Traverse City Record-Eagle

Basketball

March 24, 2010

Norse are Breslin bound for Class C semis

Suttons Bay beat Rudyard

BY ROB ROOS

SAULT STE. MARIE -- Suttons Bay junior Dwuan Anderson said it has always been his dream to play at the Breslin Center.

Anderson made that dream come true Tuesday night with a dominant 30 point and 13 rebound performace to lead the Norsemen past Rudyard 76-63 in a Class C quarterfinal at Lake Superior State University.

The Norse will play in the state semifinals for the first time since 1964. Suttons Bay (24-1) faces Bridgman at 2:50 p.m. Thursday at Michigan State's Breslin Center. Bridgman beat Napolean 65-56 in a quarterfinal at Battle Creek.

"I knew as we got further into the tournament, I was going to have to step my game up," Anderson said. "I just tried to turn it on. It's been my goal (to play at the Breslin Center) since I was young and first started watching high school basketball."

Marcus Russell came off the bench to score 14 points, while Chase Palmer added 12 points and Jared Orban had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Norse, who extended their winning streak to 24 games.

"This was everything you would expect from a state quarterfinal," Suttons Bay coach Todd Hursey said. "Our guys came to play tonight. Dwuan was outstanding, but it still comes down to how well we play as a team.

"We never talked about getting to the Breslin Center as one of our goals. Maybe we should have, but this team has been so great about taking one game at a time. We've just been worrying about the next game. Now its starting to sink in, that we are going to play in the Breslin Center."

Playing in front of a capacity crowd at Lake Superior State with several college scouts in attendance, Anderson showed his versatile skills -- hitting 5-of-7 3-point shots, to go with five assists, four blocks and three slam dunks.

While Anderson was the star, the Norse proved to have too much size and depth for the Upper Peninsula's No. 1-ranked Bulldogs. The Norse led by as many as 14 points in the second half, although the Bulldogs did get as close as seven points midway through the third quarter.

Rudyard finished 23-2, the best record in its school history. Drew Otten and Ryan Hendrickson scored 14 points each, while Arik Hesselink had 13 points and Davin Salo added 11 points for the Bulldogs.

"We just didn't play our game tonight," Rudyard coach Grant Ross said. "They (Suttons Bay) had a lot to do with that. They are a very good ball team.

Anderson had one-handed dunk on a rebound putback in the first quarter, and dunked two alley-oop passes from Russell in the second half. While the Bulldogs were expecting Anderson's high-flying play above the rim, they were surprised by his outside shooting prowess.

"In the scouting report we had, he doesn't shoot like that," Ross said. "He hit everything tonight."

While Rudyard fans had the much shorter trip to LSSU, the Suttons Bay cheering section was nearly equal in size and vocal support.

Tickets were sold out before tip off, and a standing-room only crowd packed the 2,500-seat Bud Cooper Gym. Extra bleachers were set up along the baseline at each end of the court.

Making their first quarterfinal appearance since 1982, the Norse started strong. The Norse held a 20-13 edge after one quarter, and took a 36-27 lead at halftime.

"We came out a little cold," Rudyard's Drew Otten said. "We had our moments, but could hold our streaks. We're usually pretty solid shooting team. But they made the big shots, and the big runs. They are a hell of a team."

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