LocalSportsJournal.com
PENTWATER — Rivalry games can be unpredictable, and sometimes surprising, which is what happened Friday night when Pentwater hosted Walkerville in the West Michigan D League tipoff for both squads.
It came down to the wire, with the Falcons pulling out a spine-tingling 22-21 victory over the Wildcats.
“Both teams know everything about each other, and it usually results in a battle each time we meet,” said Pentwater head coach Joe Gorton.
“We came out strong in the first quarter, and I thought we might be able to put it to bed early, but I had two starters pick up some foul trouble.”
Fortunately for the Falcons, they had two key bench players step up with some contributions from the younger players as well. All of them played some great minutes according to Gorton.
Like Gorton said, the Falcons started fast, outscoring the Wildcats, 12-5 in the first period. Then scoring fell off, with the Falcons holding serve, 14-11 at the half. Pentwater led, 15-13 after three.
Pentwater was led by Mackenna Hasil with 11 points.
“Hasil played incredibly solid in the first half for us,” Gorton added. “She was the only one who was able to find the bottom of the net early.
“Walkerville adjusted a bit in the second half, and that forced some other girls to step up.”
Charlie Swanger and Audrey Kieda contributed six rebounds apiece for the Falcons. Jocelyn Richison, who picked up three fouls in the first quarter, had five steals and Madelyn Green had four.
Taylor Carr paced the Wildcats with 10 points, while Heather Rodriguez contributed seven.
Pentwater (1-1, 1-0 WMD) resumes action on Monday night when it travels to Marion for another league contest.
Walkerville (0-2, 0-1 WMD) next plays at Marion in another league contest on Wednesday night.
