By Journal Sports Staff

PETOSKEY — The Marquette Senior High School boys almost pulled out a split of a tough test at the Petoskey Invitational over the weekend.

On Saturday, the Redmen lost 52-50 to Traverse City West, a large Class A school that returned four of its five starters from a year ago, according to MSHS coach Brad Nelson.

After Marquette lost to Petoskey 55-38 on Friday, Saturday came down to the final seconds.

“We tied the game with 6 seconds left, then they came down, drove the lane, missed but were fouled,” Nelson said.

TC West’s Brady Stoerkel then sank two free throws with 0.9 of a second left to seal it. Stoerkel was his team’s leading scorer with 18 points, 13 coming in the second quarter.

Ryan Hayes, a University of Michigan football recruit, managed just six points due to the defense of Marquette 6-foot-10 junior center Marius Grazulis, according to Nelson.

“Marius did a great job on him; I think (Grazulis’) length really affected him,” the Redmen coach said, adding that Grazulis was named to the all-tournament team.

MSHS (0-2) jumped out to a 12-9 lead after one quarter but fell behind 31-23 at halftime and 43-32 by the end of the third quarter.

“They extended the lead on us, but we battled back,” Nelson said. “We got it back to even; I liked the way we battled. It’s just part of December basketball.”

Grazulis led the MSHS fourth-quarter comeback, scoring nine of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter. Senior teammate Treylon McFerrin added 14 points, while sophomore Luke Ogea had nine.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.