Portagers
fall short to Panthers
By DYLAN SAVELA, Manistee News
Advocate Sports Writer
Published: Tuesday, January 19, 2010
ONEKAMA — Onekama nearly doubled its
season average in points Monday night, but unfortunately for the
Portagers, a handful more needed to be scraped together to top Frankfort
as the Panthers held on to a 64-61 victory.
“That was the best we’ve played this season,” Onekama coach Roger Smith
said. “You can’t be happy with losing, but I saw a lot of improvement. I
thought these guys battled pretty hard.
“Our goal has been to just improve each game,” he added. “And I know
we’re still 1-5, but the truth is, we did improve tremendously and
that’s what we’re looking for.”
After trading buckets during the first quarter, Frankfort was able to
take a five-point lead at 15-10 into the second. The Portagers (1-5)
never overcame the deficit to take a lead, but stayed right with the
Panthers throughout.
“We still made a few mistakes,” Smith said,
“but we got a more balanced attack in scoring and we took care of the
ball better.”
Onekama’s Skyler Kimpel scored 14 points to lead the Portagers to go
along with a team-high nine rebounds while Joe Kosiboski had 12 points
and seven boards.
Also for the Portagers, Jake Matthews and Bryce Reckow scored nine
apiece, Thomas Koon had eight points and six assists, Matt Monroe scored
four, Ryan Pienta had three and Tanner Kott added two points and eight
rebounds.
Frankfort (3-5) took a 21-14 lead early in the second quarter by feeding
their sophomore center Brandon Miller who scored 13 first-half points en
route to leading all scorers with 19 to go along with a game-high 14
rebounds.
“I thought Miller played a real nice game inside tonight, especially
early in the first half,” said Frankfort coach Dave Jackson. “They
really didn’t seem to have an answer for him, so that was huge early
on.”
The Portagers made a push before halftime however, by closing the gap to
21-20 midway through the second before heading into the locker rooms
down by just two at 26-24.Frankfort
scored the second half’s first five points to extend their lead, but
Onekama responded with 7-0 run capped by a 3-pointer from Koon that
knotted the game at 31-31 with five minutes left in the third. |
Onekama’s Skyler Kimpel (54)
shoots over Frankfort defenders on Monday night. (Dylan Savela/News
Advocate)
Frankfort headed into the fourth quarter
up 45-39 and with five quick points in the opening minute, the Panthers
took the biggest lead of the night at 50-39.
Onekama slowly chipped away down the
stretch with the help of Reckow, as the Portager freshman scored nine
fourth-quarter points in his second varsity game.
The Portagers cut the Panther lead to four thrice in the final minute
and threatened with worse damage as Koon was fouled while taking a
3-pointer with 12 seconds left.
Koon knocked down the first but missed the back two, so the Portagers,
down 63-59, were forced to foul Frankfort’s Miller, who made one of his
two free throws.
The deficit was just out of reach as Pienta put in the game’s final
bucket at the buzzer, as the Portagers fell short.
“The kids are playing hard and I’m pleased with that,” Smith said in the
face of the loss. “That’s the most points we’ve scored all year. We
almost doubled our point output. I also thought we did a decent job on
the boards for not being very big.”
The Portagers junior varsity team dropped a tight contest to Frankfort,
53-49. Onekama’s Quinn Matthews scored 15 points while Cody Graf had 14
and Kyle Acker added 11. |
