BELLAIRE – Consistency is something Onaway boys basketball coach Eddy Szymoniak hopes to continue to see from his team.
Facing an upset Bellaire team on the road, Szymoniak’s Cardinals delivered a consistent performance in a 78-60 victory on Friday.
“I thought from the beginning we pretty much controlled the game,” Szymoniak said. “We controlled the tempo. Even when Bellaire would go on little runs, we were able to keep them to little runs and then get back to playing good defense. We had nine guys score tonight, so I thought we did a really good job of distributing the ball, moving it.”
The Cardinals (8-2, 7-1 Ski Valley Conference) came out firing to build a 24-14 lead after one quarter, then held their 10-point lead into halftime. In the third, the Cardinals found enough space to outscore the Eagles 22-16 to take a 57-41 lead into the final period.
“That was probably one of our better shooting games,” Szymoniak said. “We got some open looks just because of how well we moved the ball tonight. It was really nice to see everyone get the ball tonight. We managed to spread it quite a bit.”
Senior Bridger Peel led Onaway with 24 points, while Jadin Mix scored 18 and Austin Veal had 16. Mason Beebe had six points, Jackson Chaskey four and Colton Prow three.
Jayden Hanson scored a game-high 27 points to lead Bellaire (4-5, 3-4).
Onaway continues its rise in Ski Valley when it hosts Johannesburg-Lewiston on Wednesday, January 25.
Dyer scores career-high 36 points, Hornets have advantage at Harbor Light on the road
HARBOR SPRINGS – Coby Dyer has been a scoring machine for the Pellston Hornets of late.
The Pellston senior continued his hot streak Friday, scoring a career-high 36 points to help the Hornets to a narrow 76-74 victory at Harbor Light.
“It was definitely a battle,” Pellston coach Nate Meinke said. “Coby Dyer has obviously stepped up a lot from a scoring perspective this week. We knew what he was capable of, it just took him a few games to figure it out. It’s hard to keep a kid.”
Winless until Monday, the Hornets finished 3-0 in a five-day hitting streak, which also included wins over Wolverine and Forest Area earlier this week.
Pellston was also helped by Hale Dufresne, who scored in double figures with 13 points. Jack Schmalzried finished with eight.
“Hale (Dufresne) coming back from injury was big for controlling the game and taking the pressure off Coby (Dyer), but this was a complete team win,” Meinke said. “We knew we had to limit their offensive rebounds and limit their open three-point looks, and we did a great job of executing. We had a multiple lead of 10 or more points, but we knew it wouldn’t disappear. They are a tough team. Every time Harbor Light would hit to bring it back close, someone would step up and hit for us.
“We are really proud of our boys. This has been a big week for us after a tough start to the season and to come in and win this one on opening night of their (Harbor Light) new ground was pretty special for our team.”
Pellston (3-7, 1-5 Ski Valley) heads to Central Lake for conference play on Friday, Jan. 27.