Saginaw - From the get go it just didn't seem quite right for Nouvel.  It wasn't so much the early 6-0 deficit as it was the fact they had to scratch and claw for everything, nothing came easy.  I thought the Panthers gave the gutsiest effort of the Classic but just didn't have an answer for Cedar Spring's amazing Austin Thornton.  The 6'5" forward for Cedar Springs dropped a game high 31 points, 18 of those in the third quarter.  Nouvel did what they could on him but when they paid too much attention to them, the Redhawks kicked it out to an open player behind the arch and time after time, they made the Panthers pay.  On the other side, the answer to Thornton was Nouvel's Tim Ryan.  Ryan went for 23 points, had numerous steals, assists and rebounds.  He played the most complete game out of everyone on the floor. 

After the Redhawks, started out on fire, the Panthers finally weathered the storm behind Ryan and tied it up for the first time with 3:09 remaining in the opening quarter.  Nouvel even took the lead after two free throws by Mitchell Mulcahy.  The lead was short lived as Jason Gust hit a three ball for Cedar Springs putting them up by 1 at the first intermission. 

Cedar Springs had control of the first part of the 2nd quarter, leading by as many as 5 several times but they just couldn't get rid of those pesky Panthers.  Midway through the quarter, Nouvel went on an 8-0 run to take a 3 point lead.  But then came another three by the Redhawks, this time by Aaron Frostick.  Nouvel's Jahred Rapin looked to have scored the last bucket of the half, giving Nouvel a 32-30 lead but the Redhawks answered as time expired, or so it was ruled.  Officials are human and make mistakes just like everyone else, most of the time even less than the rest of us, however they missed on this one.  The buzzer had clearly sounded before the shot was released.  The bottom line is that it counted for two but it didn't impact who the better team was on this Saturday afternoon. 

The third quarter was a show of might proportions, the Redhawks scored 21 but 18 of those came from the game's top player, Thornton.  6 of those were from the line where he was terrific at.  Most of the big men in High School aren't particularly good at the stripe but Thornton had no problem and had a good technique at the line.  As good as Thornton was, the Panthers matched in intensity to stay within a point after the third.  Mulcahy paced the Panthers with 9 of his own.  The most impressive aspect of the Panthers' press was their ability and instincts to react to the ball when it was passed coming up with quite a few steals. 

Nouvel stayed with Cedar Springs early in the fourth tying it up at 58 but after that point it was all Cedar and the Panthers never tied nor led again.  Thornton and Frostick were golden at the line in the fourth putting the game away.  Free throws can win games for you and they can allow the game to slip away if you don't capitalize.  It was the Redhawks performance at the line that powered their win, especially since that had a large margin of attempts over the Panthers.  The final buzzer sound with Cedar Springs taking the victory 73-64 but Nouvel has nothing to hang their heads about.  Their two losses of the season have come at the hands of two of the state's best in Cedar and earlier to undefeated Bridgeport.  The Panthers have a brutal schedule this season but it will undoubtedly prepare them for what should be an interesting run in the postseason.  Their first big challenge of the new year will be on the 9th @ Freeland and 10 days later they will host another team from this year's Classic, Midland High.