RAPID RIVER — Friday night brought the first home win of the season for the Rapid River Rockets boys basketball team (5-2) as they defeated the Engadine Eagles (0-4) 51-41 in Rapid River.

Rapid started the game off strong with a 10-4 lead 4:11 into the first quarter with six points from Ian Sundling — off his first two of six three-point baskets on the night — two free throws from Rafe Cambron and a two-point basket from Rease Dawley.

The Eagles, though, would put up seven in a row to take their only lead of the night with two-point baskets from Matthias Miller, Zach Hoadly and Drew French plus a free throw from Brandon Wheeler.

The Rockets shot back 18 seconds later as Sundling hit his third triple of the night to give his team the lead they would hold until time expired.

“Overall it was pretty decent,” said Rockets coach Hayden Hardwick of the Rockets performance. “We never really buried them like we talked about at halftime. They’re a pretty good team. Definitely has some size advantages compared to our squad with Kodey (Goldi) being out.

“All in all, though, we had guys step up, fight through a little bit of adversity and lucked out and got our first win on the home floor, which is nice.”

Rapid River’s win was bolstered by Sundling’s career-high 29-point performance that include six three-point shots, five of which came in the first half.

“If you would have watched his JV season last year, you wouldn’t be surprised,” said Hardwick bout Sundling’s game. “I was waiting for this to happen, and I knew it would happen at some point. He’s a very good shooter. I’ve seen it for the past two or three years since the Sundling family moved to Rapid. I’m looking for him to build off that now.”

Hardwick added the defensive performance from the whole team — naming Damyn Smith and Nick Nelson as standouts — as another bright spot.

“All around, a good team win,” Hardwick said. “I would have liked to see the scoring column a little more balanced, but sometimes you have to take what you’re getting.”

Engadine Eagles coach Joe Brownson, despite the loss, was pleased with the performance out of his team.

“I’m very proud of how our boys played today,” Brownson said. “(Sundling) caught me off guard. Some of the games I’ve watched he hadn’t had this kind of a game. He did a heck of a nice job. He lit us up in the first half.

“We made some adjustments to that late in the second quarter and kind of really slowed him up, and that was a really big positive for us. I thought our defense played soundly overall.”

Brownson added that missed shots from in the paint were costly for the Eagles in the contest but was still happy, overall, with the team and how they played.

Matthias Matthew led the Eagles with 16 points on the night.

While Rapid played North Central last night in Powers, the Eagles host Rudyard tonight in Engadine.

Engadine 14 6 9 12 — 41

Rapid River 18 11 7 15 — 51

Engadine — Miller 16, Spieles 8, Hoadly 7, French 6, Wheeler 4; FT: 4-12; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Spieles 2, Wheeler.

Rapid River — Sundling 29, Cambron 9, Dawley 8, Nick Nelson 3, McCarty 2; FT: 8-14; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Sundling 6, Nick Nelson.