By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com
MUSKEGON — Longtime Ludington boys basketball coach Thad Shank hit a milestone Thursday night when the Orioles turned back a pesky Oakridge squad, 65-53.
For Shank, it was his 400th career coaching victory.
Ludington Coach Thad Schank. Photo/Leo Valdez
But, typically, he defers all the credit to the players he’s had at Ludington over the years. In fact, he said he doesn’t keep track of what his personal total was, and instead focuses on the team.
“Guess other people keep track of that better than I do,” Shank said. “But, that’s what they say (that he has 400 wins).
“I just feel blessed that I’ve been able to coach in Ludington. I think we’ve had a lot of good players over the years and we’ve had lots of good coaches who have volunteered their time,” Shank said. “They all make this program what it is. I just feel blessed that I’ve had the opportunity to coach here for as long as I have. That’s about it.”
Shank certainly had no time to think about the milestone because the Eagles made things mighty sticky for the Orioles.
Oakridge kept pace with the Orioles in a first quarter marked by defensive heat from both teams, and neither could gain the upper hand. The score was knotted at 12-all at the buzzer.
Ludington’s Daniel Ramirez (24). Photo/Leo Valdez.
It was the same story in the second quarter as the crowd was treated to some intense basketball. The teams went back and forth for the full eight minutes. But the Eagles were finally able to have the last word and finished the second with a tight 14-12 edge, which sent them into the half with a slim 26-24 lead.
Ludington exploded in the third quarter, outscoring the Eagles 28-12 with David Shillinger scoring 21 in the third quarter. The Orioles stretched their lead to 18, 54-36 going into the fourth.
“Ludington is a community that takes a lot of pride in their basketball, so there’s a lot of young boys and girls who grow up playing the game … and you win with players,” Shank said. “It’s a great environment to be a coach in.”
Shillinger ended the night with a game-high 25 points, while Cameron Gunsell scored a career-high 18 and Daniel Ramirez contributed nine.
Peyton Ruel led the Eagles with 17 points. Evan Miller and Evan Jozsa had 10 apiece.
The Orioles upped their record to 10-5 overall and 6-1 in the conference. Ludington travels to Petoskey for a non-conference game Saturday.
Oakridge fell to 12-6 overall, 5-4 in the conference. The Eagles have another conference game Tuesday at home against Fremont.
