Northville Boys Basketball Tops John Glenn With Last Second, Game-Winning Shot

- Submitted by S. Patrone

Northville's boys varsity basketball team moved into the Kensington Conference Championship game on an impressive last-second shot Tuesday night with 5.41 seconds left in the game. Senior Brett MacDonald drove the ball the full length of the court and drained the game winning shot just beyond the arc against the John Glenn Rockets 51-49.

Northville (11-6, 7-3 KLAA Central) would be hard pressed in its KLAA Conference semi-final game against the south division #1 seed John Glenn Rockets (14-3, 9-1 KLAA South). Northville was shell-shocked in the first few minutes of play as the Rockets took an early lead 13-4 after dropping in 3-for-3 from the 3-point arc. Senior point guard Jeff Gertley scored the first four points for the Mustangs while Andrew Meacham took a defensive charge against one of
John Glenn’s big men. Brett MacDonald drained a last-second shot from the arc at quarter’s end to give him eights points and cut the Rockets' lead 19-17.

The Rockets held the ‘Stangs to only five points in the second quarter as Northville stepped up its defensive pressure and forced the Rockets to six turnovers. Northville tried to pound the ball inside but couldn’t get the baskets to fall, however, the team's inside post play allowed Northville to gain valuable personal fouls on John Glenn’s three big men. The Mustangs found themselves down at halftime 26-22.

Senior power forward, Jeff Hewlett, took control in the third quarter as he drove to the basket twice for a quick four points. Meacham’s post play and Hewlett’s defensive charge forced the Rockets' big men to take an early seat on the bench. The Rockets outscored the Mustangs 14-9 to take a 40-31 lead at the end of the third quarter.

The Rockets found themselves up by 13 points early in the fourth quarter but the ‘Stangs dug deep and worked their offense to execute a 17-3 scoring run to close out the game. Junior Stewart Henzi and sophomore Andrew Meacham converted on points inside the paint and cut the Rockets' lead to only 6 points with two minutes left on the clock. Senior forward Andrew Poterala drained a 3-pointer behind the arc as Meacham followed with another arc shot from top
of the key to pull the Mustangs within two points at 48-46. With only 29 seconds left, Henzi tied the game at 48-48 after swishing both free throws in the bonus. John Glenn took a 1-point lead on a free throw with only 5.41 ticks on the clock.

The Mustangs needed a miracle and they got it in Brett MacDonald’s full court dribbling sprint to launch the last shot. The gym was silent until the ball arced through the net. The Mustangs won the game by a score of 51-49.

MacDonald led the Mustangs with 18 points, followed by Meacham with 9 points and Hewlett with 7 points. Poterala and Henzi had 6 points each and Gertley had 5 points.

Come see the Mustangs in the championship game at Salem High School on Friday at 7 p.m. GO MUSTANGS!