Bobcats rally late past Portagers

Posted by Matt Wenzel,  sports editor
Manistee News Advocate. December 15, 2011

ONEKAMA — By the time Brethren came out of the locker room at halftime, there was less than 30 seconds on the clock before the start of the third quarter. “We don’t need time to warm up and shoot,” said Brethren coach Travis Walker. “We won’t make it anyway.”

Although the Bobcats didn’t manage much offense in the first half, they got enough scoring when it counted as they erased a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter for a 60-56 West Michigan D League win at Onekama on Thursday night.

“For a young team, to show that kind of toughness and that kind of mental toughness to stick it out and not give up is a really good thing,” Walker said. “But, that’s something I definitely expect from this group. The way they go in practice, the way they work, that’s one thing that is not going to beat us, is our work ethic.”

Onekama (0-2, 0-2 WMD) led by as many as 16 points early in the third quarter, but was outscored 27-13 in the fourth as the Portagers dropped their home opener.

“We played desperate and so did they,” said Onekama coach Jim Hunter. “We were desperately hanging on, they were desperately charging up the hill, and they won.”

The Bobcats (2-1, 2-0 WMD) showed offensive balance as they finished with four scorers in double figures, led by Colton Podbilski with 16 points. Blaine Peck and John Cullar scored 11 apiece while Lucas Richardson had 10 points and 13 rebounds. “That kind of balance with a young team is really good to see,” Walker said. “It’s something we need.”

Quinn Matthews scored 17 points to lead Onekama, Drew Slevin had 13 points and Kyle Acker scored eight and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Onekama led 17-11 after the first quarter and 29-20 at halftime before going up 39-23 with 4:47 to play in the third. Brethren whittled the lead down to 10 at 43-33 heading into the fourth, then cranked up the pressure on defense.

Onekama committed 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter and 27 for the game.

“We just couldn’t handle the pressure at the end,” Hunter said, adding he would have liked to work the clock more. “We turned it over way too many times.”

The Portagers led 51-44 with less than three minutes to play before Brethren responded with a 10-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Podbilski that gave the Bobcats their first lead since early in the first quarter.

“It wasn’t only that we were starting to make baskets in the fourth quarter,” Walker said, “we started boxing out, we started taking away their second-chance points. I think our pressure got to them.”

A drive to the basket by Matthews pulled Onekama within a point with 1:40 to play, but the Bobcats scored six straight and had the game wrapped up by the time Matthews drilled a long 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“They’re young and they’re inexperienced, some of them, and the pressure is on,” Hunter said of his players. “You have to have the composure and we’ll get there.”

For Brethren, which returned just one starter from last season, Thursday’s opener on the road was a confidence builder.

“It’s the first road game, so it’s always nice to get a win, especially against a county rival like this,” Dylan Richardson said. “It’s big, especially since we were down … and came back.”

Although it wasn’t a pretty offensive display for the Bobcats early, not every game will be. Walker, however, said he’s sure of one quality his team will display.

“Shots aren’t dropping, we’re not covering our assignments defensively, we’re not boxing out like we’re supposed to, but in the three games we’ve seen out of these guys so far, the effort is there,” he said. “Like tonight, that’s going to win us some ballgames, hopefully.”

The Onekama junior varsity team beat Brethren 29-27 on Thursday night. Logan Fogarty led the Portagers (2-0) with nine points while James Connolly had eight for the Bobcats (2-1).