The Fraser Ramblers came out on top of Tuesday night’s match up against Port Huron Northern (PHN). While they had the lead for almost all of the game, the Huskies were able to hang in there and keep it close. Led by Shawn Jackson and his 20 points, the Ramblers were able to escape  with a victory at home by a score of 47-45.

The Ramblers play five of their final six games at home including their win against Port Huron Northern. Tuesday’s win will hopefully build their confidence as they face some tough opponents in Dakota and Mt. Clemens in the coming week. They are now 5-8 on the season, but still have good odds to finish at or above .500 for the season. Winning one of these next two games versus Dakota and Mt.Clemens should do just that, as their final 3 opponents after that have a combined record of 12-28.

The first quarter between the Huskies and Ramblers was pretty even as Shawn Jackson scored 7 points for the Ramblers while Port Huron North’s Billy Fealko hit a buzzer beating three pointer to tie the game at 11 to end the 1st.

The team gelled well in the second using quick passes to break the Huskies 2-3 zone. The Ramblers took a 28-22 lead into half, in part because of  Shawn Jackson’s 14 points. PHN’s Billy Fealko led his team in both points (5) and assists (3).

Defense was the story of the second half as the Huskies held Fraser to 8 points during the 3rd quarter. The Huskies were more energetic on defense and were able to stop Fraser from penetrating their defense. The Ramblers were able to hold onto their lead, as they finished the 3rd quarter up 36-32.

Going into the 4th, it was anyone’s game because the defense could not stop Port Huron North’s Billy Fealko. He finished with 9 points and 7 assists. The teams went back and forth for the first 7 minutes of the 4th. Then PHN hit a jumper to tie the game at 45 with a 1:03 to go.

Fraser brought the ball up to half court and decided to hold the ball until Coach Marshall called a timeout with 16 seconds to go. The Ramblers were able to do this because high school games have no shot clock (they need one badly). A point here would give Fraser their 5th win of the year. The whistle blew and it was time to run the final play the Ramblers drew up.

Shawn Jackson inbounded the ball to Matt Harper. He immediately gave it back to Jackson. As the clock slowly ticked down, it felt longer than just 16 seconds. With about 5 seconds to go, Jackson gave the ball up to senior guard Matt Harper near the 3-point line. Harper sized up his defender and immediately blew by him. He then quickly split the two defenders that were near the rim and went up for the game winning shot. He released the ball and it banked off the backboard into the net with no time left. Matt Harper had just hit the game winning lay up. The crowd erupted louder than any other game this year. The student section ran onto the court as soon as the clock expired and celebrated with the team.

This was the perfect ending to such a great overall game. As a basketball fan, these are the games that you want to watch. The ones that make you so nervous that you can barely watch, but more importantly it was the best way for a guy like Matt Harper to get his confidence back.

For most of the season, senior guard Matt Harper has struggled to find his identity on a team he’s been a part of for 3 seasons. He has not had many good performances this season so it was a great feel-good moment for the senior captain. Hopefully this will be a building block for Matt and the Ramblers as they get closer to Districts.

Fraser plays the Dakota Cougars (12-2), who have won 12 straight games, Friday night at home. Tip off is at 7:30pm.