By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com

MANISTEE — It was all Manistee after the first quarter Tuesday night as the Chippewas broke away from a tie game and cruised to a 49-20 victory over Hesperia.
 
Things got a little sloppy early, with both teams fumbling the ball away a number of times, and the Panthers gained an early 4-2 advantage in the non-conference game at Manistee.
 
But the Chippewas managed to jump ahead of the Panthers, 5-4, late in the period. Hesperia outscored Manistee, 3-2 the rest of the way and the two teams went to their benches with a 7-all tie.
 
Hesperia scored only one point in the second quarter, and Manistee took command. Jacob Scharp’s 10 points helped open a 23-8 lead at the half. It was 38-12 at the end of the third.
 
“We still struggle shooting the ball,” said Manistee coach Zach Bialik. “We were 17-of-59, 4-of-23 from the 3-point line and 11-of-26 at the free throw line. A lot of points left out there. If we’re going to beat good teams down the road, that’s something we’ve got to get better at.”
 
Scharp finished the night with 12 points to lead Manistee, while Austen Halcome added 10 followed by Carter Fredericks and Mason Gunnett with seven apiece. Ethan Edmondson led the Chippewas with seven rebounds. Gunnett and Schlaff pulled down six apiece. Scharp had six steals, Kayden Kott and Gunnett had four each, Nick Hornkohl picked off three, Jeff Huber, Halcome and Luke Senters each nabbed two.
 
Ethan O’Neil and Gabe Gould scored five points apiece for the Panthers.

“I don’t think we realize how close we are if we shoot the ball halfway decent,” Bialik said. “We don’t need to be 50 percent, we need to be 35 percent, and we can be successful. We have to find some rhythm. We didn’t have much until the second quarter. Once we got going, we were okay.”  

Manistee (2-13) is back in action Thursday night for a West Michigan Conference Lakes Division game at Orchard View.
 
Hesperia (3-11) is at North Muskegon on Thursday night for a Rivers Division contest in the West Michigan Conference.