LocalSportsJournal.com
MANISTEE — The Manistee girls’ basketball team made a valiant comeback effort on Tuesday night in a 47-41 loss to the Reed City Coyotes.
The Coyotes led by 10 points in the second half before Manistee cut the lead to just three points. The Chippewas couldn’t get any closer and Coyotes made enough free throws to pull out a close win.
Manistee went 1-of-5 from the free-throw line. Reed City hit 12-of-23 free throws and 6-of-11 in the final eight minutes.
“It was a great comeback effort,” said Manistee head coach Kenn Kott. “The girls put a lot of effort into fighting back. We can learn a lot from this game.”
The Chippewas trailed, 16-8, at the end of the first quarter and trailed 25-16 at the half.
Scoring was close in the third quarter, but the Chippewas couldn’t gain any ground on the Coyotes and headed into the fourth quarter behind, 35-25.
Libby McCarthy paced the Chippewas with a double double, scoring 23 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Lacey Zimmerman chipped in six and Allison Kelley had five.
Molly Bowman led Reed City with 16 points. Joining her in double digits was Morgan Hammond with 13 points.
“We started off the game strong,” said Reed City coach Tim Beilfuss. “We forced turnovers with our press and that created easy points in the first quarter. Give Manistee credit, they never quit and made us earn the win in the fourth quarter.”
Manistee (7-8, 4-5) hosts Whitehall on Thursday night.
