By Craig Beilfuss
LocalSportsJournal.com

SPRING LAKE—The Spring Lake Lakers boys basketball team hit 11 3-point shots on Saturday afternoon and had a season high 73 points en route to a convincing 73-39 win over West Michigan Christian.

The Warriors connected on eight 3-point shots as well with five of those coming in the first minutes.

The Spring Lake defense held the Warriors’ 6’4” senior Owen Varnado to a season low six points, while Porter Saunders hit for a game high 21 point for the Lakers.

“I have tons of respect for Owen (Varnado),” said Spring Lake veteran head coach Bill Core.

“He’s a class kid and a class player. Tonight we just had to pick our poison and it was “0”,” said Core.

“Tonight we really hit the boards and we were able to get out and run. We swung the ball around and got some really good looks.”

It was a run and gun first quarter, with the Lakers and Warriors combining for nine 3-point shots, with WMC hitting five shots from long distance and Spring Lake nailed four 3-pointers.

The Lakers held a slim 19-17 lead after the first eight minutes of play.

Saunders and the Lakers put there feet on the offensive peddle over the second and third quarters of play outscoring the Warriors 42-13.

Spring Lake allowed the Warriors only a 3-pointer and one 2-point field goal in the second stanza while connecting for 21 points, with Saunders scoring 11 points and 15 for the half for the Lakers. Spring Lake went into the halftime break with a commanding 40-22 lead.

Spring Lake senior Porter Saunders goes up for two of his 21-points against WMC on Saturday afternoon (Photo Kelly Gates)

Spring Lake hit four more 3-point shots and racked up a 21-8 scoring advantage in the third quarter and increased the lead to 61-30 headed into the fourth quarter.

Spring Lake emptied their bench in the fourth quarter, which saw the Lakers hold a slim 12-9 scoring margin.

Joining Saunders in double figures for Spring Lake were junior Derrick Paggeot with 15 points and senior Kaden George with 14.

“Kaden is our guy,” Core said. “He’s very unselfish. Derek had a great game tonight.”

Senior Jackson Core nailed three 3-point shots for nine points and dished out five assists. Senior Sam VanderHeide contributed with six rebounds and three assists.

The Warrior offense was led by senior Sam Liggett who had a team high 17 points and junior Jared Olsen who finished with 11 points.

Spring Lake improves to 7-6 overall and is 4-4 in the OK Conference-Blue. The Lakes will face conference foe Allendale on Wednesday, February 9 at Allendale.

WMC falls to 3-8 overall and is 3-3 in the Lakes 8 Activities Conference. The Warriors will host Muskegon Oakridge on Tuesday, February 8.