Local Sports Journal

It was far from your typical Muskegon Heights Academy performance on the basketball floor on Monday night.

But in the end, the Tigers prevailed 58-44 and will take on Laingsburg on Wednesday night with a Class C regional crown at stake. Laingsburg defeated Calvin Christian 61-52 in Monday’s second game.

The Tigers surged to a 21-14 lead after one quarter, but seemed to be thwarted somewhat by Galesburg-Augusta’s patient offense.

So in the second quarter, the Tigers adopted the same strategy. After a Galesburg-Augusta bucket early in the quarter, the Tigers held the ball near midcourt for more than 7 minutes as the Galesburg defense refused to challenge the ball.

While Muskegon Heights was scoreless in the second quarter, it led 21-16 at the half.

The game returned to normalcy in the third and fourth quarters as the Tigers had a 37-28 scoring advantage.

Eddie Tornes led Muskegon  Heights Academy with 20 points, followed by Aaron Sydnor with 14 points and seven rebounds and Jeff Jordan with 13 points.

Kyle Mallwitz led Galesburg-Augusta with 14 points. He was one of three players in double figures.