Noxon puts stamp on 13C conference with two big wins

What had been a tight race atop the Western 13C boys' basketball conference is even tighter after a wild weekend topped by Noxon’s hellish run.

The Red Devils made a two-team pileup a three-team entangled snarl after beating previous conference unbeaten Lincoln Friday night in Noxon 79-66, then holding on to topple Seeley-Swan 70-68 in Seeley one night later. 

Those two wins, coupled with Lincoln’s win over St. Regis, the other unbeaten team in the league chase, left Noxon, Lincoln and St. Regis with one conference loss each heading into the final week of regulation play this weekend. 

Lincoln and St. Regis are 15-1 in official games, while Noxon is 8-2 on the year.  Lincoln and St. Regis are 9-1, while Noxon is technically in third place with a 6-1 13C record. 

The District 13C tournament is the weekend of February 20-22 at Frenchtown High School. 

Noxon began the Red Devil scramble this past Friday when they entertained Lincoln in Noxon and pulled off a 13-point win as five players scored in double figures for Noxon. 

Lincoln emerged from the first quarter with a 19-16 lead over the Devils as the Riddle brothers, Kayden and Teegan scored 13 points between them for the Lynx, who were playing without one of their key players, Andrew Brown, out with an injury. 

Lynx guard Dylan Jakushak scored 10 points in the second quarter to help Lincoln hold onto the three-point lead, 42-39 at the half. 

But Noxon erupted for 24 third-quarter points, including a pair of three by Shane Hatchel, who had six treys for the game. The Devils also got seven points from 6-4 post Shane Murray and athletic forward Ricky Williams.  They held Lincoln to 11 points in the third quarter. 

Noxon tacked three more points onto its lead during the fourth quarter for the surprisingly comfortable victory. 

Hatchel wound up with a game best 24 points, while Murray added 19 for the Devils. The home boys also got 13 points from Williams, and 10 each from guard Justice Kayser and Cameron Blair. Noxon had 11 treys during the game. 

Jakushak paced Lincoln with 18 points.   

Saturday night in Seeley, the Red Devils found themselves down 17-16 after one quarter of play.  But they outscored Seeley 21-14 in the second quarter to take a 37-31 lead at the half. 

The Red Devils added one point to their lead in the third quarter, giving them a 49-42 lead with one quarter of regulation remaining. 

Seeley outscored the Devils 26-21 in the fourth quarter but could not overtake Noxon as the final horn sounded. 

Seeley’s Blake Irwin scored a game-high 26 points for the Blackhawks, while Hatchel was tops for Noxon with 17 points. 

The potent Red Devils offense also got 16 from Murray, 15 from Kayser and 13 from Williams. 

Meanwhile, the weekend’s game was not a good experience for the Lady Devils, beginning with their game against Lincoln, which leads the 13C girls conference race.  Noxon fell behind 15-2 after the first quarter, then were shut out in quarter number two, 16-0, as Lincoln waltzed to a 31-2 first half lead. 

The carnage continued in the second half as the Lady Lynx outscored Noxon 24-4, including a 6-0 advantage in the fourth quarter, to coast to victory. Krymzen Dempster led all scorers with 23 points for Lincoln. 

Saturday in Seeley, Noxon once again fell behind by double figures after one quarter of play, 15-3.  They were then shutout by the Lady Blackhawks in the second quarter, 13-0, giving the home team a 28-3 lead at the halftime intermission. 

Lincoln went on to outscore Noxon 29-8 in the second half to complete the lopsided victory. 

The two losses dropped the Lady Devils to 2-11 on the season and 1-7 in conference, while Seeley improved to 14-3 overall and 9-1 in 13C play. 

Noxon has just one more game on its regular season schedule, a road game versus Drummond this Saturday (Feb 15).