Panthers oust
Lakers in district semi
By MATT WENZEL
Manistee News Advocate Sports Editor
Published:
Thursday, March 3, 2011
ONEKAMA — Survival in the
postseason is dependent on minimizing mistakes while finding the
right mix.
However, the concoction Bear Lake cooked up spelled the Lakers’
demise with a 49-34 loss to Frankfort in a Class D district
semifinal on Wednesday at Onekama.
Bear Lake finished 7-for-20 from the free throw line, committed 20
turnovers and suffered through prolonged offensive slumps before
succumbing to the two-time defending district champions.
“When you miss 13 free throws and you lose by 15, that’s the
ballgame right there,” said Bear Lake coach Scott Brown. "That
says a lot in itself." Frankfort (12-19), which advanced to face
Manistee Catholic Central in Friday's district final, used
man-to-man pressure to keep the Lakers (15-7) off guard most of the
game.“That’s what we
rely on — we’re going to come at you and play man,” said Frankfort
coach Tim Reznich. “Most of the tapes I’ve watched of (the West
Michigan D League), I’ve seen a lot of zone, and I’ve seen some
great zones, but that doesn’t get them used to the pressure and we
kind of rely on that and count on that. That’s a big part of our
game and luckily this year I have enough quality bodies I can run at
them and keep fresh bodies on the court.”
Despite committing seven turnovers in the first quarter, the Lakers
held a 12-7 lead after the opening eight minutes, with Jaimey
Ferguson scoring all six of her points in the game.
Yumi Babinec and Emileigh Ferguson scored nine points apiece to lead
Bear Lake while Ferguson grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds. Sarah
Hilliard finished with six points while Tobi Schoedel and Briann
Bowling scored two apiece.
“We were a little complacent on movement against the man-to-man,”
Brown said. “You’ve really got to move when you play the man-to-man,
you’ve got to take the ball to the hole and dish off when the double
teams come to you and we lacked doing that a little bit tonight.”
While Bear Lake capitalized on its early chances, the Panthers
missed a lot of good looks in the paint.
“That’s probably my fault,” Reznich said. “In our pregame, I get
them going maybe a little too much, thinking about our whole season.
This is what we play for, this is what we start working for in June.
I think the nerves got to them a little bit and it took them a
little while to settle down.”
The Panthers did just that in the second quarter as they outscored
the Lakers 22-6 and took a 29-18 lead into halftime. Frankfort
junior Tami Banktson converted in the lane and scored seven in the
quarter en route to a game-high 19 points. Senior center Emily Gray
finished with 10 points.
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“The first quarter, quarter and a half, we played right with them,”
Brown said. “They started working the ball better inside to their
bigs and they started making good post moves. The big thing is they
worked the ball in there.”
In a span from late in the second
quarter to midway through the third, the Lakers missed seven straight
free throws and trailed by as many as 18 points.
“I think we just had an off night for free throws,” Babinec said. “We’ve
gotten better through the season. I’m surprised we didn’t make more free
throws tonight.”
Bear Lake’s Tobi Schoedel
(center) tries to hold onto the ball as Frankfort’s Tami Banktson
(right) swats at it during the second half of Wednesday’s Class D
district semifinal at Onekama. (Matt Wenzel/News Advocate)
Bear Lake also had trouble
getting open looks for Emileigh Ferguson, the freshman center who scored
24 points in a quarterfinal win against Onekama on Monday.
“We see a lot of really good big girls (in the Northwest Conference) and
she’s one, but Emily is used to playing girls like that and she knows
how to be physical and how to front and try to keep the ball out of
their hands,” Reznich said. “I’ve got to credit that with our schedule
there, getting used to it.”
Despite trailing by almost 20, the Lakers didn’t go away quietly. Bear
Lake scored the final four points of the third quarter and first five of
the fourth to pull within nine at 41-32 with 6:07 to play.
“We always seem to sneak back into the games. None of these girls ever
give up. I’m very proud of the girls,” Brown said. “I told them they have
nothing to be ashamed of. They played a good game. They had a great
season.”
Frankfort began working the clock late and put the Lakers away to earn a
shot at a third straight district title and seventh in eight seasons
while Bear Lake’s three seniors — Babinec, Schoedel and Hilliard —
checked out of the game to applause.
Her eyes still red from shedding tears, Babinec said the Lakers made
some mistakes that cost them, but a lack of effort certainly wasn’t one.
“We played our hardest so I’m not upset,” she said, before quickly
correcting herself. “I’m upset, but I’m not disappointed in our team.” |
