Esky escapes in finale

By Brandon Veale - bveale@dailypress.net
ESCANABA — It wasn’t exactly a storybook ending for the home careers of Escanaba’s senior boys basketball class, but it finished well enough.

Stephenson and standout center Brent Parrett pushed Escanaba to the limit before the Eskymos escaped with a 45-43 win in the regular season finale.

“Would we have liked to send them out on a 20-point victory? Yeah, but we’d rather go out with a victory than a loss,” Escanaba coach Tracy Hudson said.

The Eagles (11-8) held a lead as large as 12 points until the last 1:12 of the game, in which key plays by seniors Cory Gylock and Garrick Fisher pushed the Eskymos ahead while the Eagles botched the end-game.

“I feel like this is one of the best games we’ve played all year, and to have Escanaba, at their place, ahead all game, to let it slip away is very frustrating,” Eagles coach Jason Strohl said.

The Eskymos (12-8), trailing 27-15 at the half, forced 12 Stephenson turnovers in the second half with full-court pressure to claw back into the game.

Esky hit all four of its 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Gylock’s first triple tied the game with 2:29 to go, and he gave them the lead 1:17 later.

Fisher also had two key threes in the last frame, plus was Parrett’s chief defender. On one of his best plays of the night, he saved possesion for Esky while going out of bounds by chucking it off a Stephenson player, off the referee and out.

With 51.1 seconds left, down 44-43, the Eagles’ Nick Herrild could not successfully inbound the ball in five seconds.

The Eskymos could not capitalize, as Tom Erickson missed the front end of a one-and-one. They got the offensive rebound and Gylock split two from the stripe.

With another inbounds chance from halfcourt with nine seconds left, Herrild’s cross-court pass flew over the Eagles and ended up in the third row of the bleachers.

“We didn’t handle the pressure at the end very good,” Strohl lamented.

Esky almost threw the inbounds pass into the cheerleading section, but Gylock saved it to Herrild, whose 60-foot heave at the buzzer fell well short.

Parrett starred, scoring 28 points, dominating inside and drilling 3-pointers, but his supporting cast combined for only 15.

“He’s been our focus point all year, but yet, there’s a need for other people to step up,” Strohl said.

Hudson said he warned his players that Fisher would have his hands full with the all-U.P. candidate, and was leery of doubling down on the 6-foot-2 senior because “the other role players around him are good enough shooters to keep our defense honest.”

Strohl and the Eagles will be looking to return to the Esky gym in two weeks for the Class C regional tournament. After a regular season finale at Big Bay de Noc Saturday, they face Norway Monday in the Class C district at Iron Mountain.

Gylock led the Eskymos, who shot 18-for-37 from the field (49 percent) with 11 points.

Hudson said the Eskymos are looking forward to Wednesday’s Class B district semifinal clash with Gladstone at Kingsford, but unlike tonight, they must take charge early.

“The last couple games, we’ve got down big and let other teams dictate the tempo,” he said.

The Esky JVs finished with a 69-29 win. The freshmen whipped Bark River-Harris 63-32.