2 (1) 3-6 8, Martin 1 1-2 3, Farrugia 4 (3) 3-4 14, Kantola 1 0-1 2, Grunwald 1 0-2 2, Callahan 5 0-1 10, Woolery 6 (2) 2-2 16. Totals 20 9-18 55.

Bedford 61, Ypsilanti Lincoln 57

TEMPERANCE – Andrew Hollinger scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Bedford grabbed its first win of the season.

Twelve of Hollinger’s points came in the first half.

The 1-9 Mules took a 10-point lead into halftime only to see Ypsilanti cut the home team’s advantage to just 6 points after three quarters of play.

“The kids just kind of settled back in, they didn’t get too excited,” said Bedford coach Jordan Bollin. “We definitely won the game on the defensive end of the floor. We rebounded pretty well through three quarters, and did a good job of taking away their drives.”

Preston Manard and Griffin Wolf each scored 12 points to join Hollinger in double figures and help the Mules get over the hump.

“It was a good one for us,” Bollin said. “It takes some of the pressure off of your shoulders. Hopefully we can continue to battle and play hard.”

Bedford ; 13 ; 18 ; 15 ; 15 ; - ; 61

Lincoln ; 15 ; 6 ; 19 ; 15 ; - ; 57

BEDFORD: P. Manard 3 6-10 12, C. Koechendoerfer 3 1-2 7, A. Hollinger 6 8-10 20, L. Wagenhauser (1) 0-0 3, G. Wolf 3(1) 1-1 12, T. Huss 2 3-5 7. Totals 17(2) 19-28 61.

YPSILANTI LINCOLN: Bargen 3 0-0 6, Collier 3(2) 3-5 15, J. White (2) 0-0 6, Benson-Joplin 3 10-13 16, Traylor 7 0-0 14. Totals 16(4) 13-18 57.

Monroe 59, Dexter 56

Monroe’s Xander Middleton scored 11 of his career-high 31 points in the fourth quarter as the 5-8 Trojans survived a back-and-forth contest to equal their win total from last season.

“Great game,” said Monroe coach Larry Middleton. “We basically led the entire game until early in the fourth quarter. ... Then Xander just kind of took over, hit a three, was working in the post. He was pretty unstoppable tonight, he played very well."

Coach Middleton also credited Corbin Geiman’s defense for helping the Trojans secure Friday’s victory. Geiman also finished the night with 9 points.

“Dexter is a pretty good basketball team,” the coach said. “We’ve not had a win like that around here in probably five or six years. ... I’m proud of the guys. They played very, very well.”

Monroe ; 9 ; 14 ; 20 ; 16 ; - ; 59

Dexter ; 3 ; 17 ; 16 ; 20 ; - ; 56

MONROE: D. Scznsny 0 0-1 0, T. Nichols 2 2-6 6, A. McCarthy (1) 3-4 6, X. Middleton 8(3) 6-9 31, C. Sweat 1 0-0 2, N. Miller (1) 2-2 5, C. Geiman 2(1) 2-2 9. Totals 13(6) 15-28 59.

DEXTER: Parachek 8 1-1 17, Arneds 1 0-0 2, Rychener 1 0-0 2, Haroldson 1(5) 1-2 18, Bavineau 1(2) 1-2 9, Tessmer 3 2-2 8. Totals 15(7) 5-7 56.

Riverview 63, Milan 43

RIVERVIEW – Milan trailed by a single point after one quarter, but Riverview controlled the second period to build 10-point halftime lead and never looked back.

“We started neck and neck, however they pulled away toward the end of the second quarter and we never threatened them after that,” Milan coach Nate Edwards said. “Turnovers and missed layups bit us tonight. We have to refocus on the little things it takes to win.”

Tyler Denham hit four 3-pointers and scored 12 points to lead 2-10 Milan.

Riverview ; 15 ; 14 ; 16 ; 18 ; - ; 63

Milan ; 14 ; 5 ; 11 ; 13 ; - ; 43

RIVERVIEW: Dorn 12 (4) 4-4 30, McAlnden 1 1-2 3, Je. Tiberia 0 4-4 4, Doyle 1 (1) 0-0 3, Lockhart 3 1-2 7, Ja. Tiberia 2 (1) 1-3 6, Gallimore 1 0-1 2, Kincaid 3 0-2 6. Totals 23 (6) 11-18 63

MILAN: K. Ballard 2 (2) 0-0 6, Denham 4 (4) 0-0 12, Isaacs 1 (1) 0-0 3, Morelock 0 2-2 2, C. Ballard 0 1-2 1, Chored 2 1-1 5, Walline 2 (1) 0-0 5, Gaskill 1 1-2 3, Budd 3 0-1 6. Totals 15 (8) 5-8 43.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Boys Basketball: Flat Rock keeps rolling; Bedford wins first, Monroe sharp