Cheboygan girls lose double-digit advantage, suffer home loss to scrappy Grayling

CHEBOYGAN – The game was there for the taking for the Cheboygan girls basketball team.

But while the Chiefs played a solid first half against the Grayling Vikings, the final two quarters just weren’t good enough. As a result, Cheboygan lost a double-digit lead and ultimately the game in a 52-46 home setback on Tuesday.

With the Chiefs missing out on a second win in as many nights, here’s some takeaways from Tuesday’s clash in Cheboygan.

Turnovers prove costly

Leading 31-25 at halftime, what the Chiefs (7-10) struggled with the most in the second half was taking care of the ball against an aggressive Grayling defense, which forced many turnovers and turned them into points. The Vikings (9-9) used their relentless defense to cut the deficit to three by the end of three, then outscored Cheboygan 13-4 in the final quarter to earn the win.

“We didn’t make the best decisions down the stretch against their press,” Cheboygan coach Walter Hanson said. “As the game went on, we struggled to make the correct passes. I think the passes were there all night. We didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for it going into this, which isn’t much of an excuse. It’s more on me, I should’ve had them more prepared ahead of time.

“We played hard, we made a lot of good plays, but it just didn’t pan out in the end.”

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Ecker delivers strong first half

After scoring double digits in a 51-40 victory over Rudyard on Monday, Cheboygan senior Bella Ecker followed it up with a 17-point performance against Grayling. Ecker started aggressively, netting seven early points and helping Cheboygan build an 11-2 lead. Ecker, who had 13 first-half points, delivered a pass to freshman Cloee Rupp, who scored a layup to put the Chiefs up by six at the break.

“Bella was in a little slump a few games prior, but her confidence is through the roof now,” Hanson said. “I think (Monday’s game against Rudyard) helped her a lot, seeing the ball go through the hoop, and that’s given her a little extra bounce in her step.”

Rupp and Jaelyn Wheelock both finished with nine points for the Chiefs, who received five from Kinsey Carpenter, four from Emily Clark, and two from Olivia Patrick.

Refusing to quit

Despite falling behind by double digits in the first half, the Vikings never threw in the towel. Keyed by their defense and balanced scoring, Grayling battled back to pick up the road triumph.

Makayla Watson scored 11 points for the Vikings, while Emma Kuziel had 10, Amanda Lewis tallied eight, and Alison Helinski chipped in with seven.

“We kind of pride ourselves on that defensive pressure,” Grayling coach Daniel Brandt said. “Amanda Lewis, our senior guard up top, she is just a speedster who creates a lot of havoc on the ball handler, and with the length of Makayla Watkins and Cali D’Mour, just their pure length is hard to get around and get by, and that pressure turns our defense into offense, which really helped us late in that game.

“Cheboygan played a great game, we were able to get that lead late, and we were able to knock down some key free throws at the end.”

In the junior varsity game, Amber Gahn scored 23 points to lead Cheboygan to a 56-42 victory. Addison Ptasnik had 10, Isabella Hingston tallied nine, Mackenzie Stockman added five, Elise Markham netted four, Caleigh scored three, and Kyleigh Burt finished with two.

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Topping Rudyard at home

In the win over Rudyard, Ecker led the Chiefs with 13 points, Wheelock had 12, Rupp tallied 10, Patrick scored seven, Clark netted five, and Carpenter and Cheyanne Friday added two apiece.

“(Monday) was a good game for our entire team,” Hanson said. “We had a lot of good ball movement and pushed the ball up the floor nicely. (Cheyanne) Friday was everything on defense and did a good job controlling the tempo. Ecker, Wheelock, Rupp, Patrick and Clark led the way offensively. Overall, I was happy with our effort.”

Cheboygan travels to Cedarville on Friday night.

Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan girls basketball loses at home to Grayling Vikings