Date Posted: Tuesday Feb 27, 2024

Birch Run Boys Varsity Basketball lost in the first round of district play 48-62 to Clio Monday at Mt.Morris. The Panthers held a slight edge (12-11) at the end of the first. However, we went cold in the 2nd quarter and trailed at halftime 18-32. The third quarter didn't go well for us either (getting outscored 7-15) with the score at 25-47 in favor of Clio by the end of the third. We gained some momentum and scored 23 points in the fourth compared to Clio's 15 points, but Clio's lead was insurmountable for the amount of time remaining. We picked a bad night to go cold, shooting 39% (13-33) from the 2 point range, and 15% (4-26) from the 3 point arc. (Clio, on the other hand, shot 65% from the 2 point range and 46% on 3's.)

I feel bad for the team because we worked very hard, but couldn't get the ball to fall as was needed to get the win. It was a tough night and disappointing especially for the group of eight seniors.Yet they can be proud of all their efforts. Gage Martinus led the Panthers' scoring with 20 points, he also had 3 steals. Jaxon Martinus had a team-high 6 assists, and Connor Mausolf grabbed 6 rebounds.

Gage Martinus- 20 pts, 4 reb, 3 stl, 3 defl, 1 blk

Jaxon Martinus- 12 pts, 2 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl, 3 defl

Connor Mausolf- 9 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl

Wyatt Stevens- 5 pts, 1 reb, 1 defl

Keegan Hale- 2 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast, 3 defl

Colton Elliott- 3 reb

Trent Dalak- 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 defl

Karter Knight- 1 ast