LAKE CITY — Lake City dominated in the paint, earning a whopping 48-21 advantage in rebounds as the Trojans defeated visiting Highland Conference foe Roscommon 79-47 on Tuesday.
“It was a nice team win,” said Lake City coach Brad Besko.
“We distributed the ball really well and had seven different players score. We did a good job crashing the boards at both ends.”
Its was another dominating performance from senior Gavin Bisballe, who generated 32 points with 17 rebounds and five blocks to go with five assists and two steals.
“Gavin is asserting himself and that’s what we’ve been asking him to do,” Besko said. “We did a good job of getting the ball to him and he did a good job taking it to the hole or passing off when he was covered.”
One of Bisballe’s baskets was an acrobatic dunk that resulted from a pass off the glass from sophomore guard Darin Kunkel, bringing a loud cheer from the Lake City crowd.
Kunkel canned 13 with three boards and four assists and Brody Gothard made 11 with seven boards. Oakley Barger and Rowland Ball each recorded eight points and three boards while Brady Becker scored four with three assists and Marcus Booms hit for three with six boards. Besko commended the physical inside play of Gothard and Devin Nolan.
Lake City (9-5, 8-4) travels to NMC on Thursday.
“This is a big game for us,” Besko said. “There’s a reason why Christian is undefeated. They have a lot of weapons. We have to contain (Trevin) Winkle and (Blake) DeZeeuw when we’re on defense and deal with their pressure when we have the ball. We need to play a solid, fundamental, disciplined game.”
The Lake City JV won 43-34 as Clayton Helsel hit for 11 and Asheton Mathison for nine.
BUCKLEY — Buckley used balanced scoring to pick up a 73-60 win over Frankfort in a Northwest Conference boys basketball contest Tuesday night.
The Bears had four players score in double figures in the win.
“This was a good team win for us,” Buckley coach Jared Milarch said.
Buckley led 21-14 after the first quarter and 33-27 at halftime. It was 51-39 going into the fourth quarter.
Ty Breithaupt paced the Bears with 20 points while Kyle Kaczanowski had 16. Brandon Kulawiak scored 12 points and Tyler Milarch had 11.
Buckley (10-3 overall, 8-3 Northwest) is at Kingsley on Friday.
BIG RAPIDS — Cadillac dropped a 49-37 decision to Big Rapids in a non-conference girls basketball contest Tuesday night.
“We had to overcome a little bit of foul trouble in the first half,” Cadillac coach Kip Damgard said. “On the flip side, we got a lot of contributions from a lot of kids.
“I thought we played much cleaner in the second half. We hit some shots and moved the ball pretty well.”
The game was tied 11-11 after the first quarter and Big Rapids was up 23-18 at halftime.
The Cardinals took a 41-28 lead into the fourth quarter.
Ashlyn Lundquist paced the Vikings with 13 points while Kendall Schopieray had eight. Joslyn Seeley scored six points and Madalie Dickerson added five.
Cadillac is at Traverse City Central Friday.
• Cadillac won the JV game 33-29. Kaleigh Swiger and Madison Swiger paced the Vikings with nine points apiece while Reina McMahon had six.
• Cadillac’s freshman team beat Ogemaw Heights 39-12. Raegan Schopieray led the Vikings (12-3) with 14 points while Emma Holdship had eight and Alisia Pedrin had six.
MANISTEE — The Marion girls pushed to a 12-point lead in the first quarter-and-a-half of play at Manistee Catholic but struggled to find the basket after that and suffered a 41-22 defeat.
Marion led 9-6 after the first quarter and led 20-8 at the midway point of the second quarter but entered into “offensive purgatory” after that. The Eagles trailed 22-17 at the half and 36-19 after three quarters.
“We played really good for the first 12 minutes but the wheels started to come off after that and we just never recovered,” said Marion coach Matt LaGrow.
Georgia Meyer made six and did a good job down low, gathering in 19 rebounds. Maddie Sutten also scored six and LaGrow commended point guard Nola Grundy, who stepped in as the starting point guard and turned in quality minutes, especially defensively.
Marion (6-5) returns to league play Thursday when West Michigan D League foe Brethren comes calling.
CUSTER — Mesick dropped a 46-43 decision to West Michigan D foe Mason County Eastern.
Jillian Hillier paced the Bulldogs with 25 points and three steals while Kayla McCoy had eight points and five assists.
Mesick (11-3, 9-3 WMD) hosts Lake Leelanau St. Mary on Monday.
