LocalSportsJournal.com
The West Michigan Lake Hawks continued their hot hand on Saturday with a 151-81 win over Oakland County in their first round American Basketball Association playoff game at Reeths-Puffer High School.
West Michigan now advances to the ABA North Central Division Final Four, slated for March 14-15 at Muskegon High School. The winner of that tournament qualifies for the ABA regionals in Rhode Island.
Jacob Owens dishes out one of his 10 assists for West Michigan. Photo/Jason Goorman
The Lake Hawks hit the 150-plus point total for the second straight game.
The Lake Hawks used a big-second quarter spurt to roll past Oakland. Kulawnie Saunders and Ralph Monday helped turn a 32-25 first-quarter lead into a 79-45 edge at halftime. The pair both scored 11 points in the quarter with Saunders draining three 3-pointers.
“We’re guard heavy and can move the ball really well,” said West Michigan coach Ronald Jenkins. “It helped us to get our shooters open because that opened up the inside. We dominated in the paint tonight too.”
Ralph Monday rolls in two points for the Lake Hawks. Photo/Jason Goorman
Monday led the Lake Hawks with a triple-double – 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Saunders scored 18 points and had six assists and five steals for West Michigan, which had eight players score in double figures.
JJ Martin scored 20 points while Lou Williams had 19 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. Will Wright added 13 points and 10 rebounds and Paul Biurbridge scored 14 points. Idell Bell came off the bench to grab eight rebounds along with six assists and five steals. Jacob Owens had 10 assists for the Lake Hawks.
