LocalSportsJournal.com
MUSKEGON–With an impressive 33 point career night, Western Michigan Christian’s Owen Varnado helped carry the Warriors to a 60-41 victory over Muskegon Catholic Central in front of their home crowd on Friday evening.
The Warriors got out to an early lead behind some sharp shooting around the perimeter going up 24-14 after the first quarter of play.
Continuing to capitalize on the lax Crusader’s defense the Warriors kept attacking the basket increasing their lead to 42-24 at halftime.
It was the early momentum that really helped swing the game into the Warriors favor.
“Tonight we were able to push the ball up the floor in transition really well early in the game,” said Coach Kurt Gruppen. “This allowed us to get some easy looks at the basket and gain some confidence.”
With a couple halftime adjustments the Crusaders managed to make things tougher on Varnado and limit the team’s shooting going on their own short lived scoring run of 11-5 in the third quarter, however still trailed the Warriors 47-35.
WMC dug in again and opened up their scoring to put the finishing touches on the game and seal the win.
On top of the plethora of points Varnado scored for the Warriors he also pulled down seven rebounds. Jaren Olsen chipped in with 10 points for the Warriors.
Jaden Johnson recorded a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Crusaders while Braden Gustin threw in 11 points and dished out five assists.
Western Michigan Christian improves to 2-5 overall and 1-2in Lakes 8 Activities Conference action. The Warriors will host Manistee on Monday evening.
Muskegon Catholic Central falls to 1-6 on the season and 1-2 in the conference and is set to host Hesperia on Tuesday.
Check out photos shot by Michael Banka.
