By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com
HESPERIA — Still stinging from a 74-41 loss to Oakridge last Friday after a strong first half, the Manistee boys’ basketball team traveled to Hesperia on Monday looking for a win to inch closer to the .500 mark.
Throwing a press on the Panthers early on, the Mariners forced several turnovers and converted them into transition baskets en route to a convincing 68-36 non-conference win.
“I thought for being undersized we did a great job on the boards,” said Manistee coach Zach Bialik. “It was a good confidence builder for us going into a (West Michigan Conference Lakes Division) game on Thursday.
“After our hard first half Friday, I thought we had some things to build on, and also work on. We were able to do both tonight.”
Manistee took it to the Panthers in the first quarter, blowing open a 22-6 lead. The Mariners outscored the Panthers, 21-17, in the second period and had a 43-23 lead at the half.
It was 60-30 after three.
Manistee’s Kaden Kott exploded for 26 points, leading all scorers. He made 13-of-16 of his shots from the field. He added four assists and three steals. Sophomore Landin Sowa didn’t have a particularly good shooting night, but still scored 11 points and recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds. He also had three assists and three steals. Austen Halcome also scored 11 points and hauled down seven rebounds and had two assists.
Hesperia was led by Nicholas Guamieri with eight points and Bryce Billings and Ethan O’Neil with seven apiece. O’Neil hauled down six rebounds.
The Mariners climbed with one game of reaching .500 with an 8-9 record on the season, 1-7 in the West Michigan Conference Lakes Division. They host Orchard View on Thursday night.
With their four straight losses, the Panthers fell to 6-11 overall, 3-4 conference. The Panthers host North Muskegon in a West Michigan Conference Rivers Division game Thursday night.
