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Mid Peninsula Defense Suffocates Munising, 48-36
 PERKINS---The Mid Peninsula Wolverines allowed just six points in the first quarter and nine more in the second, beating the Munising Mustangs, 48-36, in a Class D district semifinal game Wednesday night at the Mid Pen High School Gym.  Mid Peninsula Coach Mark Branstrom was impressed with the toughness of Richmond. "How about some of those 'man' rebounds?" Branstrom said. "I mean, those are some manly rebounds. Wow. When he goes after the ball, he's so quick off his feet." Richmond spent a lot of his time off of his feet, as in, on the floor. And he has the marks to prove it. "Yeah, on my knees, ankles," Richmond said. "They (Sean Sutherland, Brett Johnson) are really big, tough guys. They're just brutes down low. It's hard to box them out." Duane England had seven points, but his big contribution was passing the ball. "He's everything to us," Branstrom said. "I mean, the way he facilitates the basketball is unbelievable. Nobody compliments that anymore. It used to be that the point guard was your heart and soul of the team. That's what Dooner is right now."  "We were challenged to stop them (defensively)," Brower said. "We were feeding off the crowd and getting hyped. Just trying to get all of the energy out there to stop them. We had energy. We had confidence coming in." "We all just make sure we help each other, and talk, and talk, and talk," Richmond said. "We're playing a 2-3 (zone) and we can't get lazy on defense. We have to make sure everyone is in the right position at all times." Mike Graves led Munising (11-10) with 14 points. Johnson and Alec Blank each had seven. Mid Peninsula (12-9) hosts Big Bay deNoc in the district final Friday night at 7:00. The game will be broadcast live on WGKL-FM (105.5), WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to listen to replays and interviews, and to see photos, videos taken by Nate Bellville.  |
