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Reed City's Teddy Szymanski is on the floor battling for the ball against his Central Montcalm boys basketball opponents on Friday.
Pioneer photo/John Raffel
REED CITY – The Reed City Coyotes scored a win over Central Montcalm in CSAA boys basketball action on Friday but announced on Saturday they would have to forfeit because of a violation of the five-quarter rule.
The forfeit dropped Reed City from a No. 2 seed in the top four-team tier of the CSAA tournament to No. 5 overall and No. 1 in the second four-team tier. Reed City will host Tri County on Tuesday in a battle of the No. 5 vs. the No. 8 seed.
The five-rule, adopted a few years ago by the MHSAA, allows varsity teams to use a JV player for one quarter of the varsity game after having played in the JV contest. It was designed primarily to help programs with lower numbers.
"We have taken a forfeit for last night's game due to a five-quarter infraction," Walsh said on Saturday. "The infraction occurred when a sophomore of ours played 11 seconds in the third quarter after playing in the JV game and also the second quarter of our game. It was the first time we utilized the five-quarter rule all year.
"It was my responsibility to be aware and because I wasn't, our boys don't get the chance to play for a conference tournament title. As disappointing as this is, we have to move forward. We have dealt with a few adversities this year and I am proud of the boys for how they have handled it. I expect this will be no different. "
Prior to the disclosure of the forfeit, the Coyotes (6-4, 11-9) got off to an early lead on Friday and coasted to a 73-46 win over Central Montcalm (1-9, 3-15) to end the CSAA regular season.
Ty Kailing scored late in the first quarter for a 19-7 Coyotes lead. The Reed City offense stayed in high gear the second quarter.
Xavier Allen drove inside for a Reed City basket and 24-7 lead early in the second. Teddy Szymanski hit two free throws and Isiah Zelinski scored inside for a 28-14 lead.
Later in the quarter, Kailing, Aiden Storz and Justin Stellini scored triples for the Coyotes who led 68-42 after the third.
Kailing netted a triple to open the third quarter for Reed City. Max Hammond had a 3-point play to up the RC lead to 54-29. It was 54-31 after the third quarter. Hammond had a 3-point play early in the fourth for a 64-40 lead. Allen later scored for a 68-42 advantage.
“It’s the best we’ve played in awhile,” Storz said. “It was in everything. We put it together and everybody played their part.”
Hammond had 14 points for Reed City while Kailing added 12, Allen had 11, Storz eight and Teddy Szymanski 7.
Evan Rolston scored nine points for Central Montcalm.
