By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com
 
ONEKAMA – Mason County Eastern is moving on in the Division 4 district after taking down Pentwater on Monday.
 
Mason County Eastern opened up with a flurry and rode that quick start to a convincing 37-20 win in the first round of the MHSAA Division 4 district tournament at Onekama on Monday night.
 
Eastern pressured the Falcons into making 15 first-half turnovers.
 
“I couldn’t be happier for the girls … they wanted this one in a bad way,” Eastern coach Jake Smith said. “I thought we were able to control our tempo, and their temp at the same time. We only pushed it on our end a couple times, when we thought we had a serious advantage. Anything to get them out of their rhythm.
 
“Obviously we got a few turnovers off our press, for sure, and they were (shooting) a lot from outside, which obviously helped us, and we were cleaning up the boards the whole night.”
 
The Cardinals used that pressure defense as fuel for the fire and lit up the Falcons for a 12-2 second quarter after took just a 7-4 edge in the first and had a 19-6 lead at the half.
 
Pentwater could never fully recover, although the Falcons outscored the Cardinals, 10-4 in the third.
 
But the Cardinals managed to maintain a 23-16 lead going into the fourth and then had a 14-4 advantage for the final margin.
 
“We struggled to get quality shots off,” Pentwater coach Jeff Knapp said. “Credit to them, they put a lot of pressure on us.
“They seemed to want it a little bit more. They flew around a little bit more. We had 15 turnovers in the first half. That’s too many. That’s a game’s worth of turnovers.”
 
Eastern sophomore Brailyn Johnson stroked two 3-pointers and led the Cardinals with 13 points, while freshman Aubrey Myers added 12.
 
Lauren Davis led the Falcons with seven points and Aubrie Adams was limited to four.
 
The Cardinals improved their record to 12-7 on the season and now play Onekama in the district semifinals Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
 
Pentwater ended the season 12-8.