The Falcons' Alex Rose flies high to block a shot by Oscoda's Mike Leveille during Ogemaw's NEMC title-clinching 57-41 victory on Thursday.
Rick Dodridge (44) hit a 3-pointer early in the second quarter to ignite the Falcons' offense.
Brent Baker
Oscoda's Justin Cain tries to drive past Ogemaw Heights' Eric Noble during Thursday's contest.

OSCODA - Feb. 21, 2008 - Ogemaw Heights took awhile to get rolling Thursday at Oscoda, but in the end left no doubt that they deserved at least a share of the North East Michigan Conference title as the Falcons defeated Oscoda 57-41.

Shortly thereafter, the Falcons learned that their second straight league title was theirs alone after Standish-Sterling defeated Pinconning, which had been tied with the Falcons heading into Thursday's season-closing finales.

"Winning the conference is a long haul," said Falcon coach Jon VanOosten. "To get it done back-to-back is pretty special, whether we share it or not.

"I was definitely concerned coming here to play tonight, because Scott (Lueck's) teams always play hard and with (Adam) Dettmer and (Jason) Jimenez they have a couple of all-conference-caliber players."

Dettmer and Jimenez scored the game's first two buckets and midway through the first quarter the Falcons led just 6-5.

The Falcons slowly built an 18-12 lead, but Rick Dodridge's 3-pointer really seemed to get Ogemaw jump-started as the Falcons finished the half on a 14-3 run that made it 32-15.

The run continued into the third quarter as Ogemaw led by as many as 30 before pulling their starters. The Owl reserves finished the game on a 16-6 run.

"They're just better than us," said Oscoda coach Scott Lueck. "They're very good. I'm impressed with how well their big guys move and slash to the basket.

"We made up some points on them from the first time we played, but we have a lot more to do. We'll work on that."

The Falcons held a huge 37-23 rebounding edge, while they made 5-of-9 from 3-point range while holding Oscoda to 0-for-6.

The Owls don't have a lot of time to prepare as they face the Falcons again in Monday to open district tournament play at Houghton Lake.

"It's a new season," VanOosten said. "By Monday no one is going to remember who won the conference. It says a lot about the kids to have won them back to back, but now we get to start all over."

Dettmer led all scorers with 21 points, with Jimenez adding nine and Mike Lamrock eight as the Owls finished the regular season at 9-10 (3-9 NEMC).

Pete VanOosten scored 16 with Kyle Dantzer and Dodridge adding 12 apiece for the Falcons (16-4, 10-2).