Perry at Saranac – – CMAC Boys Basketball Game of the Week – – The Bleacher Denizen – – December 12, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft

About one hundred fifty years ago, newspaper publisher Horace Greeley advised, “Go West Young Man!” While your Bleacher Denizen is young only in the wildest of imaginations, he is following the advice anyway as he heads west from Lansing to Saranac. Of course, he will be covering the boys basketball game between the Saranac Red Hawks and the Perry Ramblers!

I always love covering Saranac games because it gives me a chance to go to the Bridge Street Pasty Shop for a pasty. (As it was cold enough, I also bought a couple to take home.) The pasty was very enjoyable and got the Bleacher Denizen’s evening off to a great start!

Perry Coach Scott Selbig provided me with this background information about his Rambler players.

Anthony Cochrane is a versatile offensive threat who can hit three point shots, slash to the basket or hit midrange shots. Trey Selbig is a tall point guard who can defend the perimeter or the post. He is a fine slasher to the basket, a good passer and a good three point shooter. Alex McEwan is a fine defender and rebounder in the post.

Jacob Adkins slashes to the basket well and is a good rebounder. Aydin Sloan and Brady Doerner are threats from the three point line. Dylan King is a strong defender who is effective both in the post and on the perimeter.

Saranac Coach Kellan Smith gave me this information about his Red Hawk players.

Brody Stanton is the only returning starter from last year’s Red Hawk team. He runs the point and is excellent at slashing to the basket and at passing. He is also a formidable perimeter defender. Landin Barker and Kolten Janse score, defend and rebound in the post. Kolten Janse can also shoot from the three point line. Logan Haller is an excellent perimeter defender. John Sterzick gives the Red Hawks a three point threat in the starting lineup.

Rejz Conner is a speedy guard who can slash to the basket or shoot from the three point line. Cole Reagan is a good three point shooter. Eric Lake brings a lot of energy to the Red Hawk defense where he is able to defend the perimeter or the post.

I got to the gym at the end of the freshman game which Perry won 43-34.

Saranac got out to a 12-8 lead after one quarter of the JV game. The Red Hawks outscored the Ramblers 14-5 in the second quarter to take a 26-13 halftime lead. Saranac dominated the second half of the JV game and won by the final score of 56-27.

Trenton Duchene led the Perry JVs with 9 points. Levi Ostrander chipped in with 6 points. Max Grennell added 5 points. Miles Reed and Kaleb Diebler each scored 3 points. Chase Miller tallied 1 point.

Levi Warner led the victorious Saranac JVs with 14 points. Jakob Dodge and Damion Gooden each contributed 9 points. Dionne Giles scored 8 points. Jacob Bush and Ethan Bollone each had 6 points. Austin Haller added 4 points.

It is now time to review the events of this varsity game through the aging eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he played ball in the times of yore. It seems that the bricks he shot damaged way to many of the peach baskets we had to use for hoops back in the day, so it was too expensive to keep your Bleacher Denizen on the roster!

Perry wins the opening tap. Kolten Janse gets his hand on the ball for Saranac, but Perry recovers. Aydin Sloan passes to Anthony Cochrane, who throws in a threeball from the side to give the Ramblers the first three points of the game. Saranac misses a jumper from the free throw line. Perry misses a threeball near the top of the key. Jacob Adkins steals the ball from the rebounder and quickly hits a layup to give Perry a 5-0 lead.

Aydin Sloan knocks a Saranac pass out of bounds; the Red Hawks retain possession. Saranac misses a six foot shot from the side. Anthony Cochrane drives to the basket and is fouled on a layup. He hits two free throws for Perry. Brody Stanton passes to Kolten Janse, who is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws to trim the Perry lead to 7-2 with 5:42 remaining in the opening quarter.

Kolten Janse knocks the ball away from Perry and Brody Stanton picks it up for Saranac. Aydin Sloan steals a Red Hawk pass. Anthony Cochrane throws in a threeball from the side for Perry. Saranac misses a three point shot from the wing. Perry fumbles a pass out of bounds.

Trey Selbig steals the ball for Perry and hits a layup. Jacob Adkins steals the ball and passes to Anthony Cochran, who hits a three point shot from the wing for Perry. Trey Selbig taps the ball away from Saranac and Alex McEwan picks it up for Perry. Anthony Cochrane (who else?) hits a three point shot from the side to give the Ramblers an 18-2 lead.

Saranac misses a driving layup. Brody Stanton gets the offensive rebound for the Red Hawks. Saranac misses a layup. Brady Doerner passes to Alex McEwan, who hits a layup for Perry. Brody Stanton passes to Kolten Janse, who hits an eight foot shot in the lane for Saranac. John Sterzick steals the ball for the Red Hawks. Saranac misses a ten foot shot in the lane. The rebound goes out of bounds and Perry takes possession.

Perry misses a threeball from the corner. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Ramblers get another opportunity. Perry misses a driving layup. Saranac reciprocates and misses a driving layup. Landin Barker gets the offensive rebound for the Red Hawks. Saranac misses a layup. Perry misfires on a threeball near the top of the key. Brody Stanton hits a layup just before the first quarter buzzer decides to seek attention by sounding off.

After one quarter, Perry holds a 20-6 lead.

Saranac inbounds the ball to open the second quarter. The Red Hawks miss a three point shot from the side. Perry misses a driving layup. Alex McEwan secures the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Perry misses a layup. Saranac misses a layup. Trey Selbig passes to Alex McEwan, who hits a layup to give his Ramblers a 22-6 lead.

Saranac misses a three point shot from the wing. Cole Reagan grabs the offensive rebound for the Red Hawks. Saranac misses a threeball from the side. Perry is whistled for a double dribble violation. Saranac misses a three point shot from the corner. Cole Reagan gets the offensive rebound for the Red Hawks. Saranac misses a layup. Perry loses the ball out of bounds. Saranac misses a three pointer from the wing.

Austin Haller grabs the offensive rebound for the Red Hawks. Saranac misses a three pointer from the side. Trey Selbig drives and dishes the ball to Alex McEwan, who hits a layup for the Ramblers. Brody Stanton drives and is fouled on a ten foot shot from the side. He hits one of his two free throws to trim the Perry lead to 24-7 with 4:54 remaining in the half.

Anthony Cochrane drives and hits a layup for Perry. Dylan King knocks the ball away from Saranac and Trey Selbig picks it up for Perry. Trey Selbig hits a fifteen foot shot from the side for Perry and the Ramblers have a 28-7 lead.

Saranac is called for a double dribble violation. Perry misses a three point shot from the wing. Alex Rockafellow gets the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Anthony Cochrane hits yet another three point shot from the wing for the Ramblers. Alex Rockafellow steals the ball for Perry. Perry misses a threeball from the wing. Alex McEwan gets the offensive rebound for the Ramblers.

Cole Reagan steals the ball for Saranac. The Red Hawks miss a threeball from the top of the key. Perry misses a threeball from the side. Brody Stanton passes to Landin Barker, who hits an eight foot shot in the lane for Saranac. Landin Barker steals the ball for the Red Hawks. Saranac misses a ten footer in the lane. Alex Rockafellow hits a layup to give Perry a 33-9 lead.

Rejz Conner hits a twelve foot shot from the side for Saranac. Brody Stanton knocks the ball out of bounds and Saranac gets the ball. Brody Stanton passes to Landin Barker, who hits a layup for the Red Hawks. Perry does not have time to shoot before the halftime buzzer makes its presence known.

Perry has a 33-13 lead at halftime.

Landin Barker and Kolten Janse each have 4 points for Saranac.

Anthony Cochrane had a big half for Perry; he scored 19 points. Alex McEwan has 6 points and Trey Selbig has 4 points.

Saranac inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. Aydin Sloan tips the ball and a Saranac dribbler loses it out of bounds. Perry throws a pass out of bounds. John Sterzick hits a three point shot from the top of the key for the Red Hawks. Perry misses a shot. Alex McEwan steals the ball for the Ramblers and passes to Trey Selbig, who hits a three pointer from the side to give Perry a 36-16 lead.

Kolten Janse inbounds the ball to John Sterzick, who hits another three point shot from the side for Saranac. Perry misses a layup. Brody Stanton passes to Landin Barker, who is fouled on a layup and hits one of his two free throws for Saranac. Brody Stanton gets the offensive rebound for the Red Hawks and is fouled on a putback. He hits two free throws to trim the Perry lead to 36-22 with 5:30 remaining in quarter number three.

Perry misses a jump shot. Brody Stanton passes to Logan Haller, who hits a three point shot from the side for Saranac. Kolten Janse steals a Perry pass. Saranac missed a six foot shot in the lane. Kolten Janse steals the ball for Saranac. The Red Hawks miss a three point shot from the wing. Landin Barker makes a spectacular save of the offensive rebound as it is going out of bounds to give Perry another suggestion. Logan Haller is fouled on a shot and hits one of his two free throws to cut the Perry lead to 36-26 with 3:54 to go in quarter number three.

Logan Haller knocks a Perry pass out of bounds; the Ramblers retain possession. Trey Selbig is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of his two free throws for Perry. Alex Rockafellow gets his hand on a Red Hawk pass and Saranac loses the ball out of bounds. Brady Doerner hits a three point shot from the side to give Perry a 40-26 lead.

Saranac misses a driving layup. Perry misses a ten foot shot off the dribble in the lane. John Sterzick passes to Koltin Janse, who is fouled on a ten foot shot in the lane and hits one of his two free throws for Saranac. With 2:50 left on the clock for quarter number three, Perry’s lead is at 40-27.

The Ramblers miss a driving layup. Saranac misses a threeball from the side and fouls on the rebound. Anthony Cochrane passes to Brady Doerner, who hits a three point shot from the wing for Perry. Brody Stanton passes to Rejz Conner, who throws in a threeball from the side for Perry. Brady Doerner is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of his two free throws to give Perry a 44-30 lead.

Saranac misses a layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and Saranac gets another opportunity. The Red Hawks miss a three point shot from the side. Perry is whistled for a three seconds (in the lane) violation. Alex Rockafellow steals the ball for the Ramblers. Perry is fouled on a layup, but misses two free throws. Brody Stanton is fouled and hits two free throws to cut the Perry lead to 40-32 with 47.9 seconds to play in quarter number three.

Trey Selbig passes to Dylan King, who hits a layup for the Ramblers. Saranac misses a layup. Eric Lake gets the offensive rebound for the Red Hawks. Saranac misses a layup. Perry fires up a twenty-five foot shot as the buzzer ends the period, but misses.

With three quarters in the books, Perry has a 46-32 lead.

Perry throws the ball inbounds to open the fourth quarter. Trey Selbig is fouled on a threeball from the side and hits one, two and three free throws for Perry to open up a seventeen point lead at 49-32 just sixteen seconds into the quarter. Saranac misses a driving reverse layup. Perry misses a three point shot from the side. Saranac misses a three pointer from the top of the key. Landin Barker hits a putback for Saranac and is fouled. He hits one of his two free throws. With 7:11 remaining in the final quarter, Perry has a 49-35 lead.

Brody Stanton and Logan Haller double team Perry and force a double dribble violation. Saranac misses a three point shot from the side; Brody Stanton gets the offensive rebound and is fouled. One of Perry’s starters fouled out on the play. Saranac misses a three point shot from the wing. Logan Haller steals the ball for the Red Hawks. Saranac miss a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. Perry misses a three pointer from the side. Kolten Janse drives and hits a layup for Saranac to shave the Perry lead to 49-37.

Perry misses a sixteen foot shot from the side. Dylan King gets a hand on a Saranac pass into the lane and knocks it out of bounds; Saranac retains possession. Saranac misses a three point shot from the side. Landin Barker gets the offensive rebound for the Red Hawks. Kolten Janse passes to Rejz Conner, who hits a three point shot from the side to chop the Perry lead to 49-40.

Landin Barker knocks a Perry pass out of bounds; Perry gets the ball back. Landin Barker steals the ball for Saranac. Saranac misses a fast break layup. Kolten Janse gets the offensive rebound for the Red Hawks; he drives and hits a layup. Perry is fouled, but misses two free throws. With 3:49 left on the clock, Perry’s lead is at 49-42.

Rejz Conner makes a great play leaping over the midcourt line and saving the ball to a Red Hawk teammate to prevent an over and back violation. Logan Haller throws in a threeball from the side for Saranac to cut the Perry lead to four points. Trey Selbig is fouled and hits one of his two free throws to give Perry a 50-45 lead with 3:02 to go.

Brody Stanton passes to Kolten Janse, who hits a layup for Saranac to cut the Perry lead to three points. Trey Selbig is fouled and hits two free throws for Perry. Saranac misses a three point shot from the wing. Dylan King is fouled and hits one of his two free throws for Perry. With 2:08 remaining, Perry’s lead is at 53-47.

Perry fouls on the rebound of the missed free throw. Saranac misses a three pointer from the top of the key. Landin Barker is fouled on the rebound and hits one of his two free throws to pull Saranac to within five points at 53-48 with 1:51 left on the clock.

Kolten Janse blocks a Perry layup. Saranac misses a jump shot. Jacob Adkins is fouled and hits one of his two free throws for Perry. Alex Rockafellow steals the ball for the Ramblers. Brody Stanton steals the ball for the Red Wings. Logan Haller hits a fast break layup to cut the Perry lead to four points. Trey Selbig is fouled and hits one of his two free throws to give Perry a 55-50 lead with 58.1 seconds to go.

Trey Selbig steals the ball for the Ramblers. Anthony Cochrane is fouled and hits two free throws for Perry. The Ramblers lead 57-50 lead with 39.4 seconds to play.

Saranac is not done yet as John Sterzick drives and dishes the ball to Kolten Janse, who hits a layup for the Red Hawks to cut the Rambler lead to five points. Anthony Cochrane is fouled and hits two more free throws for Perry. Anthony Cochrane steals the ball and is fouled. He hits one of his two free throws and Perry leads 60-52 with 6.8 seconds to go.

John Sterzick drives and hits a layup for Saranac just before time expires.

Perry gets a big CMAC road win by the final score of 60-54.

Kolten Janse led the Saranac scoring with 13 points. Logan Haller and Landin Barker each supported him with 9 points. John Sterzick and Rejz Conner each added 8 points. Brody Stanton scored 7 points.

Anthony Cochrane led Perry with 24 points. He had 19 points in the first half and hit five of six free throws in the final 39.4 seconds to keep Saranac from completing its attempted comeback. Trey Selbig joined his teammate in double figures with 15 points. Brody Doerner added 7 points. Alex McEwan had 6 points. Jacob Adkins and Dylan King each put in 3 points and Alex Rockafellow tallied 2 points.