**NOTE: WWMT(channel 3) called Shawn "EARL THE PEARL". It was fitting, as I was at this game. It was a spectacular performance, but, I'd seen this many times before over the last 6 years....(yeah, I'm bragging). If you've never heard of Earl "the Pearl" Monroe, well look him up. He was a dynamic guard about 30 years ago. VOLTARS DAD, or GL HOOPERS DAD along with me, would have some insight on who Shawn played like.
-Darryl

RICHLAND -- Shawn Earl may not be the best guard in Michigan schoolboy basketball, but he sure is a prince of a player.
Earl put on a show fit for a king Tuesday night, pumping in 28 points, including swishing 12 of 14 free throws, running Three Rivers' attack and leading the Wildcats to an impressive 62-49 win over Gull Lake.

The game was billed as a showdown between the first- and second-place teams in the Wolverine Conference, but Earl shot down early Gull Lake hopes for an upset.

"Shawn Earl is the best player in our league," Gull Lake coach Gary Sprague said. "He showed why tonight.

"He does the little things, too. You try to stop him from catching the ball, but you can't because he's too elusive. If you double-team him, he splits the double-team, so you can't trap him."

"Earl's Earl," Three Rivers coach Frelen Gowen said. "He's tough on offense. He's tough on defense. And he includes his teammates."

Earl knocked down two 3-pointers and had eight points in the first quarter when the quick-starting Wildcats shot out to an 18-3 lead. He added two more triples and in the fourth quarter made a home-away-from-home at the free throw line, connecting on 12 chances.

"My teammates were just setting me up and I was knocking down the shots," Earl said softly. "We were down a man with Greg Hall (out because of illness) and we knew we had to step it up. We all stepped up and came through."

Earl had a step, or two, on every Gull Lake defender that tried to keep up with him. He also had six assists, five rebounds and came up with four steals (Gull Lake committed 20 turnovers, including seven in the first quarter).

"It was a big game for them on their home floor," Gowen said. "We wanted to spread the floor, pass the ball and control the tempo. I thought we did a great job of that."

Three Rivers' man-to-man defensive pressure held Gull Lake to 21 points through three quarters. The biggest lead was 19 points, 48-29, with 4:12 left in the game.

Eric Potts added nine points, Yannick Millet had eight and Bo Pastorick came off the bench and gave the Wildcats a lift when Potts, filling in for Hall, was injured in the first half.

"One of our goals is to win out in the conference (the Wildcats are 11-2 overall and 8-0 in the Wolverine) and get ready for districts," Earl said.

After scoring only 21 points through three quarters, Gull Lake (9-3, 6-2) pumped in 28 in the final period.

Nate Whitaker, a tireless worker along the baseline and on the boards, had 14 of those points as he got inside Three Rivers' defense. Whitaker finished with a career-high 22 points and also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

"Three Rivers was more than just Earl," Sprague said. "The whole team played really, really tough. We never got comfortable in our offense.

"I'm glad we don't play them again until maybe the quarterfinals, or something like that, if both of us are fortunate to still be playing."

Three Rivers was 20-of-25 at the free throw line and committed only six turnovers, while Gull Lake was 16-of-26 at the line but did outrebound Three Rivers, 32-20.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HOLLAND CHRISTIAN 90, MIDDLEVILLE 60: Tony Gugino scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Maroons over the host Trojans. Tony VanWoerkom had 16 points and Ted Rosendahl added 10, including a pair of 3-point field goals. Jon Yeazel paced the Trojans with 21 points while Mark Rolison had 11 and Brett Knight added 10.

HOLLAND CHRISTIAN (7-1, 9-3)

Ted Rosendahl 3 2-2 10, Tony Gugino 13 0-3 26, Tony VanWoerkom 8 0-0 16, Ryan Brouwer 3 0-0 7, Mitch Scholten 4 0-0 8, Lee Slenk 4 0-0 8, Mitch Timmerman 2 0-0 4,Brian Schaap 0 2-2 2, Jake Scheerhorn 2 0-0 5, Tyler Hop 1 2-2 4, Phil Bouman 1 0-0 2, Brett Kalkman 1 0-0 2. Totals 39 8-11 90.

MIDDLEVILLE (3-4, 5-6)

David Finkbeiner 0 1-2 1, Ryan Weesie 2 0-0 4, Jon Yeazel 8 5-6 21, Chase VandenBerg 2 0-0 5, Trevor Manning 3 0-0 7, Mark Rolison 4 3-4 11, Brett Knight 4 0-0 10. Totals 23 10-14 60.


Holland Christian 20 25 20 25--90
Middleville 9 19 13 19--60

3-point goals--Holland Christian 4 (Rosendahl 2, Brouwer, Scheerhorn), Middleville 4 (Knight 2, Manning, VandenBerg). Fouled out--none. Total fouls--Holland Christian 16, Middleville 14


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Kelloggsville 56, GR Baptist 55

GR BAPTIST (5-6)

Steve DenBesten 5 0-0 10, Kevin Wright 2 2-3 6, P. Ceiles 0 2-2 2, Tim VanOudheusden 7 2-2 17, M. Staal 0 2-4 2, P. Velting 4 0-2 8, Cory Wyma 3 2-2 10. Totals 21 10-15 55.

KELLOGGSVILLE (8-3)

Ryan Simonson 2 2-2 6, Anthony Townsend 10 8-12 29, Quentin Barnett 5 0-1 10, Shawn Griffin 1 0-0 2, Alex VanLuyn 1 0-2 2, Ryan Gillette 3 0-0 7. Totals 22 10-17 56.


GR Baptist 14 13 18 10--55
Kelloggsville 11 19 16 10--56

3-point goals--GR Baptist 3 (Wyma 2, VanOudheusden), Kelloggsville 2 (Townsend, Gillette). Fouled out--Wright. Total fouls--GR Baptist 17, Kelloggsville 14.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


DEEMER MAKES A DIFFERENCE: Don't forget Centreville when it comes to the St. Joseph Valley League title race. The Bulldogs have only a 2-3 league record, but they're coming on strong and have won their last four games.

One of the big reasons for the resurgence is the play of 6-foot-8 senior Matt Deemer, who had a career-high 27 points in Centreville's 70-55 win over Bronson last Friday.

"That's what we've been looking for," Brueck said of Deemer's dominating performance. "He took it took to the basket and had a dunk at the end of the game. He's been playing really well."

Along with his improved scoring, Deemer, who missed some early games because of illness, is averaging over five blocks a game. Centreville tonight hosts Schoolcraft, which bombed out the Bulldogs without Deemer, 72-37, in their first meeting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ February 04, 2004 11:10 AM: Message edited by: GoatCow#1 ]</font></font>

<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ February 04, 2004 11:15 AM: Message edited by: GoatCow#1 ]</font></font>

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ February 04, 2004 11:07 PM: Message edited by: GoatCow#1 ]</font>