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ONEKAMA — By DYLAN SAVELA,
Manistee News Advocate Sports Writer
Onekama’s 82-60 victory over Baldwin
Friday night was the first loss for the Panthers this season.
“I’m really proud of the way my
kids played,” said Onekama coach Roger Smith. “We kept our composure
and beat a real good team.”
The Portagers are tied with
Baldwin on top of the West Michigan D League standings, as both teams
now have a single loss.
Onekama senior Levi Capper led
the charge by scoring a game-high 26 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for
the Portagers.
Also producing for Onekama were Ryan
Miller with 16 points and 10 rebounds, Skyler Kimpel with 13 points,
Hunter Slade with 12, Adrian Norman had nine, Jake Matthews put in
three, Joe Kosiboski added two, and Cody Sievert had one.
Leading the way for Baldwin was
Dominic Kelly and Quinten Latimer with 19 and 18 points respectively.
Cory Cox provided 15 points for
the Panthers, Cregg Bolles had four, while Quincy Hawkins and Andrew
Jones put in two apiece.
Baldwin coach Scott Pedigo said
“Onekama just out played us.
“We’re going to get a whole lot
more out of a loss tonight than we would have if we won,” he added. “We
forgot how we got here. Practice has been a bit lazy because we got on a
roll this season.” |
The game proved to be fast-paced and
physical, just as one would expect when the top two teams in the league
meet mid-season. In the
first quarter, the Panthers showed Onekama why they had yet to be beaten
this season by putting up 20 points to the Portagers’ 12, including six
points apiece from Latimer, Kelly and Cox.
“We got off to a bad start. We
didn’t play with much intensity and it made me a little bit nervous,”
Rogers said, “I think our whole team was a little bit nervous, but then
we settled down and played a real strong second quarter. Then we played
pretty consistent for the rest of the game.”
The Portagers did play a strong
second quarter. With Capper leading the way with 11 points, the
Portagers were able to score 26 points in the second quarter and take
the lead from Baldwin and go into the locker rooms at half-time up
38-28.
“We wanted to take it to the
hoop,” Capper said, “that has been our strength, we got in there and got
fouls and got shots.”
Baldwin began to press in the
second half but the Portagers were ready for it. Capper said, “We
knew they like to press, so we ran our press break in practice all week.
It worked pretty well tonight.”
Onekama kept momentum throughout
the second half and was able to build on the lead up until the final
buzzer.
“We have to stay humble because
we have a lot of tough games ahead,” Rogers said, “we’ll just briefly
enjoy the moment.” |
