Altercation forces early stoppage in Milford’s win over Holly
MILFORD >> The Milford Mavericks picked up a 61-47 win over Holly on Saturday evening in a game marred by an early stoppage.
The game was called early after emotions – which had been running high all night both in the stands and on the court – finally boiled over. The game had been delayed briefly just before halftime after fans from both teams confronted each other in the stands. When a punch was thrown on the court with just over a minute to play, the officials ended the game and sent both teams to their respective locker rooms.
“Due to some unfortunate events, the officials in conjunction with the Milford administration decided to end the boys’ basketball game against Holly with 1:19 left in the 4th quarter,” Milford Athletic Director Jim Marszalek said in a statement. “We are currently gathering information and working with local law enforcement with the ongoing investigation of tonight’s events.”
Milford improved to 4-7 on the season with the win, but wasn’t able to enjoy the victory due to the circumstances. “It is not something you ever want to see in any high school sporting event, and I wish we could have ended it a little bit better. It was a good hard-fought game up to that point, and it’s not the way you want to end. It’s not what high school athletics is about,” Milford coach David Gilbert said.
Holly coach Steve DeHart was unavailable for comment after the game.
In regards to the game itself, Milford rode a big third quarter to get the win on Saturday.
With Milford holding a slim 22-20 halftime lead, it was sophomore Sam Lewis who took over on senior night for the Mavericks.
Lewis scored 12 points in the quarter to key the Mavericks’ offensive explosion as Milford outscored the Bronchos 26-9 in the period to take control of the game.
“In that third quarter we just want to put the pressure on and be a little bit more aggressive to the hoop. I thought we were settling for some outside shots early without rotating the ball,” Gilbert said. “Obviously, when you make some shots it leads to some momentum, and we were able to do that on the defensive end too.”
Holly fought hard to come back in the fourth quarter, at one point getting the lead down to 11 points, but Milford kept making free throws – the Mavericks were nine-for-nine from the line in the fourth quarter – to keep the Bronchos at bay.
Milford had started the game strong as well. After Andrew Simmons drained a 3-pointer to open the game, the Mavericks held Holly without a field goal for the remainder of the quarter to build a 12-4 lead. But Holly would battle back in the second quarter. Led by the play of Jacob Welch, the Bronchos started the second quarter on a 6-0 run and would tie the game twice before going into half down only two points at 22-20.
Milford got contributions up and down the line up. Lewis led all scorers with 18 points while also chipping in four rebounds, three steals, and two blocks. Shane Siterlet added 11 points for the Mavericks, while Joe Bjorkman had a game high eight rebounds.
“He (Lewis) is going to be a special player,” Gilbert said. “But one of the things we talked about with our senior night is we just want somebody to step up and make it a good night for them. So he took pride in that. But we had a lot of good contributions from a lot of different people.”
Holly was led by 13 points from Simmons and 12 points from Welch. The Bronchos also got eight points three rebounds and three blocks from Logan Dzendzel.
Milford is back in Lakes Valley Conference play on Monday when the Mavericks host first place South Lyon East.
Holly (1-9) returns to Flint Metro League action on Tuesday against first place Flushing.