Freshman Adams hits 3-pointer late, Pentwater slips by Bear Lake

PENTWATER — Only eight seconds were left on the clock in the fourth quarter when Pentwater girls basketball coach Joe Gorton called for a time out.

The Falcons had made a defensive stop with his team trailing Bear Lake, 27-26 at home Wednesday night.

Gorton turned to freshman Aubrie Adams, a junior varsity player up on the varsity because of the five-quarters rule and asked her about taking the last shot.

“She was really calm and said she could do it,” Gorton said. “So, that’s what we set up. I was just looking for some kind of spark.”

Adams provided it by taking a pass squared up and calmly hit a 3-point shot that gave the Falcons a stirring 29-27 win.

Bear Lake had one last chance to tie or win, but the Falcons played solid defense and preserved the narrow victory.

“We came out looking pretty solid defensively, but while we were holding Bear Lake down, we were unable to create anything offensively,” said Gorton. “Bear Lake ran a pretty compact zone defense, and we couldn’t hit the shots. We were able to consistently get open looks but couldn’t get the lid off the rim. It’s been a theme throughout the season.”

Pentwater’s offensive troubles were evident in the first half when the Falcons were outscored 7-6 in the first quarter and 7-1 in the second for a 14-7 halftime deficit.

Although the Falcons made some adjustments at halftime, they finished the third quarter being outscored 10-9 and trailed 24-16 going into the fourth.

But the Falcons didn’t quit and turned up the heat defensively to create some transition opportunities out of the defensive stops. That led to a 13-3 scoring run down the stretch.

Mackenna Hasil paced the Falcons with eight points and Samantha Schaefer added seven.

Jocelyn Richison finished the game with seven assists and six steals and played solid defense down the stretch. Hasil and freshman Charlie Swanger each had seven rebounds. Schaefer and Audrey Kieda had six rebounds apiece.