Game of the Week: Ionia outlasts Charlotte in OT; remains perfect on year

IONIA, Mich. (WILX) - Ionia entered Friday night a perfect 6-0, but knew it would face its stiffest test yet in Charlotte.

Charlotte was 4-3 overall, but like Ionia, held a perfect 2-0 mark in the CAAC-White.

Ionia had to rally late down by as many as four, but ultimately forced overtime, before holding off Charlotte in the extra session, 49-45.

With the win, the Bulldogs remain the lone unbeaten in the conference.

“Obviously, this was a more important game for us then I think it was for Charlotte because it’s at our gym and we got two tough league games coming up next week,” Ionia head coach Scott Swinehart said. “Having a zero in the right side of the column, we feel fortunate. We just got to keep getting better.”

Scoring for the Bulldogs ran mostly through Lance Atkinson and Miles Gregory, as the two combined for 36 of Ionia’s 49 points.

“Lance is a tough matchup cause he can go inside, outside, he’s really our only size so he’s really valuable to our team,” Swinehart said. “Miles spends a lot of time in the gym. He’s made himself into a player, he wants the ball in those big moments.”

Ionia will enjoy the win for the night, before turning the page to a new challenge on Jan. 16.

“It’s just one game. We’ve been a game behind. We have Catholic on Monday so we just gotta focus on that game instead of relaxing and celebrating,” Gregory said.

As for Charlotte, it falls to 4-4 on the year and will try to end a two-game losing slide Jan. 16 when Wyoming Lee comes to town.

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