By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com
MANISTEE — Things are only going to get tougher for the Manistee boys basketball team, especially when the Mariners begin conference play.
But the Mariners tipped the season off with a convincing 56-24 non-conference victory over Onekama in a game played in Manistee Monday night.
With some solid shooting, including a 7-for-23 from behind the 3-point line, the Mariners were able to overcome some early troubles in the first half.
“It was a rocky road there in the first half,” said Manistee head coach Zach Bialik. “First game of the season, in front of a crowd … I think there’s always some jitters. We knew it was going to be a little bumpy on opening night. But, I was very happy with how the boys responded to a little adversity in the first half and really played their butts off in the second half.”
A pleasant surprise for the coaches and fans was the performance of sophomore Landyn Sowa, who was on the junior varsity last year. Sowa finished as the Mariners’ leading scorer with 18 points, making 3-of-7 shots from 3-point distance and coming away with eight rebounds and four steals.
Manistee’s slow start resulted in the Mariners scoring just five points in the first quarter, but they were only outscored by two as Onekama had seven.
The Mariners gradually began to heat up in the second quarter, coming away with a 10-6 scoring edge which gave them a narrow 15-13 halftime lead.
The second half was considerably better, and more to Bialik’s liking as the Mariners outscored the Portagers, 21-8 in the third quarter to go into the fourth with a more substantial 36-21 advantage.
Manistee allowed the Portagers just three points in the fourth quarter while scoring 20 to pull away.
Tramel Caviness also was in double-figure scoring for the Mariners, notching 13 points and he also had eight rebounds. Grayson Prince followed with six and Chaos Johns added five. Mason Gunnett had eight rebounds.
Next up for the Mariners is a non-conference game Tuesday night at Mason County Central.
