Fairview's Jubal Handrich (30) ensured that driving into the paint was a hazardous proposition for Justin Cain (22) and the Owls.
Brent Baker
Kyle McCausey (23) goes up between a pair of Fairview defenders during Tuesday's contest.

OSCODA - Feb. 3, 2009 - Oscoda did everything it could to slow down Fairview's Jubal Handrich.

The Owls managed to "hold" Handrich to 18 points, but Fairview's Eagles were still able to take a 56-40 victory on Tuesday.

"It wasn't bad for coming out kind of flat," said Fairview coach Wayne Nutt, whose team is gearing up for a North Star League showdown with Hale on Friday. "Oscoda is pretty quick and they really hustled. I remember three years ago coming down here and losing to these guys, so we knew we couldn't look past them."

Handrich made his presence felt at the defensive end in the first quarter, blocking five Oscoda shots. Oscoda's defense made it tough for Handrich to get the ball inside, and the Eagles responded with first quarter 3-pointers from Joe Koslakiewicz, Carl Gossman and Garrett Willobee for a 13-4 first quarter lead.

The Owls didn't go down easily, outrebounding the Eagles during several stretches. Tom Schonfeld's 3-pointer late in the second quarter pulled Oscoda to within 19-10, but the Owls weren't able to make good on three straight possessions that could have narrowed the gap further. Fairview scored the final five points of the half to go up 24-12.

The Owls opened the second half with a 3-point play from Chris Dehmel, but Koslakiewicz scored eight points in a 12-2 Fairview run that put the game out of reach.

Dehmel, Schonfeld and Justin Cain responded with a quick six-point run, but the Owls could get no closer than 13 points the rest of the way.

Koslakiewicz finished with 15 and Gossman had 10 as Fairview improved to 11-1 overall.

Schonfeld led Oscoda (3-9) with 13, with Dehmel adding nine.