'They made layups, we didn't': Cheboygan boys left frustrated after home loss to Rudyard

CHEBOYGAN – The Cheboygan boys basketball team faced another high-caliber opponent on Wednesday night.

While Cheboygan’s play was improved following a loss to Harbor Springs on Monday, mistakes came back to haunt the Chiefs, who suffered a 52-40 home defeat to Rudyard.

“This game boiled down to the fact that we didn’t make layups,” Cheboygan coach Jason Friday said. “We lost by 12, and I bet we missed 10 layups. If we want to beat good teams, we can’t miss 10 layups. It might’ve been even more.”

Here's some takeaways from Wednesday's matchup.

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Getting back into it – then faltering

The Chiefs (9-11, 2-5 Straits Area Conference) avenged a lackluster first quarter by getting back into it with a run in the second. However, the Bulldogs (15-6, 5-3) countered with a 13-2 spurt and took a 35-21 lead into halftime. That stretch was keyed by easy baskets for the Bulldogs, while Cheboygan’s missed layups saw them fall behind by double digits.

Cheboygan refused to quit despite falling behind by as many as 17 in the third. A made 3-pointer from senior Kaleb Goodrich capped off a big run for the Chiefs, who cut the Rudyard advantage to four with seven minutes left to play. But right when the Chiefs had a chance to get even closer, they missed a pair of shots, while Rudyard went back up by 10 with a quick run that featured easy layups.

It was a frustrating night for Friday, whose team hung around but couldn’t get over the hump.

“We cut it to four and two possessions in a row, we don’t get back on defense, and they get layups,” Friday said. “It’s amazing how many times when you miss an easy shot on one end, and the other team gets a layup on the other end. It happens in every level of basketball. We talked (Tuesday) and we talked today about when you play Rudyard, you better have your ‘A’ game when it comes to transition defense, or else they are going to get layups on you.

“They made layups, we didn’t.”

Goodrich finished with 12 points to lead the Chiefs, who received nine from Gavin Smith, seven from Daniel Hudson, six from Owen Kimbrell, four from Nolan Schley, and two apiece from Luke Munger and Brenner Thater.

Closing the deal

The Bulldogs saw themselves in danger of losing their lead a couple times, but each time they faced adversity, they responded. For Rudyard coach Jim Suggitt, whose team has battled against tough foes all winter, he praised the ability of his players to punch back each time.

"We play in two pretty good conferences,” Suggitt said. "When you play St. Ignace and Cheboygan and the Sault, and then we just played Frankfort and we just played Alpena, so you just have to learn to respond to it. You know the other teams are good so they’re going to make runs. Cheboygan has good shooters; we told our guys that. Yup, we had a 14-point lead, all of a sudden it’s then four, but you have to withstand those and be able to come out with runs of your own.”

Cam Peterson’s 22 points fueled the Bulldogs, but the play of Eli Sprague also played a massive role in Rudyard's win. In addition to his 15 points, Sprague made several quality passes in transition and played strong defense.

“For us, Eli is that special athlete,” Suggitt said. “He’s that guy who can get to the rim on our fast breaks. (Aiden) Bickel can get to the rim off the drive, but Eli’s the guy that all year has been able to get over the top of other people’s defense.”

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The Saints ... then districts

Cheboygan wrap up a challenging three-game schedule by hosting St. Ignace in its regular season finale on Friday. On Monday, Feb. 26, the Chiefs begin postseason play with a 6 p.m. MHSAA Division 2 district first-round clash at Kalkaska.

Friday’s game will be senior night for Cheboygan.

In Wednesday's junior varsity game, Cheboygan captured a 56-28 victory. Andrew Kiefer led the Chiefs with 13 points, Landon Gahn had 10, Carson Kiefer scored eight, Nolan Schley tallied seven, Frank Leonard registered five, Luke Lafrinere added four, Jack Ekdahl recorded three, and Quin Hatt, Jason Pauley and Mark Munger each chipped in with two.

Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Missed layups plague Cheboygan boys basketball in loss to Rudyard