Bedford boys basketball defeats Skyline on final possession

Andrew Hollinger finished with a floater to beat their Southeastern-Red division rivals

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Ann Arbor, Mich. — The Bedford Kicking Mules (13-5) defeated the Ann Arbor Skyline Eagles (10-7) 55-54 Friday night at Skyline High School.

In a game that came down to the final possession, Bedford center Andrew Hollinger scored the game-winning basket with a last-second floater.

Hollinger finished the game with 34 points. Skyline’s Sam Koelling led his team with 15 points.

Here are three takeaways:

Hollinger was unstoppable

During the first half, Skyline dominated by effortlessly moving the ball and finding easy buckets. The Eagles went into halftime with a 21-15 lead. Defensively, however, there was nothing they could do to stop Hollinger, who scored 14 of Bedford’s 15 points.

Hollinger was on a mission, finishing the game with a double-double. He also added a steal and an assist to his impressive stat sheet tonight.

A tightly contested game

The Eagles, led by Koelling, scored often during the first half. These scoring outbursts happened because of senior guard Ish Abdul Aziz, who finished the first half with six assists, finishing with seven assists on the night.

The game turned into a tale of two halves, as Bedford outscored The Eagles 24-8 in the third quarter. Carson Behnke led the scoring in the quarter. He opened the half with three baskets, all from beyond the arc.

Both teams jockeyed to maintain a lead with the Eagles knocking down a late 3-pointer to take their final lead of the night.

However, with nine seconds remaining in the fourth. Bedford put the ball in Hollinger’s hand and let the big man drive to the basket. Hollinger finished with a floater to beat their Southeastern-Red divisional rivals.

Bench play was impactful for the Eagles

The Eagles found themselves in a third-quarter 39-29 deficit. However, they were able to battle back due to their talented roster depth. Led by guard Jayden Potts, who entered the game late in the third quarter and finished with 11 points.

Defensively, Potts led the charge and helped his team close the lead to 54-53. Along with Potts, Eagles’ forward Ben Stille finished with 12 points.

Coach said

Following the game, Bedford head coach Jordan Bollin praised his team’s effort down the stretch.

“The first half was kind of like pulling teeth.” Bollin said. “The second half, I thought we did a better job, instead of avoiding contact, we searched it out and did a better job of finishing around the rim.”

Following this matchup, the Bedford Kicking Mules (13-5) will travel to take on the Monroe Trojans (0-11).

The Ann Arbor Skyline Eagles (10-7) will travel away to take on the Dexter Dreadnaughts (3-13).