RUMORS OF DEFEAT PROVE FALSE, HOLLY DOWNS FLINT KEARSLEY IN DOUBLE OVERTIME

BY SCOTT M. BURNSTEIN

HOLLY

The famous American author Mark Twain was once quoted as saying, "The reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated." The players and coaches on Holly's boys hoops squad could have been saying the same thing on Saturday as they read their morning paper and saw that the Oakland Press inaccurately reported that the Bronchos had lost their game against Flint Kearsley on Friday night. The truth was the Bronchos had won the contest and moreover they did it in, heart-pounding, climatic-fashion, 68-67 over Kearsley in double-overtime to run their Flint Metro Conference record to 13-3.

Holly is now 13-4 overall and has won 10 of its last 11 games. Since gaining the eligibility of top tier-transfers, senior Thomas Lovachis (Stockbridge) and junior Josh Fugate (Lakeland), head coach Lance Baylis and the Bronchos are 8-1. Lovachis demonstrated his lethality in the win, posting a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds. He also surpassed the 1000 point-mark for his prep career during the game and currently has 1, 015 points in four seasons of varsity ball. Although he's only been at the school for less than a year, Lovachis, a deadly 6-1 combo guard has been adopted by the rabid Holly faithful as one of their own. After breaking the 1000 point barrier in the first half, the game was stopped and he was awarded a plaque honoring the heady accomplishment.

While the Bronchos "L-Train" took the spotlight early in the highly-heated affair, it was senior point guard Justin Fowler who grabbed the glow late by nailing a game-winning 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds remaining to win it for Holly. Fowler finished with 15 points and hit on 3 for 6 attempts from long range. Fugate, normally a MEGA-MONEY deep shooting threat, played solid and contributed four points. Senior co-captain, Lance Hopkin lived up to his M.O. as a "Rock of Consistency" and put in 11 points and corralled eight rebounds.

The Bronchos go back to work on Tuesday night when they travel to Lapeer West for their next contest.