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The Red Devils intended to neutralize Kalkaska's dynamic scoring duo of John Kasza and Travis Schuba in their Lake Michigan Conference opener last Thursday night.

Employing a triangle-and-two defense on the Blazers' prolific pair, the Red Devils gained an early advantage. But, it didn't last long. One quarter, in fact.

After trailing by two at the end of the first quarter, Kalkaska coach David Manchester made the necessary adjustments during the break between periods and the Blazers rallied for a 46-43 victory.

East Jordan capitalized on its early defensive success to forge a 10-8 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Blazers recovered just as fast.

Kalkaska reversed the order of scoring in the second quarter with a 10-8 advantage on the Red Devils, pulling into an 18-18 tie with East Jordan at the half.

"It (East Jordan's defense) made it tough to run our normal offense," Manchester said. "The guys off the bench, and my other starters did a nice job adjusting our game plan. "But, it was very close down the stretch."

As tough as baskets were to come by, the Blazers still managed to gain a 17-12 advantage in the third quarter and surged into a 35-30 lead.

East Jordan stayed right with the Blazers throughout the fourth quarter, but Kalkaska managed to hang on for the win and evened their season record at 2-2.

Schuba and Jake Royston hit a couple of 3-pointers to help the Blazers hold off the Red Devils. Two big free throws by Jake Heller sealed the deal.

"It seemed like whenever we would get a lead, they (the Red Devils) would counter with a big shot of their own," said Manchester.

"We did a lot better on rebounding this game then in the past three games combined."

Heller finished the game as Kalkaska's leading scorer with 15 points and he also hauled down 6 rebounds. Schuba contributed 13 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

Kasza led the Blazers with 8 rebounds, and Alex Krause pulled down 5. The Blazers shot 63 percent from the free throw line, and made 42 percent of their field goal attempts.

After playing at Boyne City on Tuesday, the Blazers are scheduled to host No. 3 Traverse City St. Francis on Thursday night. They are at Charlevoix on Jan. 3.