ONEKAMA — Without
a tangible figure in front of him, Onekama coach Nathan Bradford was
sure his team was outrebounded Wednesday night by a substantial
margin.
His hunch was correct.
Manistee Catholic Central dominated the Portagers on the boards,
ripping down 37 to Onekama’s 17, en route to a 50-31 West Michigan D
League victory, extending the Sabers’ undefeated start to the season
to six games.
“I’ve got to give MCC credit,” Bradford said. “They worked hard for
loose balls and I would bet they outrebounded us quite a bit. We
didn't rebound very well at all." The Sabers (6-0, 5-0 WMD) were
sparked by a 7-0 run to start the contest, which turned into a 16-7
advantage at the end of the first quarter. They never trailed.
And what helped
keep the Portagers at bay were the Sabers’ second chance points on
the offensive end, and the ability, defensively, to limit Onekama to
one-shot possessions.
“Scoring-wise, in the first quarter we were fine,” said Sabers coach
Todd Erickson. “But what we talked about over (holiday) break was
free throw shooting (MCC shot 13-of-19 from the line) and
rebounding. Those are the two key points we worked on, and tonight
it seemed to pay off.”
MCC’s Alex Barnett
led her team both on the boards with nine and in the scoring column
with a game-high 14. She also had four steals and three assists.
Onekama (3-2, 3-1 WMD) played even with the Sabers in the second
quarter, as senior Taylor Hagen sparked the Portagers with nine
points on a trio of 3-pointers, including one at the buzzer heading
into halftime. Hagen finished the night with a team-high 13 points
to go with three rebounds and a pair of blocks.
Jennica Mathieu
and Danielle Ward each scored six points for Onekama while Nicole
Slater had four and Lindsay Nesburg added two.
And though the Portagers held MCC to just five third-quarter points,
a fourth 3-pointer from Hagen was the only score Onekama could
muster before the final frame.
“We dug ourselves that little hole and then we were behind the rest
of the game,” Bradford said. “I think we came out a little flat and
then played flat all night.”
