West Michigan Roundup, Thursday 1/13/22

West Michigan Roundup, Thursday 1/13/22

Starting Five (Notable Games):

1. BC Central 65, Loy Norrix 56

BC Central continues to be one of the most underrated teams in the area as they have now won three straight to improve to 5-2. They have wins over Gull Lake, St. Joe, and now Loy Norrix with their only losses coming to a strong Pennfield team by four points and a double digit loss to Lakeview. I would keep an eye on the Bearcats to possibly pull off a few more upsets this season.

2. Kalamazoo Central 61, Portage Central 50

The Maroon Giants are getting things back on track with two wins this week to improve to .500 at 4-4. Both of their wins came against top ten area programs in Lakeshore and Portage Central. Despite the early season struggles I am still confident that this team can have success and possibly win the rest of the conference games to take a SMAC-East title.

3. Lakeshore 48, Mattawan 41

Lakeshore bounced back from Tuesday’s loss against K-Central with a victory against Mattawan. Senior forward TJ Mitchell led the Lancers with 27 points and 9 rebounds while freshman JJ Frakes added 13 points. Lakeshore will be back at it on Thursday in the Floyd Mayweather Classic in Grand Rapids matched up against East Lansing.

4. Colon 74, Athens 33

The Magi remain undefeated at 7-0 and when the AP poll begins to come out I would hope to see them ranked in Division 4. Colon’s biggest test of the season will come on the road next Friday against the always talented Bellevue.

5. Comstock 57, Decatur 54

Comstock came away with a close road victory over Decatur. The Colts are now 4-0 in conference play in solo first with Centreville a half game back at 3-0. Comstock will travel to Centreville on Tuesday for a game that might go a long way in determining the Southwest 10 conference champion.

Top Performances:

-TJ Mitchell (Lakeshore 2022): 27 points, 9 rebounds

-Aden Hathaway (Bronson 2023): 27 points

-Jesse Baushke (Decatur 2023): 25 points

-Luke Ring (St. Joseph 2022): 19 points

-Kyle Johnson (Union City 2022): 15 points

-Nathan Louden (Gull Lake 2022): 14 points

-Tyler Roberts (Loy Norrix 2022): 13 points

-Ryan Kiesling (Mattawan 2023): 11 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks

-JJ Frakes (Lakeshore 2025): 13 points

Game I Attended: Gull Lake 43, Lakeview 38

Gull Lake defeated Lakeview 43-38 in a SMAC-East showdown featuring two teams desperate for a win. Lakeview entered the game dropping their past three games while Gull lake had lost three out of their last four games. It was senior power forward Haidyn Garrison leading the charge early for Gull Lake scoring seven first quarter points to erase a 5-0 deficit to lead 16-11. An 11-2 run by Gull Lake to start the second quarter broke the game wide open for the Blue Devils who took a 31-19 lead into halftime. Gull Lake’s suffocating defense held Lakeview to just one field goal in the third quarter as they shot 1-11 from the field. The fourth quarter began with Gull Lake leading by 18 points with a score of 39-21. Lakeview slowly began to trim away at the deficit cutting it down to 11 points with 3:45 to play. The Blue Devils were held scoreless for over six minutes as Lakeview trimmed the score down to 39-31 with 1:45 to play. Gull Lake couldn’t score and on most possessions couldn’t even get a shot attempt off. The score was 41-35 with :15 remaining when Tyler Corstange knocked down both of his free throws for Gull Lake to make it 43-35. Lakeview’s Bryce Plane hit a three pointer with :05 left to make it 43-38. Gull Lake turned over the inbounds pass, but a Lakeview missed three pointer ended the game. Gull Lake was led by Nathan Louden with 14 points, Isaac DeVisser with 9 points, and Haidyn Garrison with 7 points. On the Lakeview side it was Hayden Mueller leading the way with 11 points and Jashaun Boggerty adding 10 points. Gull Lake did not finish the game strong at all and will now turn their focus to Loy Norrix on Saturday.

Southwest MI D1-D2

BC Central 65, Loy Norrix 56

Gull Lake 43, BC Lakeview 38

Lakeshore 48, Mattawan 41

Kalamazoo Central 61, Portage Central 50

St. Joseph 53, Portage Northern 41

Southwest MI D3-D4

Bellevue 74, Burr Oak 22

Bronson 51, Quincy 41

Colon 74, Athens 33

Comstock 57, Decatur 54

Jonesville 51, Union City 41