Wednesday night’s game was the the second round of Districts for the Fraser Ramblers. They won the opening round Monday night against L’Anse Creuse by 5. Tonight would be different though, as the Ramblers were out played on both sides of the ball. The Big Reds were in better shape than the Ramblers and it showed.

Each year Chippewa coach Kevin Voss has one of thee best in shape teams in the county. They hustle for 32 minutes, play a tight full court press, and make dazzling passes. He spoke to macomb daily afterwards to walk about this year’s team.

“When we play the way we play, when we’re pressing, hustling, passing the ball, it’s some of the prettiest basketball I’ve seen in 33 years,” said Chippewa Valley coach Kevin Voss, Wednesday after his squad topped Fraser, 78-67, in a Class A district semifinal. “It’s beautiful to watch. We get that big lead and now we want to make some plays ourselves.”

The game got under way at Chippewa Valley High School just after 7 o’clock. Chippewa took an early lead by forcing multiple turnovers using their full court press. It helped them to take a 25-14 lead at the end of the first. The quarter ended in exciting fashion as Nieko Arapaj put up a last second shot at the buzzer that fell in.

The second quarter wasn’t much different Fraser was out scored again by Chippewa, 22-19. However, Fraser was finally able to break the full court press and run the floor. This team never had a chance at beating Chippewa as they allowed more than 40 points in the paint to the Big Reds. Chippewa seemed to run the floor and attack the paint so easily that it seemed at times like Fraser was playing with less players. Steven Lloyd carried the scoring load in the first half with 15 points and gave Chippewa a 47-33 at the half.

Fraser has played great in the third quarter for most of this year, but Wednesday night was not one of those nights. They continued to leave the lane wide open, which is in part why they lost. Crisp, clean passes were the reason the basket seemed so open as Chippewa was able to rotate the ball well enough to get easy looks within 5 feet of the basket almost every time down the floor. Fraser was out scored again by a score of 22-19, which led to a 69-50 lead for the Big Reds as they entered the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter was a little different from the first three quarters as Fraser finally got their defense together and held Chippewa to just 9 points in 8 minutes. That wouldn’t be enough though as Chippewa held a commanding lead even late in the game when their bench players were on the floor. Fraser went on to lose in the second round of Districts to a Chippewa team who only lost 3 times all year (2 losses to Dakota and a loss to Grosse Pointe South). The season ended for the Ramblers and their 9 seniors.

Chippewa Valley is now 18-3 on the year and will play Lake Shore (18-3) at 7pm on the Big Reds’ home court. It should be a good match up and will definitely be one of the best games of the year. Steven Lloyd led both teams in scoring with 25 points. Nieko Arapaj (injured in fou

fourth quarter) scored 11 points for the Big Reds while Quincy Lunsford added 10 points.

The Fraser Ramblers ended the season at 9-13, which is 8 more wins than last year’s inexperienced team. Senior Shawn Jackson finished with 24 points; a season high for the small forward. Senior starters Matt Harper and Marcus Rice finished their final game with 11 points and 9 points respectively. Trevor Fudge added 9 points off the bench and was definitely been a solid bench player for coach Wandrei this year after being on Junior Varsity all of last season.

Sadly this is Fraser’s last basketball game of the year, but I look forward to covering the team next year and can’t wait to cover this year’s Boys’ Varsity baseball, Girls’ Varsity softball, and Girls’ Varsity soccer. Stay tuned for more Fraser Rambler sports updates and stories throughout the spring.
Chippewa Valley vs Fraser District Semi Finals 3-11-15 on PhotoPeach