by Ben Murphy
Sports Writer
McBain Northern Michigan Christian’s boys basketball team struggled at times in its return to action from winter break Wednesday. The Comets finished with a well-played fourth quarter against visiting Houghton Lake though, allowing them to pick up a 51-39 Highland Conference victory.
“Houghton Lake jumped out ahead of us in the first quarter, playing very aggressive,” head coach Kyle Benthem said. “We made a lot of unforced errors and turned the ball over a lot. The first half we did not have any rhythm on the offensive end and our shots were not falling.”
The Bobcats led this one 14-7 after the first quarter, though the Comets tied it up at 23-23 at the half and 33-33 entering the fourth.
“Trevin Winkle took over in the second half scoring 20 of his 25,” Benthem said. “We shot 19-of-23 from the free throw line which helped us out tremendously. Houghton lake out hustled us, but we were fortunate to come out on top.”
To go with his 25 points Winkle also had six rebounds and three steals, Blake Dezeeuw had nine points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocks and Nathan Eisenga added six points.
NMC (3-0 overall, 3-0 Highland) heads to Evart today (Friday) and heads to Lake City on Tuesday.
