LocalSportsJournal.com

GRAND RAPIDS–The North Muskegon boys basketball team got off to a slow start on Tuesday night.

That left the Norsemen trying to play catchup the remainder of the night. In the end, West Michigan Aviation Academy had a 63-55 victory over the visiting Norsemen in non-conference action.

The Aviators jumped out to a 18-6 lead after the first eight minutes. The Norse got back in the game by outscoring the host team 17-8 during the second stanza and went into the halftime intermission trailing, 26-23.

The Aviators racked up a 23-18 scoring edge during the third period. Both teams put up 14 points each in the fourth quarter.

“We did not show up in the first quarter,” said North Muskegon coach Chuck Rypstra. “We played back on our heels and just didn’t put up much fight.  The rest of the game was spent trying to make up for that. We got close a number of times the rest of the way, but they always seemed to have a timely play that kept it just out of reach. We will learn from it and be better prepared next time to compete throughout.”
 
Lamarkis Graham led North Muskegon with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Troy McManus tossed in 15 points, dished out seven assists and had three steals. Sam Gallo scored 12 points and hauled down nine rebounds.
 
The Aviators were led by Luke Riebel with 22 points and Joseph May with 16 points.
 
North Muskegon (12-3, 5-2) will host Hesperia on Thursday.