Sault Ste. Marie, MI - The Parkside Rangers completed the 2023-24 regular season campaign on Saturday afternoon. The team lost another battle that came down to the wire, falling to the Lake Superior State Lakers, 76-68.
Inside the box score:
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Colin O'Rourke and Josiah Palmer both finished with 15 points each.
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Jack Rose posted 14 points and dished out six assists
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Parkside led by a point at halftime, but was outscored by nine in the second half.
How it happened:
The Rangers and Lakers traded blows throughout this highly intense battle. In the game itself, it featured eight lead changes and 13 tied scores. With Nick Brown absent from the contest, Parkside needed a player to step up and provide solid minutes. Jack Rose was that guy. Rose began the game with a bang, connecting on a long triple to get Parkside on the board.
Eight minutes into the game, Rokas Castillo stepped up. Castillo provided a much needed make for Parkside, ending a scoreless drought of over two-minutes. Parkside trailed by two points halfway through the first half.
As the low scoring half continued, Colin O'Rourke finally got himself in the scoring column. His first made field goal was a game tying triple, to knot the game up at 22.
In the final seconds of the first half, Jake Dunham forced the Lakers into a foul, which brought him to the free throw line. Dunham cashed in on both free throws and handed Parkside a 31-30 advantage heading into the halftime break.
In the second half, the scoring started to pick up for both teams. Out of the break, Palmer and Rose hit shots to keep up with the fast scoring pace of the Lakers. O'Rourke had ten points in the second half alone, and started to find more success in the interior as the game progressed.
Five minutes into the half, Jack Rose once again came up clutch for Parkside. Rose hit a tough shot through traffic to tie the game, and was fouled. He converted the three-point play to give Parkside the 42-41 lead.
Samni Fajana and Jake Dunham stepped up big time in the interior. The two combined for 12 rebounds in the game and even grabbed a few offensive rebounds to provide second chances late. However, the Lakers took the lead halfway through the second half and never looked back from then on out. O'Rourke fouled out with 4:24 left in the game and Parkside was trailing by five points. Josiah Palmer hit crucial shots down the stretch to keep them within striking distance. Palmer hit a layup through traffic to bring Parkside within two points with 3:10 left.
Despite Parkside's late game fight, the team came up short in the end. The Parkside Rangers completed the regular season 13-15 overall and 8-10 in GLIAC play. With that record, they finished sixth in the GLIAC standings.
Up next:
Parkside will head to Big Rapids, Michigan for the GLIAC Quarterfinals on Wednesday night. As the six seed, Parkside will be taking on the three seed, Ferris State with a chance to appear in the GLIAC Semi-finals. The game is slated to begin at 7:30 pm (ET). For coverage of the event, visit ParksideRangers.com/coverage.
