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Sports

Shamrocks Act as Spoilers at Dakota's Holiday Tournament

Cougars' late rally falls short in 56-54 loss to East Detroit.

The East Detroit Shamrocks held off a late game surge by the Cougars, winning Dakota's Dec. 21 holiday tournament, 56-54.

"I was holding my breath at the end," said Shamrocks coach Dave Zauner, after the game. "It was extremely tight there in the last minute or so."

The Shamrocks led 15-12 at the end of the first quarter but the Cougars managed to tie things up at 7:19 in the second when center Chris Gore had trouble handling a hard pass but somehow managed to toss up a short shot, get fouled in the process and make the subsequent free throw.

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The teams traded the lead for the next few minutes thanks to shots by Ethan Blackwell of East Detroit and Lindsay Thomas and Mark Morris of Dakota. Then Shamrocks guard Charles Baskin scored seven unanswered points–including a three-pointer–to help East Detroit move to a five-point lead at 24-19.

Solid free-throw shooting kept the Cougars in the mix, especially late in the half when forward Andrew Burmeister knocked down two in a row to cut the Shamrocks lead to 28-26.

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Baskin then hit an easy jumper to help the Shamrocks go back up by four. East Detroit led the game 30-27 at the half.

"We had to make some adjustments at half time," Baskin said. "I felt we came out in the second half and had a better game plan. We were sharper."

The Cougars came out firing in the second half when, on their first possession of the third period, Will Stone hit a three-pointer in the opening minute of the half.

A minute later, Burmeister also hit a three-pointer to give the Cougars their first lead of the second half at 33-32.

The Shamrocks remained sharp throughout the third period, playing solid offense and defense. Thanks to Dakota's reliable foul-line shooting, though, the Cougars managed to keep close, even tying the game again later in the third at 43-43.

Ron Thompson scored twice in the waning seconds of the third period to help the Shamrocks take a five-point lead into the fourth quarter, 48-43.

The Cougars looked listless early in the fourth, allowing the Shamrocks to move to their biggest lead of the game at 6:20 when Johnnie Mills knocked in a short turnaround jumper to make the score 52-44.

Dakota finally started showing signs of life in the last two minutes of the game after Morris buried an underhanded scoop shot near the baseline to cut the Shamrocks' lead 54-50.

Then Dakota's Deandre Smith hit two layups in a row in the waning seconds, putting the Cougars within two at 56-54; suddenly, what looked like a comfortable win mere minutes before had been put in doubt for the Shamrocks.

The Cougars had one final shot to tie the game with 10.2 seconds left as they inbounded the ball next to their own basket. Any last minute shot was thwarted, however, when the Shamrocks' defense swarmed the Dakota players, negating any shot they hoped to get off.

"It was nerve-wracking at the end, but it was a good win for us," Zauner said. "We look at this tournament as a way to gear up for upcoming league play."

Baskin agreed.

"I love playing these tournaments," he said. "They're great for us to keep sharp when school's out for the holidays."

The Dakota girls basketball team also played Tuesday, but they had a much easier time of things, beating Lutheran North 74-26 in the championship game. The lady Cougars knocked down 12 three-pointers and were led by Markela Snipes, who scored 13 points. She was helped by Erica Manduzzi with 12 points and Rio Dudgeon with 11 points.

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