The Huron Basketball team ended the regular season with a win Tuesday, defeating the No. 11 ranked Lincoln Railsplitters 64-54 to finish the season with a 19-1 record. This highly anticipated matchup was in front of a packed house at the Eastern Michigan Convocation Center.

Coming into the game, Lincoln was heavily favored, as they house the No. 1 ranked player in the country, Emoni Bates. Bates led them to a state championship title last year. Although they were the underdogs, Huron, led by junior captain Devin Womack, had other ideas for the result of this game.

“The game plan was just to take care of the ball and not give up any offensive rebounds,” senior Devin Womack said. The team input a heavy emphasis into the game plan on being smart and taking care of the ball, which is exactly what you have to do in order to defeat high level teams such as Lincoln.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well, but we found a way to overcome that by playing good defense and running out in transition,” Womack said.

Senior Michael Robinson and junior Julian Lewis held the top-ranked Bates to just 8-28 shooting, including an 0-12 drought in the first half.

Fans can see why Huron is so heavily favored to make a deep run. Overcoming adversity like shooting struggles and having the composure to play in front of 5,000 people on a college court against the No. 1 player in the country and win is exactly what you want to see from a team heading into the state tournament, which starts on Monday against The Saline Hornets.

Although The Rats handled The Railsplitters, a rematch is blooming. If both teams win out in district play, they will meet in the district championship on Friday, March 13 for a rematch. Lincoln will be looking to get revenge in a much higher stakes “win or go home” game and Huron will look to shut down Lincoln and their star power for the second time in two weeks. It’s sure to be another packed crowd.