Pentwater falls to Manistee Catholic Central

MANISTEE — Pentwater came into the game looking for its first two-game winning streak of the season and certainly had a shot at it

The Falcons had a five-point lead near the midpoint of the third quarter, but couldn’t hang on and fell 40-33 to Manistee Catholic on Thursday night. 

The Falcons trailed by two after three quarters and struggled to score just five points in the fourth quarter.

The two West Michigan D League rivals engaged in a crowd-pleasing game that featured a number of lead changes in the first half and a lot of hustle by both teams.

“We played probably our most fundamentally sound game, with control on offense and our defense was sound,” said Pentwater coach Ashley Lubera. “We just went cold shooting in the second half. You can’t win a game scoring eight and five in two quarters. We were getting our shots up, but shooting 20 percent hurt us. I have no issue with how we played and how they played tonight.

“They stepped up and we stepped up. We had each other guessing the whole game. It was a fun basketball game. It was clean.”

After the lead changed hands five times in the first quarter, Will Werkema-Grondsma was fouled on a 3-point shot attempt and knocked down all three free throws to give the Falcons a 10-8 edge.

But the Sabers came right back. Jackson StarChief scored the final three points of the quarter on a free throw and inside basket as Catholic finished with an 11-10 lead.

The Sabers hit a quick 5-0 burst to open the second quarter. Matthew Gunia returned an offensive rebound to the basket and Ryker Capling buried a 3-point shot for a 16-12 lead.

Werkema-Grondsma pulled the Falcons into an 18-all tie at the 1:55 mark of the second period with back-to-back baskets and James Davis scored to send the Falcons into the half with a 20-18 lead.

Pentwater opened up a five-point lead, 25-20 with 4:33 remaining in the third on a 3-point basket by Davis. But the Sabers tied it, 28-all at the 2:01 mark on a 3-pointer and then hit another bucket for a 30-28 lead going into the fourth.

The Sabers built a five-point lead of their own, 36-31 with 3:01 to play in regulation. Carlson scored on a putback to cut the deficit to three, 36-33. The Falcons came no closer.

Werkema-Grondsma led all scorers with 13 points, 10 rebounds and two assists for the Falcons, while Carlson and Davis contributed seven points apiece.