Early draw ruins the suspense by Pat Varley

SPORTS

Page 10, Section 1 Thursday, January 17, 2013

A column by Mike Spencer

Early draw ruins the suspense Back in the old days, OK, not so long ago, district basketball draws were held a week before the tournaments were scheduled to begin. There was a lot of anxiety and anticipation for the draws. Everybody was curious who would have to face the best teams in the first round or whether the top two teams would have to tip-off on opening night. Well the suspense is long gone. Since the 2010-11 school year, district draws have been done early. This year, they were due at the Michigan High School Athletic Association just days before Christmas, say Dec. 21. I believe the early announcement of district pairings can be a blessing or a curse. But either way, forget the suspense. It’s a curse if your team has been struggling through a tough season with few wins and you just drew the unbeaten, No. 1 ranked team in the state on Monday night. You might as well start packing the unis today. Megan Munoz of Leland, whose Comets have almost as good a shot as any of the other teams in the Class D district at St. Mary, says it’s a blessing to know your opponent early. “I like the idea of knowing what we’re facing,” she said. “It gives me time to prepare and analyze the opponents we’ll be playing.” Geoff Kimmerly, MHSAA media & content coordinator, says the early draws coincided with the advent of the “nontraditional” draws where larger districts have more than two games on opening night and more than one tournament site. “The earlier draw also gives us more time for assigning officials and makes the entire process more efficient because we and schools can plan earlier,” Kimmerly pointed out. Kimmerly reports there hasn’t been any negative feedback about the early tournament pairings. Still some coaches would have preferred the pairings took place late in the season, like Glen Lake’s Todd Hazelton. “I believe the fun of the tournament was not knowing who you played until a week before,” said Hazelton, who has his Lakers off to a 8-1 start. “Now it is too early and sometimes your focus on scouting and preparation for districts can take away your focus on regular season games. “Winning a conference title is such a grind and is tough to do. I love the tournament but winning your league is a huge accomplishment.” While the Glen Lake boys basketball team will keep its focus on the Northwest Conference championship, most of the other Leelanau County teams are turning their attention away from league title thoughts and toward district title hopes. Even Hazelton is thinking about it. “We have Elk Rapids in the first game and if we win we play East Jordan,” Hazelton said. “The two teams are always tough so it will be tough to get to the final.” If the Lakers reach the finals, they could get a shot at defending champ Traverse City St. Francis. (Concluded on Page 13)

LELAND’S BENCH watches the action closely in Friday’s loss to Glen Lake.

Lakers rally to top Comets By Mike Spencer Of The Enterprise staff

Glen Lake took a first-quarter punch from Leland last week that left two of its starters scoreless and staggering to the bench with personal foul troubles. But the league-leading Lakers not only got themselves off the ropes quickly, they delivered what could be an early TKO to Leland’s Northwest Conference title hopes. Glen Lake, behind Mike O’Brien’s 26 points, defeated Leland 56-36. The Lakers, after Tuesday’s come-frombehind 80-69 win over Elk Rapids, are now 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the NW. “We’re clicking, especially defensively,” Hazelton said after handing Leland its second straight league loss. “We’re quick out front and it’s hard for people to throw an entry pass in or drive by us. “If we can keep improving defensively, I think we’ll be pretty tough to beat.” The Lakers, who host Mesick tonight before traveling next Thursday, Jan. 24 to Frankfort for a battle of unbeaten coleaders, have now won eight straight games. Meanwhile, Suttons Bay picked up its first NW victory. The Norse beat visiting

Buckley last Thursday, 57-24. The Norse return to action Tuesday at St. Mary. The Comets play at Traverse City Christian tonight. Glen Lake stayed in the driver’s seat with its big win at Leland. The Comets played their second straight game without its big man, A.J. Whittaker. He is out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his foot. The Comets had the upper hand early thanks to the red-hot shooting of senior Ian Duvall. He had eight of his team-best 14 points in the first quarter. “I told the kids that Leland would probably come out pretty amped up, since they like playing at home,” Hazelton said. “We needed to keep our composure a little bit more. “But credit to Leland, they did a nice job.” Glen Lake, which had O’Brien and Logan LaCross on the bench with two personal fouls for most of the first quarter, got untracked in the second quarter. Behind O’Brien’s 10 points, the Lakers regained the lead and posted a 27-20 halftime advantage. “Anytime you get in foul trouble early, it’s tough,” Hazelton said. “The guys aren’t used to having Mike out there.” (Concluded on Page 13)

LELAND’S MATT Fleis, with the ball, tries to get past Glen Lake defender Parker Kokowicz in Friday night’s game at Leland.

Depleted Glen Lake girls win three in a row By Amy Hubbell Of The Enterprise staff

Glen Lake held two opponents to six or fewer second-half points in the past week to help improve its record to 8-3. This in spite of injuries and the onset of the flu among the girls basketball team. “We had a lot of red-faced players on the court (Tuesday) night. The girls were not feeling well and you could tell,” coach Jason Bradford said after a 46-41 victory over Manton. “That’s not good considering we’re at Frankfort (Friday).” The Lakers were without senior Ty Fessell who was out with the flu and Jordan Peplinski, who had rolled an ankle in another game earlier in the week. Glen Lake started strong with 12 points each in the first and second quarters to take a 24-16 lead at halftime. But the Rangers were on fire after half-

time, outscoring the Lakers 14-11 to cut Glen Lake’s lead to 35-30 at the three-quarter mark. “They had one player who had three points in the first half and ended the night with 18,” Bradford said. “That’s what made the difference for them.” Jessica Lee paced the Lakers with 11 points, seven rebounds. Maddie Brown chipped in eight and had 12 boards. The victory capped a week in which Glen Lake improved its Northwest Conference record to 4-1 with decisive wins over Mesick and Leland. Junior Katie Stowe stepped up and scored a career-high 22 in a 57-24 win over Mesick Friday. She needed to as the Lakers were without Scotlyn Brengmen who sat out with an ankle injury. But it was the Bulldogs who had the edge after one period 12-11. Glen Lake repeated with 11 in the second to take a 22-19 into the locker room at

halftime. After what must have been an inspiration halftime speech, the Lakers topped their first half point total and outscored Mesick 27-3 in the third and held the Bulldogs to just two points in the fourth en route to the Lakers’ fourth conference victory of the season. The game was a little closer Jan. 9 when Glen Lake made the short trip up M-22 to Leland. “We were able to keep it pretty close until the third quarter,” Comet coach Megan Munoz said. “But Libby (Munoz), our ball-handler, got into some foul trouble … we’re still learning how to break the press.” The Lakers led 30-22 at half. But the game was closer than the score appeared as junior Hollie Dowd extended the lead by scoring four of her six points in the final 15 seconds of the period. However, Leland had just one buck-

et in the third and two in the fourth taking sixth loss of the season, 52-28. Brengman had 16 in the effort, Lee, nine. Leland was led by Munoz with 10. It was the first of two losses on the (Concluded on Page 15)

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Thursday, January 17, 2013

Section 1, Page 13

THE LEELANAU ENTERPRISE

GLEN LAKE’S Curtis Bunek tries to dribble past Leland’s Dylan Jolliffe in Friday night’s game at Leland.

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DISTRICT PAIRINGS Class C At Traverse City St. Francis Monday, Feb. 25 6 p.m. — Charlevoix vs. Elk Rapids 7:45 p.m. — East Jordan vs. St. Francis Wednesday, Feb. 27 6 p.m. — Boyne City vs. Charlevoix/ Elk Rapids winner 7:45 p.m. — Glen Lake vs. St. Francis/East Jordan winner Friday, March 1 7 p.m. — District championship Winner advances to McBain regional vs. Johannesburg-Lewiston winner Class D At. St. Mary Monday, Feb. 25 7 p.m. — Northport vs. Leland Wednesday, Feb. 27 6 p.m. — St. Mary vs. Northport/ Leland winner Approx. 7:45 p.m. — Suttons Bay vs. GTA Friday, Feb. 29 7 p.m. — District championship Winner advances to Buckley regional vs. Gaylord St. Mary winner BOYS Class C At Boyne City Monday, March 4

5:30 p.m. — Boyne City vs. Charlevoix 7:30 p.m. — Elk Rapids vs. Glen Lake Wednesday, March 6 5:30 p.m. — TC St. Francis vs. Boyne City/Charlevoix winner 7:30 p.m. — East Jordan vs. Glen Lake/Elk Rapids winner Friday, March 8 6 p.m. — District championship Winner advances to TC West regional vs. Alcona winner Class D At Suttons Bay Monday, March 4 7 p.m. — Grand Traverse Academy vs. Northport at Suttons Bay 7 p.m. — TC Prep Academy at Traverse City Christian 7 p.m. — St. Mary at Leland Wednesday, March 6 6 p.m. — Suttons Bay vs. GTA/ Northport winner Approx. 7:45 p.m. — St. Mary/ Leland winner vs. TC Christian/Prep winner Friday, March 8 7 p.m. — District championship Winner advances to TC Central regional vs. Bellaire winner

Early draw ruins the suspense of districts Continued from Page 10 St. Mary girls coach Paula Korson likes knowing now that she’ll play the winner of the Leland/Northport first round game. “Knowing earlier the two teams we may face the second night does help narrow down strategy, but you

could face anyone of the teams, so you just hope your girls are healthy and at the top of their game come the end of February,” Korson said. Veteran St. Mary boys coach Bob Bruder, a former Hall of Fame coach at Fenton, said it really doesn’t matter when you do the draw. “You’re always looking at teams

ahead of time, scouting and narrowing it down to who you might play,” Bruder said. Although it may not matter in the long run, Bruder did concede the old way of not knowing until the eve of district play was more fun. And that’s something must of us can agree on.

Boys Scoring Leaders Player Mike O’Brien, A.J. Whittaker, Bill Stowe, Curtis Bunek, Carter Lee, Brandon McSawby, Ian Duvall Aaron Orban, Logan Mikesell, Jacob Brown,

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AUSTIN FELLOWS of Leland goes up for a shot Friday night as Glen Lake’s Anders Johnson tries to defend from behind.

“That first quarter start was what we were hoping for,” Leland coach Jon Kiessel said. “We played good defense and scored some points. “But they put the brakes on that in a hurry in the second quarter. They turned up the defense and we had too many turnovers.” The Lakers, who held the Comets to two baskets and three free throws in the middle two quarters, led 40-26 after three quarters and never looked back. “I just think our perimeter defense was pretty good tonight,” Hazelton said. “They had a 20-point first half and a 16-point second half and we’ll take that every time ... that’s good defense.” “Leland is a tough place to play in,” said Glen Lake’s Carter Lee, who had 15 points including six to keep the Lakers going in the first eight minutes. “It’s a dungeon and their student section is just vicious. “Last year, the same thing happened. We had foul trouble and lost in triple overtime and everybody fouled out. That was going through my mind early. We just couldn’t let that happen again.” “I don’t think we came out with the intensity that we should have, but we picked it up and got the ‘W,’” O’Brien said. “We played harder and smarter after that first quarter.” In Whittaker’s absence, Duvall was asked to try and defend against O’Brien. “Ian is a fantastic defender and did a great job, but Mike is just so strong and good with the ball. “And Mike was patient and it didn’t bother him not to score.” The Comets, now 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the league, are still trying to figure out where they can replace the 20 points and a lot of boards that Whittaker provided. “We’re working on that,” Kiessel said. The Lakers, who were down 13 points early against Elk Rapids, trailed 24-15 after one quarter and 49-41 at the half. But the Lakers outscored the Elks 20-8 in the third quarter to get the advantage. “It was a great game,” Hazelton said. “It reminded me of the 1980’s, score a lot, give up a lot.” Lee led the comeback with a careerhigh 34 pionts. Curtis Bunek added 18. O’Brien had 19.

Suttons Bay The Norse got 16 points from Aaron Orban and 14 from Logan Mikesell in the Buckley win. The Norse led 12-5 after one quarter and 29-9 by the half. Austin Burminia had 11 for the Bears.

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Continued from Page 10

1-17-13

Lakers rally to top Comets

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