Fast start fizzles as Pennfield falls short
Everything was going according to plan for the Pennfield boys basketball team. Until it wasn’t.
Despite an impressive start, the Panthers struggled late as Plainwell defeated Pennfield, 56-49, in boys basketball non-conference action at Pennfield High School on Tuesday.
Pennfield ran off to a 17-4 lead in the first quarter as the Panthers held Plainwell to 1-of-10 shooting from the field in the first six minutes of the contest. During that stretch, Pennfield’s Brenden Duncan had nine points to lead the early push.
However, Pennfield had six turnovers in the second quarter and gave up seven offensive rebounds in those eight minutes, as Plainwell had gained a 27-24 lead by halftime.
MORE:BCC boys basketball ends five-year losing skid to Harper Creek
And with the first six points of the second half, Plainwell was on a 26-7 run that had the Panthers reeling and trailing 33-24.
“Really pleased with the way we came out. The way we played that first quarter was fantastic,” Pennfield Coach Nate Burns said. “But I just couldn’t sustain it.
“They started beating us to loose balls. We lost focus and that leads to turnovers and giving up offensive rebounds.”
To Pennfield’s credit, the Panthers rallied to take a slim lead by the end of the third quarter on a three-point play by Graham Boyd to make it 38-37. Boyd would finish with 22 points and nine rebounds for the Panthers with Duncan also finishing with 22 points and nine rebounds.
But more turnovers early in the fourth quarter and two more key Offensive rebounds, giving Plainwell extra possessions, and the visitors had jumped back on top. A 3-pointer by Plainwell’s Shawn Nelson gave the Trojans a 47-42 lead with 3:45 remaining. Pennfield wouldn’t get any closer.
“That’s kind of been the ups and downs of our season. It’s three steps forward, one step back…one step forward, four steps back. It’s that consistency that we haven’t been able to pin down,” said Burns, who saw his Squad fall to 4-7 with four losses in the last five outings.
Nicholas Marlow led Plainwell with 17 points with Landon Majdan adding 12 and Morgan Hendershott coming up with 11 as the Trojans improved to 7-4.
More Boys Basketball
Lakeview 63, Portage Central 51
With the game tied 29-29 at halftime, Lakeview took a 17-10 advantage in the third quarter to take over this Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference crossover contest and improve to 8-3. The Spartans’ Jashaun Boggerty was an impressive 6-of-9 from the floor and led Lakeview with 20 points. Ethan Bagent had 12 points and Walter Brown added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Spartans in the win over Portage Central (3-8).
Battle Creek Central 44, Portage Northern 34
Battle Creek Central earned wins on back-to-back nights, going on the road to beat Portage Northern on Tuesday. BCC had beaten Harper Creek in a road game on Monday as well as the Bearcats improved to 10-4 overall. BCC had a slow start, with only two points in the first quarter against Portage Northern (3-9). But the Bearcats led 16-11 at Halftime and were up 32-19 by the end of the third quarter. Ke’Marion Tucker had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead BCC.
Marshall 65, Haslett 49
Marshall climbed to 8-4 with the non-conference win. Josh Pugh had 22 points and eight rebounds to lead the Redhawks with Aaron Maxwell adding 12 points and Austin Miller and Zavion Ross each chipping in with 10.
Olivet 59, Leslie 44
Olivet remains undefeated at 12-0 as Bo Lincoln had 18 points with Bryce Wine getting nine points and Brayden Wine adding eight points in a balanced scoring effort.
Calhoun Christian 71, Jackson Christian 40
Calhoun Christian ended a three-game losing streak and improved to 5-5 as Josh Andren had 16 points and seven assists with Nico Gummer adding 13 points and Micah Reed coming up with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Monday’s Boys Basketball
Centerville 92, Athens 41
Addison Stanton had 13 points and Landon Bennett added nine points for Athens in the non-conference contest.
Tuesday’s Girls Basketball
Portage Central 38, Lakeview 25
Lakeview saw its four-game winning streak come to an end with this SMAC crossover loss. Anya Rankin had six points for the Spartans, who are now 7-4.
Portage Northern 45, Battle Creek Central 33
With the loss to Portage Northern (2-11), BCC drops to 2-9 despite 19 points by A’Mya Hodges.
Haslett 55, Marshall 23
Marshall fell to 6-7 with a non-conference loss to undefeated Haslett. Stefanie DeLong had six points and Natalie Frever had five points for Marshall.
St. Philip 34, Athens 26
St. Philip went on a 13-2 run in the third quarter to knock off perennial power Athens. Addi Dzwik had 17 points with Jaclyn Ashley adding eight for the Tigers, who improved to 8-5. Makenna Kincaid had 14 points and seven rebounds to lead Athens, which is now 8-4.
Colon 72, Comstock 25
Colon goes to 9-3 with Reese Williams having a monster game with 30 points, 11 steals, nine assists and eight rebounds. Macey Burgess added 17 points, six steals and six rebounds for the Magi.
Monday’s Girls Basketball
Springport 58, Pennfield 32
Pennfield dropped to 5-9 after this loss in non-conference play. Natalie Hensel had nine points and 11 rebounds with Emilee Klacking adding seven points and four steals.
Olivet 39, Leslie 34
After scoring 11 points in the first half, Olivet rallied in the second half to improve to 11-3 overall. Olivea Gessner had 13 points, including three 3-pointers in the third quarter, with Payton Otto adding 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Bill Broderick can be reached at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter: @billbroderick.