Bad Axe boys tip off season with 63-62 win at Brown City

BROWN CITY — The Bad Axe varsity boys basketball team held off the Brown City Green Devils to pick up a 63-62 road win in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday night.

Aaron Sowles led the Hatchets in scoring with 24 points on the night, stepping into a leadership role after the loss of Jack Clancy and Cody Talaski to graduation in 2020.

Hatchets head coach Mark Krug said the 2020-2021 are a young team that will gain experience as the season progresses. Bad Axe had just one senior, Jensen Emerick, in the starting lineup, and Emerick was sidelined for much of the game due to foul trouble. Emerick scored 10. Keaton Braun cleaned up on the boards with nearly 20 rebounds. Junior Decarlos Sageman had 14 points, with 10 coming in the pivotal fourth quarter on a couple of key three-pointers and strong drives to the hoop.

“I expect big things from (Sageman) this year,” Krug said.

The Hatchets’ youth and lack of experience almost cost them the game. The Green Devils had a chance to take the lead in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter after a couple of Bad Axe miscues — including a turnover and a missed free throw — but Brown City couldn’t capitalize, and the Hatchets escaped with the win.

“(Brown City) had a couple of chances,” Krug said.

Despite the anxiety-inducing conclusion of the game, Krug said he was very pleased with his team’s overall performance on Wednesday night. He said Sandusky has two big-impact players in Gaden Muxlow, who had 25 points, and Curtis Stanley, who had 17, and the Hatchets first win of the season came against a quality team.

“I thought we were really scrappy and had a good game,” Krug said.

Next up, the Hatchets travel to Laker on Friday night.