The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Hornet skid hits four games
'Nothing going right' as team loses OT heartbreaker to Bedford
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 1, 2007
What has been a long season for the Saline boys' basketball team got a little longer Tuesday night.
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The Hornets lost at home to visiting Bedford in heartbreaking fashion, falling 63-61 in overtime after erasing an eight-point halftime deficit. The Mules' Justin Ostentoski hit two free throws with 3.6 seconds remaining in the extra period to send Saline (3-9, 1-5 Southeastern Conference) to its fourth consecutive loss and eight in nine games.
Afterward, Saline head coach Terry Breneman said his team wasn't catching much in the way of breaks, but added that his team could do more to earn those breaks, as well.
"Nothing's going right for us," he said, "but we're not doing enough right ourselves … We're just having too many lapses for a 32-minute game."
The Hornets appeared to have momentum heading into overtime after a spirited fourth-quarter rally. Bedford led 53-48 when play was stopped with 5:05 remaining for Ostentoski to find and replace a lost contact lens. Saline took advantage of the break to regroup, scoring the next seven points on a Kyle Larsen free throw and back-to-back three-pointers by Jake Santure and Derek Fairchild.
The Mules responded with a six-point run of their own to take a 59-55 lead. But Saline senior Aaron Ziegler scored inside to cut it to two with 1:03 left. Just 17 seconds later, with Bedford attempting to stall, Mike Adler picked off a cross-court pass and scored to tie the game at 59.
Bedford then looked to take the last shot, with Ostentoski milking the clock under 10 seconds and driving the lane. His scoop shot struck the underside of the rim and Ziegler recovered, giving Saline a chance to call timeout with 3.3 seconds left. But Fairchild's half-court shot glanced high off the backboard and the teams went to overtime.
Neither team found much in the way of offense in the extra frame, with Bedford's basket at the 3:36 mark cancelled out by a Steven Breneman score with 1:39 to play.
Saline recovered following a Bedford turnover and initially went into a stall for the last shot. Seeing an apparent seam in the Bedford defense, though, Ziegler broke for the basket and was called for a charging foul with 31 seconds remaining.
Bedford again called for Ostentoski to drive to the basket for the final shot, and this time Fairchild was called for a foul as he made his move. Ostentoski sank both ends of the one-and-one to give his team a two-point lead.
Saline called timeout and attempted to run a play for Ziegler, but the ball was knocked out-of-bounds with .1 seconds to play. A final tip-in attempt by Larsen and Zach Lambert at the buzzer failed and Bedford escaped with the win.
The loss was especially tough after the Hornets had come back from a 35-27 deficit at halftime and done so despite Bedford shooting a red-hot 9-of-15 (60 percent) from behind the three-point stripe.
"Give the kids credit. They busted their tails in the second half to get back in the game, and I thought we actually played pretty well in overtime. We made some really good stops and got some turnovers," Breneman said. "But we're still missing too many assignments on defense, and we needed the last shot (in overtime)."
Fairchild led the Hornets with 17 points, followed by Ziegler with 14, Santure with seven, Adler with six, Larsen with five, Breneman with five, Jason Danneffel with five and Gabe Helmuth with two. Ziegler and Larsen shared the team lead with six rebounds each while Danneffel dished out a team-high four assists.
The defeat capped a rough week for the Hornets, who lost 69-35 to Belleville Jan. 23 and 59-45 to SEC Red division leader Ann Arbor Pioneer last Friday.
"We need a win," Breneman said. "We go down to Adrian Friday. That's a winnable game for us. The hardest thing for this team is going to be to remain focused, remain confident, and remain a team. If we can do those things, we'll get out of it."
The Saline JV defeated the Bedford JV 44-35. Jacob Fosdick led Saline with 16 points.
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