GTC-East showdown lives up to hype

Ubly’s Eric Booms is trapped just inside the baseline by Brad Booms (left) and Justin Braun. Harbor Beach remained undefeated with a come-from-behind win. UBLY — Granted, there is still a lot of basketball to be played, but when undefeated Harbor Beach paid a visit to Ubly Wednesday, the atmosphere was electric and had all the makings of a championship battle between the two league rivals.

When the dust had settled and bodies finally quit crashing to the floor in the rugged match-up, the Pirates came out on top, mounting a secondhalf rally to claim an important 56-51 win over the Bearcats to take a one-game lead in the conference.

Harbor Beach is now 5-0 in GTC-East, 12-0 overall. Ubly slips to 4-1 in the conference and 9-3 overall.

“It was a war, like it always is when the two of us play,” said Harbor Beach coach Ron Wruble. “It was a dogfight right to the end and I was proud of how our kids never gave up. We did not answer the bell at the opening tip like we wanted to, but we kept battling and finally got it going in the second half. There is still a long ways to go for the league title, but it was good to steal one on the road.”

Harbor Beach post player Justin Braun draws contact with Ubly big man Tyler Kubacki Wednesday. The Pirates rallied for a 56-51 victory. (Photos by Dave Fredrick) For the entire first half, it was the Bearcats looking like a championship caliber team, racing out to a 10-3 lead in the first quarter behind buckets by Justin Cleary, Eric Booms and Tyler Kubacki. Marshall Leipprandt drained three short-range jumpers for Ubly to close out the opening quarter, leaving the Bearcats on top, 16- 7.

Booms was a one-man show to start the second, dumping in five points in the first two minutes of the quarter, much to the delight of the huge Ubly crowd as the Bearcats lead swelled to 21-7 with 6:28 to go before the half. Ubly took its largest lead of the game, 25-10, on a Kubacki score on a rebound before the Pirates began to cut into the lead.

Harbor Beach closed out the first half on a 11- 4 run, thanks to hoops by Justin Braun and a triple by Ethan Booms. Braun’s put-back with 0:47 to go before the intermission narrowed the score to 29-21.

“We knew we had a lot of ground to make up,” Wruble admitted. “We wanted to get the lead down to single digits before the half and go from there. I was pleased with our character and composure, especially at the end.”

Although Ubly was able to maintain an eight-point lead midway through the third quarter, after a free throw by Cleary, the Pirates made it a five-point game when Braun scored inside the paint and was fouled on the play. A Tyler Peruski bucket with 0:06 to play in the third left Ubly with a 42-37 lead entering the final period.

Faster than you can say “we’ve got a barn burner,” Harbor Beach scored the fourth quarter’s first seven points and took the lead for the first time in the game. Braun kissed a short jumper in off the glass, Sean Sorenson’s triple tied the game at 42-42 with 7:00 to play, and another hoop by Braun gave the Pirates a 44-42 lead 6:40 still to play.

Jacob Murawske, who was held to few offensive opportunities throughout the night by a tough Bearcat defense, worked his way inside the lane for a short jumper and perhaps hit the biggest shot of the game with just over a minute to go, draining a three ball to make it 54-49.

“We know this does not give us a league championship and we have some big games coming up, like Friday with Brown City,” said Wruble. “I am confident the guys will come out strong. As far as I am concerned, every game is a championship game from here on out.”

Braun led the Pirates with 16 points and Murawske tossed in 13, eight of which came in the decisive fourth quarter.

Kubacki led all scorers with 17 points, Booms, who suffered a facial cut that forced him to see limited playing time in the second half, added 13, and Steven Weber chipped in with eight.

Brown City will pay a visit to Harbor Beach on Friday while Ubly will be at Marlette.