LocalSportsJournal.com
MUSKEGON — The Oakridge boys’ basketball team set the tone early, and rode a big lead all the way to a convincing 53-36 West Michigan Conference Lakes Division win over Manistee at home Friday night.
It was the Eagles’ fifth straight win.
The Eagles blew the Mariners off the floor in the first quarter with a 23-5 lead. Scoring was a little tighter in the second quarter, but the Eagles still had an 11-8 advantage and led 34-13 at the half.
Although the Mariners switched up its defense in the second half and successfully took the Eagles out of their game, they didn’t produce enough of an increase in offense. Manistee did outscore Oakridge in the third quarter, 15-7 but couldn’t climb any closer to the Eagles, still trailing by a big margin at 41-28.
Oakridge finished with a 12-8 advantage in the fourth period.
“I feel we were a little tired in the second half, playing (our) third game of this week,” said Oakridge head coach Tracy Ruel.
Evan Jozsa scored a game-high 25 points and hauled down eight rebounds to lead Oakridge. Peyton Ruel added 11 points and dished out seven assists, and Bryson Stephenson chipped in with six points.
Landyn Sowa led the Mariners with nine points, while Mason Gunnett added seven.
Oakridge moved to 5-0 on the season, 2-0 in the conference and travels to Hart for a non-conference game on Monday. Manistee fell to 3-2 with its second straight loss and is 1-1 in the conference. The Mariners host Frankfort Monday in non-league action.
