Capper’s Late Score Lifts
Portagers over Sabers, 60-58

Onekama Hands MCC Their
First League Defeat

By MATT WENZEL
Manistee News Advocate Sports Editor

Although the Portagers didn’t listen to their coach and it cost them, they got another chance, and didn’t fail.

After going scoreless in the first half while saddled with three fouls, Onekama’s Levi Capper watched as his teammates picked up the slack, then got into the act.  Capper sliced through the middle of the Sabers’ defense and laid the ball in off the glass with 2.6 seconds left for the winning basket in the Portagers’ 60-58 win over MCC on Monday night.

“I told him if he can take the ball to the basket — and he’s really good at that — then take it to the basket,” Smith said. “I thought the worst thing that could happen was him getting a free throw.”

“This is huge,” Capper said. “I don’t even know how to describe it. I think this is a turning point where we can start to play our best and showing other teams what we’re made of.”

Capper may have made the winning shot for Onekama, but the play of seniors Hunter Slade and Ryan Miller kept the Portagers in the game.

After managing just one point in a loss to MCE on Friday, Slade scored all 20 of his points in the first three quarters, while Miller had 17 points, seven rebounds and six blocks.

“I’ve been struggling with my shot,” Slade said. “This was a great game to come and get hot.”

Also for Onekama, Adrian Norman scored 10, Capper finished with six points and three steals, Joe Kosiboski had five points and six rebounds and Skyler Kimpel had two points and six rebounds.

MCC coach Dale Edmondson Jr., said he thought his team did a good job of limiting Capper, the Portagers’ leading scorer, but it simply wasn’t enough. “We need to get better on the defensive end and that’s something we’ve been talking about for a long time,” he said. “This is a game that Onekama wanted worse than we did.”

MCC senior Jordan Janowiak was the only Saber in double figures and finished with 18 points, six assists and four steals. Also for MCC, Nick Doyle had nine points and seven rebounds, Nick Niesen and Garrett Owens had eight apiece, Nathan Miller had six points, five rebounds and three steals, Vince Modjeski scored five and Chris Ludwig four.

“We had some easy shots that could have been made, but were missed,” Edmondson said. “That’s stuff we’ve talked about as a team that we need to focus better on. We did the same thing at Pentwater and the same thing at Frankfort.”

With five ties and three lead changes, the first quarter set the tone for the game, which finished with nine of each. MCC had three turnovers and a pair of missed shots in its first five possessions, while Slade scored Onekama’s first six points.

“I’m wondering if maybe we were a little too geeked up for the game at the beginning,” Edmondson said. “Because, we didn’t do very much right in the first four minutes.”

Manistee Catholic Central's Nick Doyle (25) tries to shoot over Onekama's Skyler Kimpel during the first half on Monday.

The first quarter ended tied at 13, and after MCC built a five-point lead early in the second, the Portagers rallied behind eight points from Miller to take a 31-26 lead.

With time running out, Smith asked his team to hold for the last shot, but after they missed with 12 seconds left, the Sabers went the other way and Niesen knocked down an open 3-pointer to pull within two at 31-29.

MCC started the third quarter red hot, knocking down its first seven shots for a 43-37 lead with 5:01 left.

“We had that three-minute run in the third quarter and that was it,” Edmondson said.

The Portagers responded and went on an 11-0 run and three free throws from Slade gave him 10 points for the quarter as Onekama took a 51-47 lead into the fourth.

“He hit some huge shots and really played well on defense,” Smith said of Slade. “That’s his best game by far this year.”

In a tentative fourth quarter for both teams, Onekama never relinquished its lead, although Owens knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:01 left to knot the score at 58. From there, Onekama held the ball for the last shot and Capper drove down the right side of the lane and scored over the converging MCC defense.

“We just wanted to take it to the hoop, whoever had the ball at nine or eight seconds — try to get fouled or make a layup,” Capper said.  The senior didn’t need any free throws to beat the Sabers, who after fumbling a change at a last-second shot, looked stunned following the final buzzer.

“I expected them to be pretty good, but I still thought we could come out and beat them,” Niesen said. “We had a really emotional game against Pentwater and I thought we could carry that emotion into here.”

Instead, most of the emotion after the game centered around the Portagers, who celebrated with their family, fans and classmates.

“We played four solid quarters, instead of two,” Smith said. “We didn’t have that big letdown. “We’ve got to enjoy this for the moment and get ready for Pentwater and Bear Lake.”

The Manistee Catholic Central junior varsity team beat Onekama, 51-32. Nathan Papes led MCC with 12 points, Alex Hogan had 11, while Nolan Gunia and Nick Kolanowski scored 10 apiece.

Jared Miller led the Portagers with 18 points while Ryan Pienta had eight.