Morrison, Ball lead Spring Lake over Traverse City West in overtime

 

GRAND HAVEN–It took a little bit for the Spring Lake Lakers boys basketball team to shake off some rust on Thursday night.

 

Coach Bill Core’s team did find some offensive flow and rallied for a 64-62 overtime victory over the Traverse City West Titans. The game was part of the Lake Michigan Cup tournament being played at Grand Haven High School.

 

“It was, by far, our worst half of the year in that first half,” Core said. “We did a much better job in the second half. We were lucky to only be down six (at the half.).”

 

The Lakers and Titans struggled in the opening quarter and played to 9-9 tie.

 

TC West held a 17-11 scoring advantage in the second quarter and headed into the half with a 26-20 lead.

 

Early in the third quarter, the Titans went up 31-22 and Core decided to clear his bench as he was looking for answers on the defensive end.

 

“We didn’t come out and get off to a good start in the third quarter so we brought in five new guys and they got a little momentum and we were able to grind it back or grind it out and get it to overtime,” Core said.

 

Spring Lake went on to outscore TC West 15-14 in the quarter and went into the fourth quarter trailing 40-35. The Lakers finally were able to tie things up at 47-47 with 1:20 left in regulation a 3-pointer by Eli Morrison.

 

The two teams traded buckets down the stretch and went into the overtime period tied at 49-49.

 

Spring Lake held a slim 15-13 scoring advantage in the 4-minute overtime to squeeze out the win.

 

“We played a little better in the second half and overtime … knocked a little rust off,” said Core.

 

Morrison led the Lakers’ offense attack with a team-high 17 points, including two 3-pointers. Carter Bell tossed in 16 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. Zane Stahl recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

 

Spring Lake went 12-of 17 from the free-throw line.

 

Traverse City West was led by Ben Habers with 17 points. Lincoln Lockhart tossed in 16 points while Ben Carlson chipped in 13.

 

The Lakers (3-1) return to action Saturday against the undefeated Ludington Orioles (6-0) at 4 p.m. at Grand Haven.

 

Spring lake struggled with the Titans press-breaker throughout the game.

 

“I just told the guys if we don’t break the press any better tomorrow against Ludington, they’ll score 100,” Core said. “Ludington’s pressure is just relentless. I’ve got a lot of respect for (Ludington coach) Thad Shank. He’s one of my closest friends in the coaching fraternity.”