Manistee extends its winning streak with home victory over Oakridge

 

MANISTEE – No victory in the Manistee boys basketball team’s winning streak was bigger than number six Tuesday night when the Mariners rallied from a 12-point deficit in the second half for a thrilling 58-54 win over Oakridge in Manistee.

 

“They’re a great outside shooting team, and maybe they weren’t tonight, but they were also so successful in the first half that they didn’t have to take the outside shots,” said Manistee coach Zach Bialik. “I think, overall, we just have a gritty group of kids that put their heads down and want to work. It’s a big program win. We talked about playing our pace, no matter how the game got. We’re a fast team with the speed that we have, but we’re methodical offensively.”

 

After taking an 11-10 edge in the first quarter, the Mariners were outscored, 21-12 in the second and trailed 31-23 at the half.

 

The gap grew to 12 in the third quarter before the Mariners started to eat away at the Eagles lead.

 

Oakridge was called for an offensive foul late in the period, and the Eagles were hit with two technical fouls.

 

Manistee senior point guard Kaden Kott sank all four free throws, and then nailed a 15-foot jumper to close the quarter to give the Mariners a 46-41 lead.

 

Junior forward Landin Sowa kept the Mariners in the lead with a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth period.

 

The Mariners limited Evan Jozsa to just two points in the second half after he went off for 14 in the first.

 

Kott knocked down a game-high 20 points for the Mariners, and Sowa was 5-of-6 from beyond the arc and added 19.

 

Bryson Stephenson scored 18 points to lead Oakridge, followed by Jozsa with 16.

 

Manistee improved to 8-7 on the season, 4-4 in the conference. The Mariners are back in action Friday night at home against Traverse City St. Francis in non-conference action.

 

Oakridge slipped to 10-6 on the season and 5-3 in conference. The Eagles travel to Montague on Friday night.