Portagers put scare in No. 8 Panthers

ONEKAMA — The Onekama boys basketball team gave Class D No. 8 Frankfort a scare Tuesday night, but ultimately fell short, 65-60.

The Panthers (13-1) led the Portagers (9-5) by 18 points at halftime at 39-21. Onekama rallied to pull within single digits late, but couldn’t completely close the gap.

“If we had just a couple more drop, it could have been a sweet upset,” said Onekama coach Jim Hunter. “I’m very proud of the kids for digging out of an 18-point hole.”

Quinn Matthews led Onekama with 21 points and four steals, Bryce Reckow had 14 points, six assists and four steals while Wyatt Szpliet had nine rebounds.

Hunter said it was the first time the Portagers faced really tough man-to-man pressure and his players responded, but had to dig out of a big hole.

“We showed we could play with them,” he said. “Had we had that discipline throughout the whole game, I would have liked to see how it would have turned out.”

Frankfort made six straight free throws late to close out the win. Onekama returns to play in the West Michigan D League tonight at Baldwin.

“I was really pleasantly pleased with how hard the kids continued to work the whole second half,” Hunter said. “Hopefully now that carries over and the kids have the confidence (tonight) because we’re going to see that tight, man-to-man coverage.”

Posted by Manistee News Advocate Feb. 12, 2013