Mendon upends Colon, 57-54

It wasn’t pretty for either side, but Mendon hung on to beat Colon 57-54 in the opener for both teams on Tuesday. Each team battled turnovers and foul trouble in the contest.

“What a game, huge win for these young men,” Mendon coach Danny Schragg said. “Had some starters get in foul trouble early and our bench was huge for almost the whole first half.”

Scoring in the first quarter saw Mendon hold an 18-12 edge after eight minutes. The Hornets and Magi both missed plenty of shots in that opening quarter, but the pace of play allowed for each of the teams to start to find a rhythm.

Colon connected on closer shots at the rim in the second. It helped them build a 28-25 edge at halftime.

Mendon was able to regain the lead in the third and more than doubled-up Colon at 15-7 in the third stanza. The Hornets knocked down a handful of triples in that quarter, which helped stabilize their lead.

At 40-35 entering the fourth, Mendon felt good about its situation.

“Our energy was there all night and we continued to work hard on each and every play,” Schragg said. “We got a little sloppy in the end and let them get it too close for comfort but we hung on.”

Mendon held a double-digit lead for much of the fourth quarter. Colon put together a strong run at the end, but could not overcome the Hornet lead.

Colon out-scored Mendon 19-17 in the final eight minutes.

Mendon connected on eight 3-pointers for the game. Colon made five triples in the game.

Free throws proved to be a big factor in the game. Colon hit for just 10-of-27 from the stripe while the Hornets made 7-of-13.

Mendon was led by Luke Schinker, he tossed in 13 points with seven rebounds. Both Noah Roberts and Gabe Haigh finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Roberts swiped four steals, Haigh collected two blocks. Owen Gorham hit for eight points.

Jack McCaw scored five points, Mason Wilczynski added three. Both Dylan Cupp and Ryder Gorham scored two points.

Colon was led by Simon Vinson with 20 points. Dalton Williams and Nic Mock each scored nine points while Maverick Downs chipped in with seven. Tucker Lafler finished with five points, Kyle Muntian added four points.

Bronson 80, Battle Creek St. Philip 34

Bronson beat up on Battle Creek St. Philip on Tuesday night, winning 80-34.

Shots were falling for the Vikings in the game and it started early. In the first eight minutes Kamron Brackett scored eight points, Aden Hathaway added six points and Bronson posted a 29-spot for the first quarter. The Vikes led 29-8 at that point.

Scoring continued in the second, albeit just a tad less for Bronson. The Vikings got points from five separate players in the second frame, led by seven from Hathaway.

Bronson’s lead heading into the locker room was 46-16.

Another big quarter happened for Bronson in the third. In this one, Hathaway had his highest-scoring frame with 11 points, Brackett chipped in with five and Miles Losinski added four. This helped give Bronson a 72-31 lead heading into the final eight minutes.

Every Viking player scored at least two points in the game.

Hathaway led all scorers with 24 points, Brackett added 15. Bronson got eight points each from Boston Bucklin and Sayler Wotta, Losinski finished with seven. Dom Kiomento chipped in with six points, Ashton Wells added five and Tanner Norton scored three. Tyler Wilber and Andrew Norton each scored three for the Vikes.

Cassopolis 58, Three Rivers 52

Cassopolis upended Three Rivers in the season-opener for both schools on Tuesday, 58-52.

The first half was important for the Rangers. They led 16-10 after the opening eight minutes and built a 28-18 edge at the break.

The third quarter was the highest-scoring for both teams. Three Rivers chipped away at the deficit a bit, out-scoring Cass 19-16 in that third stanza. Cass, though, was able to score enough in the fourth with 14 points, to hold off the Wildcats.

Three Rivers was led by Andrew Brown. He scored 15 points in the game and added four rebounds with three assists.

Caleb Quake tossed in 13 points with six assists and four rebounds, Alonzo Ballentine added 10 points with seven rebounds. Luis Warmack chipped in with six points and three assists, Jace Gray scored four points with six rebounds. Caden Cottingham and Heston Saunders each scored two points.

Kalamazoo Hackett 80, Centreville 37

Centreville got off on the wrong foot in the season opener, falling 80-37 to Kalamazoo Hackett on Tuesday. The game was close in the first quarter, the Irish led at 14-13 following the opening eight minutes of play.

Hackett opened it up in the second quarter. The Irish connected on five triples in that eight minutes and posted 27 points, the most by either team in any quarter for the game.

The lead at the half was 41-24. In the second half, Hackett ran away with the game.

The Irish out-scored Centreville 19-9 in the third and 20-4 in the fourth. For the game, Centreville made just 1-of-6 free throws compared to 4-of-8 for Hackett.

Matt Swanwick led Centreville with 18 points in the game, all of those points came in the first half. Harrison Gregory connected for 10 points, Micah Lemings added six. Kobe Carpenter scored two points, Corey Carpenter made a free throw for the Bulldogs.

Lawton 54, Marcellus 48

Marcellus played tough, but dropped its season-opening contest to Lawton on Tuesday, 54-48.

The Wildcats out-scored Lawton 16-12 in the opening quarter and 17-8 in the final eight minutes. Lawton took advantage in the middle two quarters, though, holding advantages of 12-7 and 22-8.

Marcellus got 15 points each from Nathan Mihills and Beau Ferguson. Mihills finished with nine rebounds and two assists, Ferguson ripped down seven boards. Parker Adams had a strong game with eight points and 11 rebounds, Yona Goodlow tossed in four points. Both Quinton Tone and Dawson Lehew finished with three points and five rebounds.

Howardsville Christian 38, Burr Oak 22

Howardsville Christian topped Burr oak 38-22 on Tuesday.

“We were down by two at half but we had way too many turnovers in the second half to keep us in the game,” Burr Oak coach Ryan VanDosen said.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Mendon upends Colon, 57-54