Lakers move on to district final

By DYLAN SAVELA, Manistee News Advocate Sports Writer

Bear Lake’s 55-48 victory over Onekama in the Class D district semifinal, proved that the third time can be a charm, and anyone can come out on top during “March Madness.”

The Lakers (7-15) lost twice to the Portagers (13-10) this season and finished second-to-last in the West Michigan D League.

However, the Lakers will say that this past season is already last season.

Laker senior Chad Mallory had 12 points, five steals, and three assists. “We gave up on the league race a long time ago,” Mallory said. “We’ve been working on everything we needed to do to get ready for districts.”

Also scoring for the Lakers were Troy Rau and Jaron Llewellyn with eight points apiece, and Patrick Spalding added five. Spalding also dished out three assists and had five rebounds, while Rau grabbed five boards.

Onekama senior Levi Capper led his team with 21 points.

Also scoring for the Portagers were seniors Ryan Miller and Hunter Slade with eight points apiece, Adrian Norman had six, and Skyler Kimpel added five.

“My kids played hard tonight and I’m proud of them,” Onekama coach Roger Smith said. “We just didn’t make our shots when we needed to. Bear Lake’s got a good ball club. Bryan Groenwald does a great job with his kids. They played hard and deserved to win.”

In a game that had eight ties and five lead changes, Groenwald pointed out that turnovers made the difference. “They turned the ball over 16 times,” Groenwald said. “So that gives us the game right there. We talked about it all season —turnovers turn into points whether its us turning it over or them.”

Bear Lake had the upper hand in the first quarter by pulling away after the two squads were tied at five.

Despite nine points from Capper, Onekama couldn’t stop Bear Lake’s Llewellyn from scoring eight of his own first-quarter points including two 3-pointers, leading his team to an 18-13 advantage going into the second quarter.

But, the Lakers struggled to score for the next eight minutes, and watched as the Portagers took the lead and the momentum into halftime, 26-22.

The Lakers found scoring from their youngest starter in the third quarter. Brooks went for ten points in the quarter as the rivals battled through three ties and two lead changes.

“It was Weston’s game tonight,” Groenwald said. “And all the kids did a good job of finding him. The kids just did a fantastic job of finding what was working for them and sticking with it."

With a field goal in the last minute of the third, the Portagers still had the edge going into the final eight minutes. But, in the fourth, Mallory gave his team the spark they needed — twice. With five minutes to go Mallory hit a 3-point shot to knot the game up a final time at 43 all.

Onekama freshman Adrian Norman in the Class D district semifinal Wednesday night in Buckley. The Lakers won, 55-48, and will face host Buckley in the district final on Friday. (Dylan Savela/News Advocate)

And, after the Lakers took their final lead, 46-47, Mallory found space again to put the nail in the coffin with another shot beyond the arc with under two minutes to go.

Onekama didn’t recover.

Groenwald’s strategy going into the game was to run.

“They are bigger kids so you’ve got to push them up and down the floor by running,” Groenwald said. “Usually when a pressing team gets the lead, it’s in fourth quarter.”

Onekama loses five seniors — Hunter Slade, Levi Capper, Ryan Miller, Cody Sievert, and Lucas Porter.

“We had a really good year,” Capper said. “We always played really hard. Coach Smith really helped us out. He showed us a new style of basketball and got us playing harder than we’ve ever played.”

Smith said his seniors will be missed. “They are great kids and I wish I could have coached them earlier,” Smith said. “They are good kids, good students, and have good attitudes. They will be successful in whatever they do. I was a lucky man to have those kids.”

As for Bear Lake, the Lakers will have a shot at the district title Friday night against Buckley at 7 p.m. at Buckley High School.