PICKFORD — They came, they saw, and they beat the Panthers. The Brimley Bays ended Pickford's undefeated conference record with a 65-52 win on Feb. 10.
“Brimley came out tough,” said Panthers' Coach Vance Barber. “They were ready to play.”
The Bays were ready to play indeed, pulling to a 15-10 advantage halfway through the first period and holding it to the buzzer. However, the Panthers were not about to let an early game shortfall hold them back.
Pickford poured the pressure on in the second quarter. Brimley increased their score to 20, but in a quick rally, the Panthers tied the game up 20-20.
The closing minutes of the half were some of the most tense of the game, as the Bays pulled ahead with two free throw shots by Derek Parish and then Pickford tied it back up. A long-distance bucket by Travis Lynn pulled Brimley ahead by three, ending the half at 25-22.
Brimley turned on the intensity in the third quarter, scoring 22 points and getting as far ahead as 10 points over Pickford. The Panthers managed 17 points in the period, pulling up to eight points behind the Bays.
With the game still relatively close, Brimley worked to hold onto their lead. Early in the fourth, the Bays pulled ahead by 11 points, but Pickford managed to pull themselves up to 56-50 — their closest approach to the Brimley lead since the half.
With victory at hand, the Bays were not about to give up easily. They allowed the Panthers only two more points in the game, and at the same time running away to a 13-point lead — five points from free throws by Albert Bertram, Cody Robbins and Lynn, scoring the last point in the game.
With only seconds remaining in the game, Derek Beseau got possession of the ball and let the game clock run out.
Brimley Coach Reg Robbins thought that his players did very well against Pickford.
“We pushed the ball up the floor on offense,” Coach Robbins said. “We're finding out that we do better running the floor instead of trying to set up patterns.”
Coach Barber readily gave credit where he felt it was due.
“Like I said before, Reg [Coach Robbins] is doing a good job.” Coach Barber said. “Brimley came out with intensity, and we played rather flat this evening.” Pickford had just come off of a close 47-44 win over Cedarville on Feb. 6 and a loss to Rudyard 64-60 on Feb. 3 in non-conference play.
Even with the win, Coach Robbins is already looking down the road to the rest of the season.
“This win goes a long way for setting us up for districts,” he said. Now one game behind Pickford (6-1 EUPC, 8-6 overall), Brimley (4-2 EUPC, 8-5 overall) will most likely face the Panthers in district play scheduled to take place in Brimley in early March.
“Now we know that we can beat them,” Coach Robbins said about Pickford, “And they know it too.”
Lynn lead game scoring with 18 points, a 3-point shot, six assists and seven rebounds. Bertram followed with 14 points and nine rebounds, Beseau chalked up nine points, Cody Robbins eight, and Jake Parish landed seven, including a 3-point shot Parish led with 10 rebounds.
For Pickford, Kurt Hanna was a point behind Lynn with 17 points, while Josh Schwab was responsible for 14 points.
The Bays' JV team set the stage for back-to-back Brimley wins, dropping Pickford 58-36 and bringing them to a 11-2 record for the season.
“We did what we had to do,” JV Coach Scout Hester said after the game.
