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Wednesday April 24, 2024
BEAST MODE: Goldi Scores 42 In Rapid River Win

Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear post-game comments from Kodey Goldi, Ian Sundling, and both team's head coaches.

RAPID RIVER---Kodey Goldi fought off early foul trouble and scored a career high 42 to lead the Rapid River Rockets to a 80-60 win over the previously-undefeated Big Bay deNoc Black Bears Monday night. Steven Holmes scored 32 points in a losing effort for Big Bay.

Goldi was saddled with three fouls in the first quarter, and after he came back to the court in the second quarter, he went into beast mode. He was nearly-unstoppable in the paint, and Goldi also kmocked down three triples during a big third quarter in which he scored 17 points.

"I went back in with about five minutes left in the second quarter, and not to be cocky, I realized they couldn't guard me, so I said to get the ball to me down there, and they did," Goldi said. "I was feeling it tonight. I went to Big Bay until sixth grade, so, playing against my old school, I was feeling it."

Goldi did a lot of damage on the scoreboard, but he says he didn't do it alone.

"I give a lot of shoutouts to my team getting me the ball down there and playing defense," Goldi said. "We've got a good team here. We just have to figure out how to use it. We started playing defense, and then I started hitting shots. That got our confidence up and we went from there."

"He was a tough presense in there, and we just couldn't match up with him tonight," Big Bay Coach Gunnar Mickelson said. "Everything we threw at him, he had an answer for. He stepped back, and I think he hit four or five three's on us, so sometimes, that's all you can do."

Goldi sat for almost an entire quarter of playing time (from the three minute mark of the first period to the five minute mark of the second) before Rockets Coach Brett Lundquist rolled the dice and put him back on the court. It worked.

"He was ready for this game," Lundquist said. "It was a big game for him. He was really upset with the three fouls. We put him in again a little bit earlier than we usually would have, and he really held his composure, and did very well."

Not everybody held their composure, however.

A Rockets player was increasingly upset at the officiating, and despite several warnings from the officiating crew, continued to protest certain calls. The player received two technical fouls and was ejected in the second quarter.

"Calls weren't going the way everyone wanted them to," Lundquist said. "I think they, the players, were overreacting. We got too caught up in that and we were too focused on what was going on outside of the game instead of playing their game. But we fixed that in the second half, and they turned it around then."

The Black Bears entered the game undefeated on the season, and shot the ball well early while taking advantage of Goldi being on the bench. They led, 17-14, after one quarter, and had the lead in the second quarter, 30-22, as Holmes sank ten free throws in the first half, Holmes, a transfer from North Dickinson, had 17 points in the first half.

But the Rockets went on an 13-0 run to end the first half to take a 35-30 lead into the locker room, with Ian Sundling scoring six points, Texas Cambron five, along with Goldi's 17 first half points.

"We got some shots off (early)," Mickelson said. "We'd like a little better and a little cleaner looks, and finish a little bit more at the rim. It'd be nice to get some second chance opportunities, too."

Then in the third quarter, the Rockets scored a massive 30 points, 19 of them by Goldi, to take control of the game, leading 65-49 entering the fourth quarter.

"I was kind of nervous, because this is the first time we've played them in the regular season in a while," said Sundling, who scored 18 points. "We started off real rough, but we figured out what to do. If we started out like we did in the second half, we would have done really good. But Kodey stepped up. He had a lot of lay-ups, and I can trust him with the ball. He just played amazing. And I had a pretty good shooting day. When I was open, I just felt confident."

Rapid River (3-1) travels to Engadine on Tuesday, and then hosts Mid Peninsula next Tuesday night. Big Bay (4-1) hosts Mid Peninsula on Tuesday and is off for the holidays.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Big Bay deNoc girls defeated Rapid River, 58-26. Alix Bleau scored 17 points and Camryn Pederson added 15 for the Lady Bears. The Big Bay girls will also host Mid Peninsula on Tuesday night. Rapid River's girls are idle.

NORTH CENTRAL BOYS 62, BARK RIVER-HARRIS 51---Connor Florenski scored 20 points to help the Jets hold off a second half surge by the rival Broncos. Jesse Sampson added 12 points and Luke Gorzinski chipped in 11 for undefested NCA. Jacob Mileski scored 19 points for the Broncos in a losing effort.









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