<-Onekama’s Austin Barnett
   elevates for a shot in the lane.

 

Onekama’s Cody Graf scores
during the second quarter of Monday’s win against Grand Traverse Academy. ->

 

 Photos by Matt Wenzel
News Advocate)

Portagers roll past Mustangs

by Matt Wenzel, Manistee News Advocate

ONEKAMA — Wins have been hard to come by for Onekama this season, but Monday’s was never really in doubt.

The Portagers dominated from start to finish en route to a 68-28 win against Grand Traverse Academy.

It was the first non-league victory for the Portagers (3-13), who won for the second time in the last 12 games.

“It was nice to just get a win,” said Onekama coach Jim Hunter. “It’s been a long time coming.”

Quinn Matthews led the Portagers with 14 points and five assists, Joe Eno scored nine to go with seven rebounds, Derek Hobart scored nine while Austin Barnett and Kyle Acker had eight apiece.

“It feels good to get at least one more win, get some other kids in and get them some practice,” Matthews said. “We had a lot of teamwork, passing and stuff like that.”

Ten different players scored for Onekama, which played its starters sparingly.

“I thought our starters did what they needed to do,” Hunter said. “In a game like this where you’ve obviously got a little bit more experience and whatnot on the floor, take advantage of it.”
Onekama led 14-6 after the first quarter, then turned it up in the second and outscored the Mustangs (5-8) 23-8 for a 37-14 lead at halftime. The Portagers used a full-court press that was effective and pushed the ball on missed shots and turnovers for transition baskets.

“We hurt them with the press and got things opened up early and didn’t have to press anymore,” Hunter said. “I thought the kids ran the break real well.”

The also shared the ball with plenty of unselfish plays and extra passes.

“That’s good to see,” Hunter said. “It’s nice, rather than somebody just trying to pad their stats. I think they understand that part of it. That really hasn’t been an issue all year.”

Onekama dominated the third quarter as well and when Curtis McKenney scored to open the fourth, the Portagers held a 40-point lead at 60-20, inducing a running clock the rest of the way. The Portagers spent the fourth quarter walking the ball up the floor and settling into a half-court offense the rest of the way.

Monday’s game was the final outside the West Michigan D League for the Portagers, who will host Pentwater and Manistee Catholic Central before closing the regular season at Crossroads Charter Academy.

“There’s some things we didn’t do tonight that we had been doing for a while and it was good to see us eliminate a couple things,” Hunter said. “We’ve got to be able to do it when the pressure is on, too, and we’ll see how that goes.”

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