By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com
MANISTEE – Both teams struggled to score in the first half, and it got only slightly better in the second, but in the end, Ludington boys basketball team managed to survive a scare from Manistee.
Ludington captured a 52-44 road victory.
Ludington snapped a three-game losing streak with the West Michigan Conference Lakes Division win, while Manistee saw an end to its two-game winning streak.
“Give Manistee and Zach (Bialik, the Mariners’ coach) a lot of credit,” Ludington coach Thad Shank said. “From watching them a few times before, I think they are as athletic a Manistee team as they’ve had for a few years.
“They have some size, which gives us a little bit of problems. It was hard to score the ball tonight, and we’re just excited to get out of here victorious.”
Manistee proved exceedingly pesky throughout the night, beginning with the first quarter when the Mariners kept it close and took a 7-5 lead on a 3-point bomb launched by Jacob Scharp.
But the Orioles quickly responded, as Spencer Holmes found the bottom of the net from medium range to bring the quarter to a close with the two teams tied, 7-7.
Ludington couldn’t shake the Mariners in the second quarter, either. The Mariners enjoyed their first, and as it turned out, only lead of the game, 12-11 when Landin Sowa buried a 3-point shot.
The Orioles never led by more than three points the rest of the half before Cameron Gunsell hit a shot just before the buzzer to give Ludington a 19-15 halftime edge.
“We’ve got some experienced seniors on this team,” Shank remarked. “We’re not a very big team, but I think we’re a pretty savvy team and have very good guard and perimeter play.
“That’s a blessing to have. You saw in moments tonight when we really needed a bucket, even though we struggled shooting the ball like we did, we got one. I thought the guys did a good job early in that fourth quarter. We switched up our full-court pressure and got a couple steals, and got a couple easy buckets. It gave us enough of a lead to withstand Manistee down the stretch.”
Ludington finally broke free of the Mariners late in the third quarter, going on a 6-0 run to spread the margin out to 11 points, 33-22 with 2:28 left.
The Orioles’ lead reached its peak at 13 points, 37-24 on a bucket by Holmes.
But the Mariners refused to quit, coming back to cut the margin to seven, 39-32 at the quarter break. Kaden Kott splashed a triple followed by another from Tramel Caviness to lead the charge.
“I thought we played well,” Bialik said. “I think we did a pretty good job on Shillinger. He ended up with 15, and I think five of them were in the fourth quarter. David didn’t make three all night. So, from a defensive standpoint we did a good job. We go into lulls where we don’t make their intensity and match their points.
“But, we did a good job today getting the ball into the post. Mason (Gunnett) had a couple nice buckets in the second half down in the post. Overall, we did a good job.”
Manistee could get no closer than six points in the fourth quarter.
Holmes and Shillinger led the Orioles with 15 points apiece, and Gunsell added eight.
Gunnett was the Mariners’ leading scorer with 11, Caviness contributed nine and Jacob Scharp tossed in eight.
The Orioles improved to 7-4 on the season and lifted their conference record to 4-1. Ludington is next scheduled to see action next Tuesday at Orchard View.
Manistee is now 6-5 overall and 1-4 in the WMC Lakes. The Mariners are at Montague next Tuesday for another division contest.
