Huge First Quarter
Propels MCC to 75-59 Win Over Onekama
By MATT WENZEL, Manistee News Advocate,
Sports Editor
Onekama — After dropping a
two-point decision to Onekama last month, Manistee Catholic Central was
eager to settle the score. It showed early.
With 33 first-quarter points, the
Sabers jumped out to a big lead early and never looked back en route to
a 75-59 win over the Portagers on Thursday night.
“We wanted to blow them out,”
said MCC senior Jordan Janowiak. “We wanted to get up, get on them
quick, and just bury them. That was the game plan.”
Janowiak did a fair share of
shoveling for MCC, as he scored 17 of his game-high 35 points in the
first quarter. “I’ve never had a first quarter like that,” said Janowiak,
who also had 12 rebounds and four blocks. “It was fun to play.”
MCC sophomore Nick Doyle was also
hot early, as he scored 13 first-quarter points, and finished with 22
and five rebounds, despite having his playing time limited because of
foul trouble.
“What an entertaining first
quarter,” said MCC coach Dale Edmondson Jr. “I didn’t have to do much
coaching at all. In 29 years of coaching, that was probably the best
quarter I’ve seen one of my teams ever have. “I know it isn’t because of
me, or else we’d have had one sooner,” he added with a laugh.
MCC (12-4, 10-3) and Onekama
(9-5, 9-4) entered Thursday night’s game in a tie for third place behind
West Michigan D League co-leaders Mason County Eastern and Baldwin.
While the Sabers have third place
to themselves now, the Portagers have lost three straight league games
after being alone in first place just a week ago.
While the previous two defeats
came by a combined four points, Thursday’s loss was less of
heartbreaker. But, that likely won’t serve as any consolation for the
Portagers.
Onekama battled a couple injuries
against MCC, as starting center Skyler Kimpel was playing with an
injured back, and junior Joe Kosiboski had an injured ankle.
Kosiboski replaced Kimpel in the
starting lineup, and finished with a team-high 16 points. “I thought Joe
had a great game,” said Onekama coach Roger Smith. “His ankle was
hurting him.”
Also for Onekama, Levi Capper had
11 points and five rebounds, Hunter Slade had 10 points and Ryan Miller
had nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Kimpel finished with eight
points, Adrian Norman had three and five assists, while Thomas Koon
scored two.
MCC was playing its second game
without junior Nick Niesen, who also injured his ankle. While he’s a
part of a three-guard starting lineup, the Sabers picked up the slack in
his absence.
Janowiak buried a 3-pointer 17
seconds into the first quarter, dropped in a lay-up the next time down
the court, and drilled another triple 36 seconds later to give MCC an
8-2 lead. |
“We were pumped,” Janowiak said. “We
were ready for this game.” If the Portagers tried to keep tabs on
Janowiak on the outside, Doyle got them in the paint. The sophomore
knocked down six shots in the first quarter and Garrett Owens made a
3-pointer as the Sabers went 13-19 from the field over the first eight
minutes, and made all four of their free throw attempts.
“Unbelievable,” Smith said. “It was
their night.”
With a 33-17 lead after the first
quarter, MCC had command of the game, but the Portagers didn’t go away.
They actually played the Sabers even the rest of the game, with the
16-point disparity in the first quarter serving as the final margin of
victory.
“We didn’t quit,” Smith said. “We
kept playing hard.”
However, the free throw line was
an Onekama enemy as the Portagers went 1-7 in the first half and
finished the game just 6-19 from the charity stripe.
“That didn’t help us any,” Smith
said.
MCC held a 43-28 lead at
halftime, and Janowiak scored 10 in the third quarter as the Sabers
pushed their lead up to 20, and also got others into the act.
Owens finished the game with six
points, Vince Modjeski and Nathan Miller scored four apiece, while
Nathan Perry and Chris Ludwig each had two.
Onekama never got any closer than
14 points down the stretch, as MCC settled the score after losing to the
Portagers in their own gym four weeks ago.
But, there’s another chapter to
the story, as the two teams will meet up in a Class D district
quarterfinal on March 9 at Buckley.
“It’s going to be interesting,”
Smith said.
For Edmondson, Thursday’s victory
was crucial heading into the postseason match-up.
“I think, psychologically, being
down 0-2 going into the district against Onekama isn’t good,” he said,
“1-1 is a lot better.
“They have some good players over
there. We won’t be looking past them by any means.”
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