The Saline Reporter
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Saline turns away Tecumseh, goes over .500 in SEC
Red-hot Larsen scores game-winner with 28 seconds remaining
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 7, 2008
After last Thursday night, the Saline boys' basketball team has officially bounced back from its worst stretch of the season with its best.
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The Hornets ran their winning streak to three games with a gritty 51-48 win over the visiting Tecumseh Indians Thursday, improving Saline to 7-8 overall and over .500 in the Southeastern Conference at 6-5.
"Coming off an emotional win (over Dexter) Tuesday, the schedule didn't help us by playing on Thursday. I wasn't real happy with our intensity level," said Saline head coach Jay Plitzuweit. "But give our kids a lot of credit. They made shots when they had to and that made the difference."
Perhaps predictably, the biggest shot of the night belonged to Saline's senior center Kyle Larsen. With the game tied at 46 and 28 seconds remaining, Jake Santure found Larsen covered one-on-one under the basket on a long inbounds pass. Larsen drew the foul, converted the layup, and hit his free throw to give Saline a three-point lead.
Tecumseh's three-point attempt to tie fell short and Larsen would hit two free throws with 10.6 seconds remaining to seal the victory. His end-game performance gave Larsen both his second game-winning shot (both on inbounds passes from Santure) and second 23-point game in three days.
"It's been a great week for Kyle," Plitzuweit said. "I'm really happy for the success he's enjoyed his senior season."
But even Larsen's efforts weren't enough for Saline to put any distance between themselves and the Indians in a game in which neither team led by more than four points for the first 37 minutes and 50 seconds. The first quarter ended tied at 13 and Saline pushed ahead 19-15 midway through the second on a Santure basket, but Tecumseh answered with back-to-back three-pointers for a two-point lead of their own.
A Taylor Braham three would help Saline pull back ahead 23-21 at the half, and a Cord Trott basket would give Saline its second four-point lead at 34-30 late in the third quarter, but the Indians would pull even at 34-34 by the end of the third.
Tecumseh would go on to take its largest lead, 41-38, with 4:57 to play before a Jacob Fosdick three tied the game again 22 seconds later.
The fourth quarter would continue to be a back-and-forth battle, finishing with five ties and four lead changes, the last tie coming at 46-46 on a Fosdick basket with a minute to play. Tecumseh would travel on their ensuing possession, setting up Larsen's go-ahead basket.
Fosdick would also finish the game in double figures after scoring 13 points and adding a team-high five assists. Drew Green scored seven points, Braham and Trott three each, and Santure two. Larsen led the team with 11 rebounds for a double-double, while Santure grabbed four.
Saline will look to keep its momentum rolling when the team hosts Adrian 7 p.m. Friday, but Plitzuweit said no one on the Hornets believes their current good play to be a guarantee of future results.
"One thing I've learned this season is that with the parity in this conference, every game is a war," he said.
Saline 66, Lincoln 56
In late Tuesday night action, Larsen scored 23 points for the third consecutive game and the Hornets held off a late Railsplitter charge to even their overall record at 8-8.
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