PLAINWELL, MI –– Larry Ash didn’t promise his Plainwell boys basketball team a pretty night.

He brought a rope instead.

In one of his signature pregame pitches, Ash handed his players a rope and asked them to embrace the grind together. The Trojans responded by dragging Paw Paw into the mud and pulling out a 38-33 old-school slugfest victory on Friday.

“I brought this rope in and made everybody grab it because we all got to hold each other’s rope,” said Ash, clutching a blue rope postgame. “If we don’t hold each other’s rope, we ain’t gonna get nothing done. It ain’t about everybody getting in the (scorebook), it’s about making that extra pass to get the best shot.”

After its Wolverine Conference opening loss to Edwardsburg last week, Plainwell got back to its identity on Friday with d

See Full Page