Portagers pull away from rival Bobcats

Posted by Dylan Savela, Manistee News Advocate

ONEKAMA — Ten points separated county rivals Onekama and Brethren on Thursday night, but the difference was a little less tangible for Travis Walker.

“I know we shot a low percentage, but tonight I don’t think that’s what cost us,” the Bobcats coach said of his team’s 51-41 defeat at the hands of the Portagers. “One of our keys to winning basketball games every single night is to win the hustle points, and we got cleaned up on those tonight.

“Onekama wanted it more than us,” he added, “and I think it simply came down to that.”

After the teams battled point for point in the first quarter, the Portagers closed the half on a 12-4 run for a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

The win moved Onekama to 2-0 on the season as well as the West Michigan D League, as Derek Hobart led the way with 17 points, including five first-half 3s, and eight rebounds.

Bryce Reckow scored 11 points with six rebounds, five assists, and three steals while Quinn Matthews scored 10 with five assists.

On Tuesday, the Portagers dropped 52 in the first half alone in their season-opening win over Mason County Eastern, but the tone Thursday night was different from the start.

“(Walker) always gets his kids to play hard,” Onekama coach Jim Hunter said, “and we knew that coming in.

“We couldn’t separate from them,” he added. “Even when it looked like we might, we didn’t.

“I give my guys credit for running hard the whole game, and I think the kids’ conditioning paid off for them.”

After a 10-10 tie in the first, and just a 19-18 lead halfway through the second, the Portagers found their stroke heading into halftime.

Hobart sunk four triples in the second frame, and Matthews scored six of his team’s final 12 points as they built a 31-22 advantage by the break.

Brethren (1-3, 1-1 WMD), which had a depleted lineup to begin with, fell into early foul trouble that eventually took its toll.

“They had third and fourth opportunities tonight and that’s part of the foul trouble we got in,” Walker said. “It’s those third, fourth shots and possessions. We had two, three starters in foul trouble partly because of that, and we can’t put ourselves in that position.”

Colton Podbilski led the Bobcats with 12 points while James Connolly added 10, and Lucas Richardson scored nine.

An ugly third saw just 14 total points scored between the two teams, with plenty of turnovers to go around. Onekama won the quarter by a bucket, and took a 39-28 lead into the final frame.

Brethren cut the gap to seven quickly in the fourth by scoring the first pair of buckets, but Onekama answered with an 8-1 run.

Brethren outscored Onekama 8-4 in the final three minutes, but was unable to get over the hump.

“We had four, five inches on most of their guys at any given time, but they got to loose balls, and outrebounded us in the second half,” Walker said. “On a night like that, when shots aren’t falling, you have got to do those little things,” he added. “You’ve got to take away the penetration, you’ve got to get that rebound, you’ve got to limit those second chance shots. We didn’t, and they wanted it.”

The Portagers may have wanted it, but Hunter wasn’t happy with the way they protected their lead.

“Our basketball IQ has got to get a lot better,” he said. “I give my guys credit, because they regrouped, but we’ve got to make better choices.

“You want to learn some lessons, and the good ones sting a little bit. But it’s awful nice when you can learn and win at the same time.”

Brethren’s junior varsity team came back from 12 down with four minutes left Thursday night to top Onekama 40-38. The Bobcats’ Michael Pettinato led all scorers with 20 points while Onekama’s Randy Pienta and Jon Eno each had 12.

Posted by Dylan Savela, Manistee News Advocate on-line