Friday the 13th was an unlucky day for the Alliance boy’s basketball squad. AHS fell to Mount Michael 62 to 42 and also lost 2 players due to injuries. Late in the second period, Bulldog Espen Lanik was lost due to a possible concussion. Then in the third, the Bulldogs lost Braeden Clarke with an arm injury. Alliance fought hard but eventually dropped the decision to the Knights. The game was played in Grand Island. With the loss, Alliance drops to 10 and 12 for the season. Riley Best led the Dog offense with 14 points.
Two straight 3 pointers by the Knights got MM off to a strong start. The Knight’s offense continued to click later in the opener with 4 straight to extend their lead to 10 to 0. Alliance answered back with hoops by Clarke and Lexton Salcido to get into the scoring column. The period ended with the Dogs getting tallies by Lanik and Jaden Guerra and the Bulldogs down by nine at 17 to 8.
Quarter 2 had Mount Michael increasing its margin. Alliance would get an early 3 by Best but most of the scoring went to MM.
At the 2 minute stage, a Guerra deuce made it a 27 to 13 ball game. Lanik would depart shortly after while taking a charge. Quarter two finished with a hoop by Clarke and 2 free throws by Alliance’s Devonte Taylor. Mount Michael was up 28 to 17 at half.
Play was close in the third with the Knights scoring 11 and the Bulldogs netting 10. Alliance got early free throws by Jaxon Poss and Best to stay in the game. Down 14, AHS got back to back buckets by Best and Clarke to get within 10 at 33 to 23. Clarke then went out with his injury and the Knights took advantage. Four MM free throws ensued. Alliance final tallies in the third came from hoops by Salcido and Trevor Zurn. After 3 periods of play, the Bulldogs trailed 39 to 27.
Mount Michael put 23 points on the scoreboard in the fourth to deny an Alliance rally. Eight Best tallies in the finale led the Bulldogs. A Creighton Fritzler score plus 5 points by Best gave the Dogs a chance. Meanwhile, the Knights kept putting points in the scoring column to maintain their control. At the midway mark, Fritzler canned a three but an old fashion 3 point play by Mount Michael kept the Alliance deficit at 15. The clubs then swapped scores with the Dogs getting points by Best and Zurn. An 8 to 0 run by the Knights brought the game to a close.
Final Knights 62
Bulldogs 42
All 8 9 10 15 42
MM 17 11 11 23 62
Scoring for Alliance Lanik 2 Clarke 6 Taylor 2 Fritzler 5 Salcido 4 Guerra 4 Best 14 Poss 1 Zurn 4
Alliance will be at Lexington on Saturday.