A ROUGH MAC WHITE BEGINNING
It was a night that the Port Huron Northern Huskies Basketball team would like to forget but in order to be successful in the 2012 season, it’s a game that they absolutely have to remember. The Roseville Panthers (now 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the MAC WHITE) came to Port Huron’s north side on Thursday Night to oppose our Huskies (now 3-3 and 0-1) to open up the MAC WHITE season and they happily left with a 57-48 victory. Was it the Panthers who won this contest though or was it instead the Huskies who lost it? Here’s how THE BIG D saw the contest which he also broadcasted for CPHS – Channel 6…
The Huskies came out flat. You’d expect that in game 1 of the season and although this was game 1 of the MAC WHITE DIVISION, it was really game 7 of 2012 so it’s understandable why Husky Head Coach – Brian Jamieson was a little bit frustrated in his club when this game began. Huskies were turning the ball over, throwing it away and oddly enough, having trouble inbounding the ball. When it was all said and done the Huskies had spotted the Panthers a 12-2 early lead and a 14-4 difference after one quarter. I knew the Huskies would get better if for no other reason…they couldn’t get any worse? Could they?
The second quarter was a little better as PHN started to up their defensive intensity. Two strong Coach Jamieson traits have always been both good, strong intensity on the defensive end but also the full court press. The Huskies did eventually switch to the full court trapping defense but it didn’t come until later in this one. If not for all sport superstar – Quinn Kotsko, it’s hard to say where the Huskies would have been. Kotsko and Forward – Dylan Harrison both didn’t play in their junior seasons so they were obviously a welcome addition this year to be back as seniors. Especially Kotsko who led all scorers in this game with 18 points but at times Quinn was simply unstoppable. Whether he was taking it hard to rim for the easy layup or battling hard down low for the tough fought basket off a rebound, Kotsko was hands down the player of the game and really the only consistent scorer that Northern had. The aforementioned Dylan Harrison was also a big factor though…pulling in 9 rebounds (many of them came early).
It wasn’t until the 3rd quarter that we saw the real Huskies. In short it took over 16 minutes of basketball for Northern to finally wake up. Roseville had the lead 29-14 at halftime. The low 14 point total was obviously unacceptable but this was where Kotsko took over the game, helping the Huskies get 8 straight points to begin the 3rd. From there it was a neck and neck game for awhile as Huskies were now limiting their mistakes and playing the aggressive defensive basketball that they’re known for. They also started trapping and it was throwing off Roseville who were all of a sudden finding it difficult to make open court passes and turning the ball over. The problem is, the Huskies trailed by too much, too early for any of this to make a difference. Despite the additional 10 points from both Alex Johns-Moore and Jackson Langolf to go with Kotsko’s big night, it just wasn’t meant to be. Playing strong basketball for one quarter doesn’t do it but it does show you what this Husky squad is certainly capable of when they play all out. I would love to see this team play four quarters worth of basketball. When it does, without question this will be a Port Huron Northern Husky team to be reckoned with. It was a tough loss but there’s plenty of time to correct things…PLENTY OF TIME TO STILL GET HUSKY!
(Pictures take by the Port Huron Times Herald…In order from top to bottom…Alex Johns-Moore, Quinn Kotsko and Jackson Langolf)
Leave a Comment
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
go blue