Hot-Starting Portagers top rival Lakers
 

by DylanSavela, Manistee News Advocate
December 18, 2012

BEAR LAKE — In the waning minutes of a rivalry revisited, every point between Bear Lake and Onekama on Tuesday night seemed to be more important than the last.

But as it turned out, the first 15 — all scored by the Portagers — mattered most.

Onekama (3-0, 3-0 WMD) jumped ahead early, and despite the Lakers’ quick recovery, never trailed in a 68-61 West Michigan D League win.

“I’ve seen that come back to bite a lot of teams, where all of sudden it’s 15-0 and you’re feeling pretty good about yourself,” said Portagers coach Jim Hunter of the lead that turned to an 18-6 advantage after the first quarter. “But we knew they weren’t going to stay shut out like that; they were taking good shots that just didn’t fall, and what we were throwing up were going in.

“But I’m glad we had that to work with,” he added, “because that makes them work that much harder to get back into it.”

Bear Lake (2-1, 0-1 WMD) outscored Onekama in both the second and third quarters, and the teams played virtually even with each other in the fourth.

Onekama kept the Lakers at bay, however, with the help of two 20-point performances in the backcourt, in seniors Bryce Reckow and Quinn Matthews, while teammate Derek Hobart scored 12 and Joe Eno added eight.

Neither team did much damage in the first four minutes of the game, but Onekama turned a 5-0 advantage into 15-point cushion quickly within a span of two minutes. The Lakers finally got on the board with 1:09 left in the frame, but still trailed by 12 heading into the second.

“That’s a tough start,” said Lakers assistant coach Michael Cox, who was filling in for Garret Waller Tuesday night. “(Onekama) came out ready to play, and we just weren’t there at the beginning. That’s just no way to start the game.”

Bear Lake began to salvage what it could from the deficit, starting with a 20-point second quarter.

The Lakers’ Josh Metiva led the charge, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds with three blocks while Reilly Merrill also had a double-double with 11 points and 15 boards. Shane Peterson finished with 13 points, five rebounds, and three assists.

“There was no real big adjustments,” Cox said of his team’s quick turnaround from the first quarter. “We just had to do what we do. We got into the flow of the game finally, got back into it, but just couldn’t get over the hump.”

The Lakers’ scored the first seven points of the frame to cut the gap to five, but Onekama answered with five straight of its own.

Another seven-point run, including back-to-back Bear Lake triples, cut the Lakers’ deficit to four with 38 seconds before halftime, but Onekama again had an answer and scored five straight to close out the quarter for a 35-26 lead.

The teams went back and forth for most of the third until the Lakers went on a late 8-0 run that brought them within a possession of the Portagers at 48-45. But on a broken play, Hobart hit a backbreaking 3-point buzzer beater to give Onekama a 51-45 lead heading into the fourth.

Fouls began catching up to both sides in a chippy fourth, as three Lakers and two Portagers fouled out down the stretch.

Bear Lake got within four points with 1:44 remaining in regulation, and again within three after Nick Streeter knocked down a 3 with 45 seconds to go.

The Portagers, however, converted enough free throws down the stretch to hold on to its third victory in as many games.

“We did a little better job when it got down to crunch time, but we probably didn’t have to put ourselves in that situation either,” Hunter said. “We’ve still got to learn a little bit about patience … but it’s a win, and like I said before, life’s pretty good when you’re complaints come after wins.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve beaten these guys, so, it’s good for my kids. They’re pretty pumped about it.”

Onekama’s junior varsity team topped Bear Lake on Tuesday, 50-42. Jon Acton led the Portagers with 11 points while Jon Eno scored 10. Bear Lake’s Jordan Anderson scored a game-high 22 points.

DylanSavela, Manistee News Advocate on-line

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Article: DylanSavela, News Advocate on-line

   Varsity Roster 2012-2013
 #  Brandon Beckstein (11)
 # 10  Mitchel Clarke (11)
 # 21 Nick DeLeon (11)
 # 41 Joe Eno (12)
 # 04 Austin Greiner (12)
 # 11 Dallas Hearit (11)
 # 25 Derek Hobart (12)
 # 03 Quinn Matthews (12)
 # 23 Curtis McKenney (12)
 # 22 Bryce Reckow (12)
 # 32  John Schoedel (11)
 # 20  Justin Solis (11)
 # 33 Jarett Sovereign (10)
 # 12 Wyatt Szpliet (12)

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