By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com

PENTWATER — Records don’t really mean much when rivals meet on the basketball court, and that certainly was the case Wednesday night when Walkerville paid Pentwater in a West Michigan D League matchup.

Walkerville came in with a 2-8 record, 2-5 in the WMD, while the Falcons were 6-2 and 5-2 WMD, and no doubt everyone expected them to dispatch the Wildcats easily.

But that didn’t happen.

Although they were playing on their home floor, the Falcons were grounded in the early going and couldn’t get their offense off the runway.

But they managed to get their wheels off the ground in the second quarter and soared ahead of the Wildcats, eventually pulling away for an 18-point win, 38-20.

“In a rivalry game, you have to throw records out the window,” Pentwater coach Joe Gorton said. “I think my girls might have been guilty of some scoreboard watching and didn’t come out with the intensity required for a matchup with a neighbor rival.

“I give Walkerville a lot of credit. They came in here and fought hard. They outscored us in the first quarter, and really outworked us,” said Gorton. “We missed a bunch of solid scoring opportunities, and I think those misses tightened us up a bit. We weren’t flowing well offensively.”

The Wildcats took advantage, playing solid defense as well, and stunned the home crowd when they gained a four-point edge on the Falcons, 8-4, after the first eight minutes.

Pentwater turned things around on the Wildcats in the second quarter, finding a little more success offensively and tightening the defensive screws and outscored Walkerville, 11-4, for a 16-12 halftime edge.

“We came out to a good start, and we were ready to go,” Wildcats coach Mandy Achterhof said. “We hit some buckets and got some steals. It was looking good at the start. We knew we had to guard Aubrie (Adams, the Falcons leader). She’s been having consistent games and buckets. We transitioned back to that 2-3 zone (defense). We left it open a few times, and so we got their reminder that you can’t leave a shooter open.”

Adams, just a sophomore, knocked down three 3-pointers to lead the Falcons in the third quarter, and the Falcon defense gave up just two points while scoring 15 to take a 30-14 cushion into the fourth period.

“Defensively, we were brilliant (in the third), and Aubrie shook off some early unlucky bounces,” Gorton said.  “With a comfy lead in the fourth, I was able to get some role players some minutes.”

Adams led all scorers with 11 points for the Falcons, and she also contributed three rebounds and three steals. Charlie Swanger added 10 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists. Mandi Sayles finished with seven points and six rebounds, while Sam Schaefer had four points, ripped down 13 rebounds and had four assists.

Heaven Rodriguez led the Wildcats with six points, Kelsey Garrett added five and Urika Nakayasu scored four.

Pentwater, 7-2, 6-2 WMD, takes on conference power Brethren on the road on Friday.

Walkerville dropped to 2-9, 2-6 WMD and also is in action Friday at home against Marion.