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Thursday April 25, 2024
1,000 POINT CLUB: Sundling Scores 28 In Victory

RAPID RIVER---Tyler Sundling scored 28 points and broke the 1,000 point mark for his Rapid River career as the Rockets beat the Mid Peninsula Wolverines, 76-66, Friday night in Rapid River.

Sundling entered the game needing three points to reach his milestone, and he took care of business during the first half of the first quarter with a pair of mid-range jump shots. He was given hugs and hand shakes by the coaches and players from both teams as the spectators stood and saluted him.

"It felt pretty good," Sundling said. "Luckily, I made a shot over Joe McNally," he added, in a dig at his Mid Peninsula buddy, McNally. "

Sundling had scored 17 points in the first three quarters on Tuesday against Munising, but the Mustangs guarded him heavily in the fourth quarter of that game to prevent him from getting the milestone. But he got that out of the way early against Mid Pen.

"I was kind of in a slump, I guess," Sundling said. "I was thinking about it too much. I'm so glad I could do it at home. Today, we came together for a good team win. They're actually a really tough team, so, to get this win for our districts coming up was a big win for us."

"It was a weight off everybody's back tonight," Rapid River Coach Mitchell Hall said. "It was real nice that he got it done pretty early there."

The Wolverines hung with the Rockets for most of the night, trailing, 17-15, after one quarter, and 36-31 at halftime. But the third quarter turned out to be the difference as the Rockets got turnovers on four straight possessions that led to four straight baskets.

Max Lenaker did most of the damage for Rapid River in that quarter, scoring eleven points and the Rockets put 29 points on the board during that eight minutes to take a 65-50 lead going to the fourth quarter. The Rockets made 12 of their 13 shots from the floor during that quarter, with several of them being transition layups.

"That was huge," Hall said. "Momentum is everything. It's a game of runs, and we were able to hold onto that momentum late in the game."

Zach Englund, and his little brother Mike, did their best to keep Mid Peninsula in the game. Zach scored 27 points and Mike added 11. McNally scored 13 points as well for the Wolverines, who hit seven triples in the game. They closed to within eight points late in the game, but could get no closer down the stretch.

"I told the team after the game, that they (Mid Pen) had a really good game plan," Hall said. "They executed it really well.They really controlled it. But we made a nice run there in the third quarter, which basically won the game for us."

Lenaker was especially impressive for the Rockets, as he continues his steady improvement throughout his junior year.

His inside-out game was strong, causing match-up problems for the Wolverines who went just seven-deep in the game. Lenaker made ten of his 16 shots from the floor, including three triples.

Rapid River improved to 10-6 on the season, with a pair of games against Norway coming up, along with battles against North Dickinson and Stephenson.

Mid Peninsula fell to 7-9 on the season, with four road games to follow at Stephenson,  Republic-Michigamme, and North Central, and a home game against Engadine.

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