Northville Boys Basketball Loses Conference Championship to Salem

—Submitted by Steve Patrone

The Mustangs boys varsity basketball team took a disappointing loss in their Kensington Conference Championship game 39-42 to the Salem Rocks.

Northville (12-6 overall) was the last team to give the Salem Rocks (16-2) their second loss of their season on their home court earlier in the season. 

The Rocks took an early first quarter lead at 8-12. Senior Andrew Poterala forced a defensive charge off an early Rock possession. Offensively, senior point guard Jeff Gertley was on fire draining six points on a 3-4 effort.

The second quarter saw the Mustangs cut the Rocks lead to only one point at halftime (18-19) as they outscored the Rocks (10-7) in the quarter. The Mustangs stepped up on offense as junior Stewart Henzi dropped in points from a top of the key jumper and senior Jeff Hewlett drove to the basket for another two points.  Gertley took a defensive steal and converted points off a full court layup.  Andrew Wright and Jake Hansen came off the bench to help keep the Mustangs executing their full court pressure.

The Mustangs took the lead early in the third quarter when senior Brett MacDonald dropped in the Mustangs first points from beyond the arc. Salem would get the lead back as the Rocks outscored the ‘Stangs (8-13) and kept their lead (26-32) at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was do or die for the Mustangs as eight minutes would decide who would be crowned Kensington Conference Champion. As always, the Mustangs never gave up. The ‘Stangs kept up their full court defensive pressure and forced numerous Rocks turnovers. Northville went on a (9-0) scoring run thanks to MacDonald draining another 3-pointer and Hewlett being perfect from the charity stripe with a (4-4) effort. With 1:15 left on the clock, Jeff Gertley stole a Salem pass and with the Rocks in the team bonus, Northville would have a chance to tie the game. Northville needed to rely on their last second shot from a full court inbounds play, but this time, the Mustangs’ shot rimmed out and Salem won (39-42).

Gertley led all Mustangs with 16 points, followed by MacDonald with 10 points, Hewlett with 8 points and Henzi had 2 points.