Junge hits 1,000 for Flat Rock; Monroe earns road win at Bedford

FLAT ROCK – Flat Rock’s Graham Junge made history Tuesday night, reaching 1,000 career points.

And the first player to reach that milestone for the Rams was there to help him celebrate.

Ron Schroeder, a 1966 Flat Rock graduate, was on hand as Junge poured in 29 points in a 73-40 rout of Grosse Ile.

Junge came into the game needing 27 points to reach 1,000. He took care of that in the first half, including 24 in the second quarter.

Junge knew he was close to history, but wasn’t counting points during the game.

“I knew I was 27 away,” he said. “I didn’t care whether I hit it or not, I let the game come to me. I just wanted to win.

“I got off to a little bit of a slow start, then I found my shot and the guys got me the ball.”

The milestone was achieved in the closing seconds of the first half.

“We tried to get a timeout, but unfortunately it came just before the end of the half,” Flat Rock coach Rick Smith said. “We were able to recognize him at halftime before we went into the locker room.”

After the game Junge spent a few moments with Schroeder.

More: State-ranked Bedford gives Monroe lessons on winning

“That was a cool experience,” Junge said. “He congratulated me and I congratulated him.”

Junge is the seventh Flat Rock player to reach 1,000, joining Andy Mangin (1,393), Ryan Stahr (1,364), Marc Villemure (1,142), Kevin Creasman (1,134), Schroeder (1,021) and Andrew Scarton (1,000).

Junge is only a junior so has the rest of this season and all of next year to climb that list.

“It was a cool accomplishment,” he said. “All of the hard work in the gym after practice paid off. ... Personal goals are cool, but at the end of the day I just want to see what we can do as a team.”

Smith said that kind of attitude is part of what makes Junge such a great teammate.

“In the three years he has been on the varsity since his freshman year, he has been nothing but awesome,” Smith said. “He is so smart. He knows when to take shots, but when someone else is feeling it, he knows to find that person.”

Smith was delighted to see Flat Rock’s past meet the present when Schroeder was introduced to Junge after the game.

“I didn’t do it,” Smith said of the meeting. “Someone must have told him (Schroeder) or he just caught wind of it. It was cool to have the first player to do it meet the most recent.

“I’ve been fortunate as a coach to have a player like Graham come along. He gets the program to another level and the players around him to another level. It’s been a fun ride.”

It was the final home game for Flat Rock seniors Mike Beaudrie, Rocco Breslin, Alex Gillum, Dylan Liedel, Tim Murphy and Odin Nemeth.

Breslin scored 15 points and Murphy 13. Gillum collected 15 rebounds. The Rams improved to 17-3 with their 10th straight win.

“I’m proud of the defensive performance we had,” Smith said. “We held Grosse Ile without a field goal in the second quarter and only two points.”

Monroe 55, Bedford 47

TEMPERANCE – Monroe made it back-to-back Southeastern Conference Red wins and a regular-season sweep of its arch-rival.

“Proud of this team’s effort,” Monroe coach Larry Middleton said. “We went to a very difficult place to win and we played a complete game.”

Lucis Rzepa got Monroe off to a good start with a trio of early 3-pointers. He finished with 10 points and Teegan Simmons added 14 to support a 24-point night by Lukas Johnson.

“Lukas Johnson was Lukas Johnson tonight,” Middleton said of his 6-12 team. “It’s fun to watch our guys growing up and playing good basketball down the stretch.”

Freshman Evan Gartee, who had scored a total of 13 points in Bedford’s first 16 games, broke loose for a career-high 11. Noah Colon added 10 for the 2-15 Mules.

SMCC 61, Milan 29

MONROE – St. Mary Catholic Central held Milan to 6 or less points in three of the four quarters to win for the sixth time in its last seven games.

It was 16-6 after one quarter and 34-11 at halftime.

Three players scored in double figures for the 10-8 Falcons – Ian Foster (22), Buddy Snodgrass (17) and Drew Vuich (12).

Jackson Raasch scored 10 to lead Milan (3-16).

“SMCC did a great job of sharing the ball tonight and getting open looks with their ball movement,” Milan coach Bobby Green said. “We showed flashes of improvement on both ends of the floor in the second half, but turnovers continue to haunt us.”

Airport 75, Jefferson 62

CARLETON – Seniors took center stage for Airport on Senior Night as Cooper Nye scored 24 points, Brett Moore 18 and Colin Nowak 17.

Nye also rang up 12 rebounds.

Dillon Byrd added 11 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the 11-9 Jets.

“I was the most proud of our guys for our unselfish basketball on offense in the second half and relentless hustle in our full-court pressure that forced over 20 turnovers,” Airport coach Jason Ruhlig said.

Ben Merkel scored 15 points, Trent Allen 12 and Gabe Gelso 10 for 9-10 Jefferson.

"We battled tonight," Jefferson coach Corey Wiley said. "Give the credit to Airport. They were more physical and aggressive and controlled the game."

Airport also won the junior varsity game 54-27 and took the freshman contest 52-43 in double overtime. Wally Sisler 11 scored and Drake Ferris 10 for the J.V. team. Patrick Murphy (14), Joel Parker (10) and Jensen Wright (10) scored in double figures for the freshmen.

Huron 56, Riverview 54

RIVERVIEW – Kyle Kantola scored a career-high 24 points and Nate Morse hit a game-winning shot at the buzzer for New Boston Huron.

“So proud of this team,” Huron coach Ted Tackett said after watching the Chiefs improve to 12-7 overall and 8-4 in the Huron League.

Chad Martin added 15 points, Morse finished with 11 points and 9 rebounds and Tackett said Kantola’s defense got Huron back into the game.

“This was an incredible game to be a part of and a huge Huron League win for us,” Tackett said. “After being down 16 points to start the game, our team stuck together and battled back.”

Ida 61, Hillsdale 56

IDA – Ida staged a dramatic comeback against Hillsdale for the second time this season.

The Blue Streaks, who wiped out a 17-point deficit in the final 5:30 earlier this season, crawled out of a 22-point hole in the first half Tuesday.

“There is something about Hillsdale,” Ida coach Jared Karner said.

AJ Schroeder scored 24 points to lead the 12-6 Blue Streaks while Beck Kukiela and Zach Hemry added 10 apiece.

Karner also praised some key contributions by Landon Wolfenbarger.

Ida’s junior varsity (12-6) got 10 points from Hazen Vogt in a 49-38 victory.

Blissfield 81, Dundee 72, OT

BLISSFIELD – Dundee fought back from an early deficit to send the game into overtime, but was outscored 15-6 in the extra period.

“We dug ourselves a big hole, then came back to take the lead, but didn’t do enough to win,” Dundee coach Jay Haselschwerdt said. “We’re disappointed, but we’ll try to get back on track.”

Braiden Whitaker poured in 32 points and Ethan Layton added 14 for the Vikings, who have three of their last four to fall to 15-4.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Boys Basketball: Junge reaches 1,000 career points in Flat Rock win