Alma - We've all seen it before.  The team that is the underdog plays the perfect game, they have the favorite on the ropes and they are on the brink of a tremendous victory over a school that they weren't supposed to beat.  We see it time and time again with the teams that know how to win.  They hang in there just long enough to make their run and somehow pull out the victory.  Down 12 late in the third and not possible to be any more out of sync, Mt. Pleasant hung on just long enough to make their run.  The run began to end the third and throughout the entire fourth where the Oilers outscored Alma 22-8 in the final period.  It had gotten so bad for Alma in the fourth, that they were in danger of being shutout until Luke Hirschman broke the drought with 1:20 left in the game at the line.  The Panthers went on to score 8 points in the final minute and a half of play but they had fallen behind too far, with Mt. Pleasant coming into Alma and swiping the Non-Conference victory, 64-58.

Mt. Pleasant seized control in the opening quarter with Tyler Mills scoring 7 points by himself to match Alma's 7.  The Oilers closed out the opening quarter on a 6-0 run and led 13-7 after one. 

The 2nd quarter was Alma's from the get go as they ripped off a 10-2 run, capped off by a Matt Loomis bucket to pull the Panthers in front 17-15.  During the stretch, Luke Hirschman hit 4 consecutive free throws and Charli Griswold chipped in with 4 points as well.  2 Eric Layfield free throws tied it up for the Oilers and they regained the lead with a Mills trey, putting them up 20-17.  Alma's Griswold added another basket and was immediately answered by another three ball by Mills.  It would be the last time that Mt. Pleasant would have a lead until their great run in the fourth.  Jake Blake scored 6 points in the final 2 minutes of the half to put the Panthers up 29-27.

Blake started the third quarter where he had left off in the 2nd, putting home two more baskets and extending the lead to 8, early in the 2nd half.  A Matt Loomis three ball with 4:22 left in the third brought down the house.  The shot actually came back out, went a few feet above the rim and came back down.  The Panther faithful went nuts.  The shot brought the lead to 10 points at 43-33.  Things got worse for the Oilers before they got any better.  Kyle Lark hit a long range jumper for Alma that put them up by 12 with just over two minutes to go in the third.  Mt. Pleasant did a good job getting to the line to finish the third.  Jordan Jakeway hit four shots at the free throw line, which trimmed the margin to 8 to close out the third. 

Where Mt. Pleasant had failed for the past two quarters, they succeeded in the fourth.  Alma's brilliant game fell apart in the fourth as they hit a run of bad luck including several missed lay-ups from point blank range.  One of the other major factors is that they weren't getting nearly as man 2nd chance shots.  The Oilers did a great job cleaning up the glass in the final quarter.  MP's Andrew Thomas ignited the Oilers in the fourth with 9 of his game high 15 points.  Thomas opened the fourth with two quick baskets.  The big blow came on his third basket of the quarter.  Thomas drove to the hoop and and laid it in for 2 points to cut the lead to just 1.  He was also fouled on the play and his free throw make tied it up at 50.  The Oilers never looked back from there.  Freshman Trey Ziegler and William Arnold took care of the rest of the scoring for Mt. Pleasant on the night.  Most of which came at the free throw line.  The Oilers pushed the lead back up to as high as 10 until Luke Hirschman finally got Alma on the board in the fourth with two free throws.  Alma went on to add 6 more points in the final minute but fell six points short.  Mt Pleasant made it interesting at the end with several misses at the stripe.

The did not expect the type of intensity that I saw out there tonight.  The adrenaline had been kicked up a notch between these two schools that have made a nice rivalry out of this US 127 showdown.  Alma did an absolute brilliant job of breaking the press early and finding the cracks in the armor which led to many easy baskets.  The fourth was so different because Mt. Pleasant was able to score which allowed they to bring their press with full force instead of getting back on defense quickly after a miss.  The sudden cold streak by Alma also played a big part.  There should be no shame for Alma in this defeat.  They lost to a school quite a bit bigger than themselves and from arguably the best conference in the state in terms of the teams at the top.  If Alma plays like they did for most of this game against their remaining Tri-Valley teams, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Panthers winning out.

Alma takes on up and coming Shepherd in Friday league play while the Oilers host Bay City Western on Friday.  The Oilers will be favored in 4 out of their next five, of course that fifth game that they will not be favored, Saginaw High.