Another Cliffhanger

Wildcats cagers toppled
in game's final few seconds

BY ED WRIGHT
Dec. 15, 2009, 10:59 p.m.

  Plymouth's boys basketball season is turning into a weekly drama series in the mold of "24" or "CSI: Miami."

   For the second-straight game, the verdict was in doubt until the final seconds.

  Unfortunately for the  'Cats, the most fitting title Tuesday night would have been "Lost" after Dexter  snuffed out a last-second Plymouth play then put the icing on a 44-42 victory with a late free throw.

  The Wildcats slipped to 1-1 heading into Thursday's home game against cross-campus neighbor Salem.

  With 7.2  seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Wildcats training 43-42, Plymouth got the ball into the hands of Mike Nadratowski, who connected on a buzzer-beating basket to topple Walled Lake Central last Thursday.

  This time, however, Dexter's Matt Muchmore stripped Nadratwoski near the sideline in front of the Wildcats' bench. Muchmore was fouled and sank 1 of 2 freebies to close the scoring.

  "We tried to run some screen action to Mike, and he made a good read on his part," said Plymouth coach Mike Soukup. "But through the tenor of the night, we suffered another turnover.

  "We turned it over 15 times to their seven. When you turn it over that many times, you can't expect to win many basketball games, especially at the high school varsity level."

  The Wildcats were led by the inside play of junior Brennen Beyer, who powered his way to 11 points and six rebounds and the perimeter efforts of Nadratowski, who tallied 10 points, six coming on a pair of threes.

  "I was impressed with Brennen's play tonight," Soukup added. "He did a much better job of scoring inside. Mike brought it again, too, by scoring in double-digits as well."

  Junior point guard Dion Johnson enjoyed a stellar night as well, scoring nine points with four steals and four rebounds. Pat Salo twined six for the Wildcats while Jimmy May, A.J. Thompson and Zach Yokom added two points each.

  Dexter's Alex Dobbs led all scorers with 14.

  In a tight game throughout, Dexter led 22-20 at the half and 32-29 with eight minutes to play.

  Plymouth trailed by 43-38 with 49.6 seconds left on a pair of Dobbs free throws, but Salo scored from underneath to trim the deficit to 43-40 with 33.6 seconds left. Following a Dexter turnover, Johnson converted underneath to draw the 'Cats to within 1. But that's as close as they would get.

  Dexter canned 12-of-29 field goals and 11-of-20 free throws.

  Plymouth was red-hot from the field, hitting 19-of-36 field goals. The 'Cats found the mark on 2 of 4 free throws.

  They were done in however by the 15 turnovers.