Kurtis Haut goes to the rim against Pavilion (photo credit: A.J. Devine)
PAVILION — Cal-Mum extended their winning streak to 14 games on Friday night with a win over Pavilion, 75-39. Senior guard Kurtis Haut had 23 points and junior forward Will Van Auken contributed 21 points to lead the Raiders.
Everything went according to plan early on for Cal-Mum coach Dan Dickens, as his team started the game on a 10-2 run and was up 21-5 after the first quarter.
“We like to be aggressive on defense,” Dickens said. “Especially with our athletes up front. Kurtis [Haut] is so good at making some things happen and disrupting their offense… and that helps us get in transition when we can get some steals and easy buckets.”
However, Gophers refused to give up after a lackluster first quarter, and outscored the Raiders 13-11 in the second. After denying Pavilion quality looks in the paint earlier, Cal-Mum seemed to over-commit to defense on the perimeter, which opened lanes up inside for the Gophers.
“50/50 balls need to be ours. If the ball hits our hand, it needs to be ours. In a big game, those come back to haunt you,” Dickens said he told his players during a timeout late in the second quarter, during which he was visibly upset.
After halftime the Raiders looked much more like the team that opened the game. They forced turnovers and dominated the boards, where it seemed like Pavilion had no one that could match up with the size of Van Auken.
The Raiders also got key contributions from senior forwards Chris Wilson and Spencer Hartz in the second half, both of whom continued to make it difficult for the Gophers to make a comeback down the stretch.
Cal-Mum (16-1) will play their final regular season game at LeRoy on Wednesday.