Bobcats lose in Regional final
ADRIAN — Whiteford was hit with two storms Wednesday.
First, snow kept the Bobcats out of school. Then, the shooting storm from Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard knocked Whiteford out of the state tournament.
Whiteford’s season came to an abrupt halt Wednesday as the 21-4 Bobcats fell to a legitimate Class C state title contender, Gabriel Richard, 72-46. The Bobcats fell behind early and never led the 20-5 Fighting Irish. The closest the Bobcats came was 3-2 deficit with 5:49 left in the first quarter. From then on, it was nearly all green for Whiteford.
In fact, seasoned sophomore Josh Herbeck and veteran junior Eso Akunne outscored the Bobcats by themselves. Herbeck made eight three-pointers and scored 30 points while Akunne added 27 markers. Akunne passed the 1,000-point career mark in the first quarter.
Herbeck was great, canning three-pointers like they were layups. The 6-2 guard opened the game’s scoring with a triple, hit another a minute later and had another before the first quarter ended. He opened the second quarter with, you guessed it, another 3-pointer and nailed his fifth first-half trey with 2:05 remaining in the first half as the Irish extended a 22-10 first quarter lead to 44-22 at the half.
Whiteford had no answer for outside shooting of Herbeck or the inside game of Akunne.
Akunne — First Team All-State according to Michigan High School Bulletin — scored a dozen points in the second half before exiting the game midway through the final period. Richard his 11 3-pointers as a team.
Whiteford, which won 20 games for just the third time in school history, was attempting to win its first ever Regional championship. Richard advances to the Class C quarterfinal at Whitmore Lake Tuesday.
During its tournament run this year, the Irish have eliminated three Monroe County region schools: Dundee, St. Mary Catholic Central and Whiteford.
Josh DuPree scored 11 points to share game-high honors for the Bobcats with senior Joel Bunge, who played a steady game with six rebounds and three assists. Dave Gust, the Bobcats’ second-leading scorer, was held below double figures for just the second time this season. He did lead Whiteford with 14 rebounds.
The Bobcats started five seniors in DuPree, Bunge, Gust, Kevin Fischer and Cody McCartney. Jake DuPree was the only underclassman with significant playing time until late in Wednesday’s game. Senior Greg Keeling also played his final game for the Bobcats.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:30 am
I feel bad for all of those boys. Being a member on the only other team to play in the Regional finals I know how they feel. What a great year. Try to remember that you were 1 of only 16 teams left in the State in your Class. Best wishes to all of the boys who worked hard to set records, win 20+ games and keep the winning tradition goin. Great job Coach Brad, good luck in the years to come.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:24 am
I can honestly say that coaching these guys was a privilege for me this year. I know the 6 seniors have been playing together since the 5th grade but I still think we overchieved as a team. Sure there was disappointment in the locker room but I told them that it is pretty special to be the only team in Monroe County to even be playing in a regional championship. I couldn’t be prouder.
March 10th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Doug
Are you going to follow the basketball season up with some baseball talk and updates? Living over 1200 miles away I would like to keep up on Whiteford High baseball season. Looking for a solid year out of Dave Gust and Bill Hansen among others. Let me know. Thank you