By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com
PENTWATER — Mesick came in owning an eight-game winning streak over the Pentwater girls basketball team, but the Falcons ended that drought Wednesday night with a stunning 53-36 victory at home.
Despite a snow day that kept the players at home and out of their usual routine, the Falcons had what Coach Joe Gorton described as their strongest game of the season.
The win kept the Falcons within reach of attaining a championship in the West Michigan D League, but with several challenges still head.
Aubrie Adams was the catalyst for the Falcons, enjoying her biggest night of her young career, firing in 24 points and giving the Bulldogs fits on defense trying to stop her.
“Earlier this week, I told her that she had the capability to take over a game like Mesick’s (Kayla) McCoy, and she really responded,” said Gorton. “The rest of the crew chipped in and really helped us have a solid night offensively. We shot well (35 percent), and really got on the boards (ending with 50 rebounds).”
It was a rocky start, however.
McCoy was red hot from the outside and she helped the Bulldogs sprint to an 18-11 lead at one point.
Pentwater made the switch to man-to-man on defense and it sparked the Falcons like jumper cables on a car battery on both ends of the floor.
From that point on, the Falcons played strong defensively and throttled the Bulldogs offense as well as creating opportunities with turnovers.
“My eighth grader, Karina Olivarez, had some amazing minutes guarding McCoy, and Sam (Wanger) kept her working hard the rest of the game,” added Gorton. “It really was a team effort defensively. I really want to shout out everyone tonight. All the role players went out and did everything they were asked to do.
“Lauren and Mandi Davis played a ton of minutes with our other post player on vacation. They stepped up and controlled the paint all night.”
After the Falcons trailed Mesick 15-11 at the end of the first quarter, they took control, outscoring the Bulldogs 14-2 in the second and rolled into the half with a 25-17 lead.
The Falcons had a 13-10 advantage in the third and started the fourth period with a 38-27 lead and then finished with a flourish, outscoring the Bulldogs 15-4 in the final period.
Adams finished the night with five 3-pointers. Swanger also had a nice night with 14 points.
McCoy had a game-high 28 points for the Bulldogs, knocking down four 3-pointers. But only three other Bulldogs scored, and only one had more than four points.
Pentwater is now 5-2 overall and 4-2 in the league. The Falcons travel to Baldwin for another important league game Friday.
