On Friday night in Beal City, two Highland conference foes fought it out with the Aggies hosting the McBain Ramblers.
Both teams came into the game undefeated, with the Aggies 2-0 and the Ramblers 3-0. Since the start of the ’22/’23 season, McBain was 32-1 in Highland Conference play.
The one loss? Came right here in Beal City in that ’22/’23 season. The Aggies were looking do the same tonight.
McBain got going early with Sophomore forward Clayton Heuker, and Senior guard Benny Rodenbaugh. The Ramblers were finishing at the hoop and led 13-5 with 10 seconds to go in the first quarter.
It was then that a Cuyler Smith right wing 3-pointer got the Aggies going. 13-8 was the score at the end of the 1st, but the Aggies would get it going in the 2nd. Austin Small and Cuyler Smith combined for 3 threes on the first 3 possessions of the quarter (2 from Small, 1 from Smith).
Junior guard Drake Gatrell would finish the half with three straight finishes at the basket to lead the Aggies with 8 points, and Beal City led 27-26 at the break.
The 3rd quarter was more of the same, with back-and-forth action on both sides. Austin Small got hot again in the 3rd – drilling two more triples and finished the quarter with 16 total points. McBain went into the 4th holding onto a 40-39 lead.
In the final 8 minutes both teams fought back and forth, and with 3:30 to go McBain led 48-47. From this point out the Aggies would finish the game on a 10-0 run led by great defense, and finishes at the hoop from Drake Gatrell and Austin Small – with Small and Senior wing Owen McKenny knocking down free throws to ice the game.
With the 57-48 win the Aggies advance to 3-0 on the season and hand the Ramblers their first loss of the year, and their second loss in the Highland conference in 2 years (both coming in Beal City).
Austin Small led in scoring for Beal with 22 points.
Drake Gatrell added 15, Senior guard Cole Tilmann finished with 7, and Cuyler Smith drilled two first half three-pointers to finish with 6.
McBain was led by Clayton Heuker who finished with 21, and Benny Rodenbaugh added 17.
Up next for the Aggies is a trip to Ithaca next week on Tuesday, followed by another road game against Evart on Thursday – then the Buck92 Backyard Brawl on Saturday the 21st.
No games on Buck92.3 next week as we are getting prepped for Saturday’s Buck92 Backyard Brawl! Click the link for all of the details, we hope to see you all there!
