By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com
PENTWATER — Despite the poor weather conditions and frigid temperatures that forced other schools to cancel their games, Pentwater tipped off as planned against Mason County Eastern for its homecoming girls’ basketball game Tuesday night.
The Falcons cruised to a 53-31 win in the West Michigan D League.
“I was worried some of the rust we had in our last game might hang around because we had not been able to practice since our last game,” Pentwater coach Joe Gorton said. “While we did miss a decent amount of bunnies, especially in the early going, we found our stride towards the end of the first quarter.”
Those early failures on offense were offset by a solid defensive effort that limited the Cardinals to just a field goal in the first quarter which enabled the Falcons to take a 10-2 lead.
Pentwater broke loose for an 18-8 second quarter, with Aubrie Adams scoring 10, including making a 3-pointer to lead the Falcons as they opened a 28-10 halftime lead.
Eastern scored more evenly with the Falcons in the third period, but still were on the short end of a 14-12 total and Pentwater carried a 42-22 lead into the final stanza.
Adams paced the Falcons with a game-high 19 points and Charlie Swanger contributed 10. All but one Falcon got their name in the scorebook.
“We were able to get our press working for the first time this season, and it really allowed us to get out and run in transition,” said Gorton. “Our posts worked their tails off as well tonight, but didn’t get much of the glory. MCE packed the paint with bodies, so it was up to our perimeter shooting to get it done tonight, and thankfully, they were ready.”
Sam Schaefer battled foul trouble throughout the first half, but still led the Falcons with nine rebounds. Eighth grader Karina Olivarez provided a spark off the bench with five points, assisting on five baskets and grabbing four steals.
Brailyn Johnson was the Cardinals’ high scorer with 13 points and Kennady Crawford added nine.
Pentwater improved its record to 4-2 overall and 3-2 in the WMD. The Falcons are off the rest of the week and then has three games next week, starting with Algoma Christian at home on Monday.
