Fowlerville - He hit three triples, scored on a couple of fast breaks, had a couple of nice assists and ran the court just about as well as anyone out there tonight.  No, we are not talking about Dan VanDreumel, Sean Romsek or even Sam Celentino.  We are talking about 6-2 forward and Division 1 football prospect Cody Worden.  Worden had 16 points tonight, only 1 short of the game's leading scorer, Romsek.  Worden had 13 at the break and was scoring and helping out his team when they needed him most in every way.  On the flip side, Joe Lane for Fowlerville, poured in 13 points, 9 of those coming in the final quarter.  None of them could be considered cherry picking either.  All of his baskets in the final period were a result of him creating his own shot and finishing nicely, he featured great athleticism for a big man. 

Of course, these two weren't the only ones filling up the hoop and fighting for their team's stake in CAACIII supremacy.  Wyatt Huggett contributed 10 points for the Glads, while DeWitt's Joshua Armstead had 13, VanDreumel 9 and Celentino with 10 of his own.

The game got off to an ugly start in terms of offensive production, both teams combined for 19 points in the opening quarter.  Fowlerville matched DeWitt's 7 point first quarter with 7 total points in the 2nd quarter.  The turning point in the game, came almost halfway through the 2nd period.  After DeWitt opened the game's scoring, the Gladiators claimed the lead for themselves early and led throughout the first quarter and for the early portion of the 2nd.  Down 16-12 at that point, DeWitt ripped off a 19-3 run, aided by their ability to break the press and their play on defense of turning up the heat on Fowlerville.  The difference in the game, was DeWitt's ability to break the press and find find open lanes to the hoop once they broke through the pressure.  Armstead and VanDreumel did a great job of directing traffic through that press.  DeWitt's big run was capped off by a buzzer beating 2 point shot by Celentino.  With 2 ticks to go, Fowlerville tried to go for the homerun ball but missed and the ball went directly out of bounds, taking no time off of the clock.  With the opportunity to take advantage of having the ball near the basket and still 2 seconds remaining, DeWitt's head coach, Ron Marlan, called a timeout to try to take advantage of the opportunity.  After inbounding the ball the Panthers fed it to Celentino, who faked right and then went up over the defender left and hit the jumper just before time had expired.  DeWitt headed to the lockers with a 31-19 lead and all of the momentum in the world.

Both teams traded baskets in the third quarter, with the Gladiators only able to make up one point on the visitors.  Down, with one final period remaining, the Glads would have to start creating their own opportunities with good old fashioned defense.  They cranked up the intensity and made a ball game of it.  After Celentino opened the fourth with a bucket, stretching the lead to 13, the Glads pulled it together and went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 5.  One thing that was in Fowlerville's favor was the foul discrepancy.  With just over a minute gone in the final quarter, the Panthers were already in the penalty.  Surprisingly, this did not deter the Panthers from going hard to the hoop and continued to do just that, drawing fouls in the process and eventually evening up with the Glads in the foul department.  After DeWitt's Brandon Binkley hit two free throws and Jason Fleet added another, the lead ballooned back up to 7.  That's when Joe Lane got the call to turn the tide.  It probably wasn't planned but Lane took the shot behind the arc because he was so wide open, it would have been a mistake not too.  The 6'4" big man sank the triple and cut the lead to 4.  The score stood at 63-59 with just over a minute remaining, it then turned into a free throw contest.  Fowlerville was able to pull within 3 after Wyatt Huggett sunk 2 free throws, however that would be their last two points of the night.  DeWitt hit a rough patch in the free shooting department but the defense on the other end forced Fowlerville into a bad shot.  Fleet iced the game with 2 free throws on separate occasions. 

With the sound of the buzzer, the rivalry and conference showdown went the way of the Panthers in this young season.  It's a big win for DeWitt but by no means a devastating loss for Fowlerville, so early in the season.  The Glads have a big showdown with East Lansing next Tuesday to focus on before getting back into conference action after the new year.  This two will square off again on Groundhog Day in DeWitt.  The Panthers will host Ionia in their first game back from the New Year.