COLON — Colon took down Athens last week, 61-40, and in the process, Magi coach Steve Vinson gained his 100th career victory as Colon head coach. A 21-6 first-quarter lead was all the winners needed to come out on top. That lead grew to 33-14 at the half, and 45-33 at the end of the third period.
Quincy Blair and Dalton Willliams led the Magi in scoring, with Blair tossing in 21 points, followed by Williams, who added 20. Jeremiah West notched 11 points, Brennan Morrell had four, Collin Trattles finished with three points, and David Garriga hit one basket for two.
Williams and Blair both grabbed nine missed shots, West followed with eight boards, and Morrell and Trattles had five each. West also led the team with seven assists and six steals. Morrell also had nine blocked shots in the win.
The Magi picked up their 10th win of the season Monday night, stopping Martin, 67-55.
Quincy Blair had the hot hand for the Magi, as he pumped in 26 points. Dalton Williams and Brennan Morrell also notched double-figure games, as Williams scored 17 , followed by Morrell, who added 15. Jeremiah West contributed seven points in the win, and Dylan Smith had two. Colon led 16-11 at the end of one, 37-24 at the half, and 56-40 at the conclusion of the third quarter.
Blair was the leading rebounder with nine, followed by Dylan Smith with seven, Morrell with six, and Williams added five boards, and West grabbed four missed shots. He also dished out eight assists. Blair booked seven assists, while Smith, Trattles and Morrell all had two.
Sturgis comes back to defeat Otsego
STURGIS — In a nice response to their drubbing at the hands of Paw Paw last week, the Trojans came up with a come from behind win over Otsego on Monday, 50-46.
Sturgis found themselves down at the end of the first eight minutes, 20-9. With three quarters to go, the Trojans clawed their way back to within five at the half, 26-21. That set the stage for the frantic second half, which saw the Sturgis defense hold the Bulldogs to a total of 20 points, while the Trojans put up 29 to gain the victory.
Facing that 11-point deficit to start the second quarter, Owen Frost drained two quick three-pointers to bring Sturgis to within five, 20-15. Otsego managed only six points in the second frame, and led 26-19 before Gavin Lewis hit a bucket late in the quarter to cut the lead to five at the half.
The Bulldogs added 15 points in the third, but Sturgis responded with 13, however the lead stood at seven points entering the final eight minutes, 41-34. During that third stanza, Lewis hit a shot to tie the game at 29, but after the Bulldogs took a 31-29 lead, Jack Cook nailed a triple to up the score to 34-29, Otsego. Another five points gave the Bulldogs a ten-point advantage, their largest lead since the first quarter. Simon Phillips canned a three and scored another bucket to pull the Trojans to within seven entering the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, Lewis and Lukis Bir combined for six points, and by the 3:25 mark, Sturgis had cut the lead to two, 44-42. Frost then tied the contest at 44 with a driving layup, then it was Carter Oswald with another basket to break the tie, putting the Trojans up by two, 46-44 with less than three minutes remaining in the game. The Bulldogs were hounded by a relentless defense the rest of the way, scoring just two points. Wyatt Miller, Bir and Lewis put points on the board late in the game to seal the win for Sturgis, who improved to 6-7 on the season with the win.
Lewis led the Trojan offense with 18 points, Frost put eight points in the book, followed by Oswald with six. Phillips, Bir and Beckett Lamb all finished with five, and Miller scored three. Leeland Longcore had 19 points for Otsego to lead both teams in scoring.
“We played a very strong second half, and I told the guys that usually the desperate team wins,” coach Keith Kurowski said. “We regained our composure midway through the first half, and our defense started our offense, which didn’t give them anything easy for the most part.” Kurowski also noted that it was a “total team effort, and we sealed it at the end with Lukis’ free throw.” He also commented that “Gavin (Lewis) is playing like a man possessed. He plays hard, plays smart, he’s one of our best interior defenders, and he’s a good teammate.”
Mendon stays undefeated, ties school-record win streak with win over Climax-Scotts
CLIMAX — Mendon reeled off its 13th win in a row last week, which tied a school record, as the Hornets stopped Climax-Scotts by the score of 61-45.
Dante Goto recorded a triple-double, scoring 10 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking 12 shots, while Ryder Gorham led the scoring with 18 points. Carter Huston was close behind with 16, and Owen Gorham finished with 12 points.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Mendon coach Matt Gorham said. “We were getting pretty good shots in the first half, but forced more than we should have.” He went on to say that “At halftime, we talked about letting the game come to us and having our defense generate our offense. The third quarter was huge for us.”
Owen Gorham picked off seven missed shots, while Tristan Wood finished with six rebounds. Ryder Gorham added five boards, followed by Ky Truckey and Liam Smith, both with two. Smith also blocked one shot. Ryder Gorham led in assists with four, Owen Gorham had three, and led the team with seven steals. Goto dished out two helpers, Wood and Huston also contributed one assist each.
“Credit to Climax, they played hard and got after it, and I’m proud of our guys for putting their heads down and working hard throughout the game,” added Gorham.
The Hornets moved to 13-0 with the win, and they hosted Hillsdale Academy and Athens this week. Those results will appear in next week’s edition.
