Rick Dodridge (44) and Ogemaw Heights were upset by Ryan Balzer's (20) Flying G's in Saturday's tournament championship.
Alex Jennings came off the bench to lend a hand to Ogemaw Heights' second-half surge.
Brent Baker
Pete VanOosten helped shoot the Falcons back into the game after they fell behind by 12 points in the first half of Saturday's Gladwin Invitational championship.

GLADWIN - Dec. 29, 2007 - This wasn't the way Ogemaw Heights boys basketball coach Jon VanOosten wanted to head into the new year.

The Falcons, fresh off an impressive 76-61 victory over Allen Park Cabrini in the opening round of Gladwin's holiday tournament, dropped a surprising 70-62 decision in the tourney final to a Flying G's squad they'd blown out by 27 points just eight days earlier.

"I was afraid we'd be overconfident coming in," VanOosten said. "They had all the motivation. I was worried that if we got off to a slow start, if we let them build their confidence, it would really turn into a ball game."

That was exactly what happened.

The Flying G's, behind the hot outside shooting of Kevin Smalley and Ryan Balzer's inside play, took advantage of a somnambulant performance by the Falcons in the first half, building a 12-point lead midway through the second period and led 29-20 at the half.

"We did a poor job (with our perimeter defense)," VanOosten said. "That really hurt."

The Falcons awakened in the third quarter as Pete VanOosten ignited his team with a pair of 3-pointers shortly after halftime. Ogemaw also got a big lift from Kyle Dantzer and sophomore center Alex Jennings, who scored all the Falcons' points during a 13-3 run late in the quarter that put Ogemaw up  41-39.

After the lead traded hands several times early in the fourth period, it was all downhill for the Falcons' chances.  Three offensive fouls on four possessions not only proved costly as Gladwin (4-3) went on a 14-3 run, but got under the Falcons' skin as they racked up several turnovers and a technical foul. Smalley and James Hang combined to hit 10-of-10 free throws in the final quarter as the Flying G's, after opening a 60-50 lead with three minutes left, never led Ogemaw get any closer than seven points.

Smalley led all scorers with 26 points, including four 3-pointers, with Hang adding 19.

Rick Dodridge led the Falcons with 16 points. Pete VanOosten, struggling with a sore shoulder, added 14 and Dantzer added 13 despite injuring his knee in the first half.

"We've got some injury issues; hopefully they won't be too serious," Jon VanOosten said. "I'm puzzled with how we played. It's frustrating, because we could have been 6-0. Hopefully this loss will help us down the road."

That had best be soon for the Falcons, who host Tawas in a battle of the NEMC's two unbeatens on Friday, Jan. 4 as part of a varsity doubleheader with the girls teams.