Cheboygan struggles to match energy of high-powered Pickford, loses at home
CHEBOYGAN – The Cheboygan boys basketball team was hoping to put a scare into the Pickford Panthers, who are currently ranked No. 7 in Division 4.
While you certainly need consistent shooting and defense to beat a team like the Panthers, playing with energy is also required. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, they struggled in that department and suffered a 70-40 home loss on Tuesday night.
“When you’re No. 7 in the state, you’re not No. 7 in the state by accident,” Cheboygan coach Jason Friday said. “They’ve got some shooters. I thought we played really timid early on. We just missed too many easy ones down low, we were 8-of-23 from the (free throw) line. There was hardly any energy out there. It was frustrating.
“Coach (Scott) Hancock made a great point when he says, ‘When we play a team where the boys think they have a chance to win, then they play with energy, but if we go into a game where they think it’s going to be a tough one, then they just don’t play with as much energy.’”
With Cheboygan falling to a top-caliber U.P. foe, here’s some takeaways from Tuesday’s game.
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Goodrich a bright spot for Chiefs
For much of Tuesday, Cheboygan (9-8) struggled to generate offense against a stout Pickford defense. But if there was one silver lining for the Chiefs, it was the play of senior Kaleb Goodrich, who scored a team-high 19 points, with 12 of those coming in the first half.
“I thought Kaleb Goodrich played an absolutely phenomenal game. He cared out there,” Friday said. “When you’re looking on the bench, and some of the things he’s talking about, he put his heart into this game. We need to have other guys with that same kind of effort he put into this game tonight.
“I liked everything about Kaleb’s game tonight.”
MacDonald, Bennin a two-headed Pickford monster
As solid as Goodrich was, Pickford had two players who were unstoppable for much of the night. One of those was junior Eli MacDonald, who drilled six 3-pointers and poured in a game-high 30 points, while sophomore teammate Gunner Bennin tallied 25 points. Together, the duo helped fuel an efficient Pickford offense that built a 33-16 halftime lead.
“(MacDonald) really got our offense started,” Pickford coach Steve McConkey said. “That was exciting to see. Gunner’s (Bennin) an awesome ball player. He does things so smoothly. You can really coach kids when you’ve got good athletes. They just respond to anything you ask of them, and lots of times I say, ‘Hey, go play ball,’ and they just go do it.”
After surrendering the opening two points of the game, the Panthers (14-1) erupted with a 17-2 run and took control during the first half.
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Missing Smith
It didn’t help the Chiefs that they were without freshman guard Gavin Smith, who didn’t play because of sickness. Smith scored in double figures in each of Cheboygan’s previous three games.
“He probably plays with the most energy out there, he brings a lot of energy, in addition to his ability to put the ball in the hole, his activeness on defense, but that also creates opportunities for other guys,” Friday said.
For Cheboygan, Brennen Thater scored six points, Caden Gardner had five, Daniel Hudson tallied four, Patrick Watson added three, Robert Godfrey netted two, and Owen Kimbrell recorded one.
Tommy Storey scored seven points for Pickford.
Rematch with the Sault
The Chiefs will look to regroup quickly when they take on Sault Ste. Marie on Thursday. The Blue Devils earned a narrow win in Cheboygan earlier this season.
As Friday mentioned multiple times following Tuesday’s loss, energy will be pivotal.
“We lost by three the first time and we were 3-of-13 from the line,” Friday said. “We probably should’ve won that game, we didn‘t get it done, but going up to the Sault is always a hard place to play. I just hope the boys bring that energy that they can win this game. If they bring that energy they had tonight, we don’t have a chance. If they bring the energy they had against Onaway, we have a good chance.”
In the junior varsity game, Cheboygan suffered a 35-32 loss. Nolan Schley led the Chiefs with 13 points, Carson Kiefer had eight, Sam Brown scored six, Andrew Kiefer tallied four, and Landon Gahn finished with one.
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 boys basketball struggles to hang with Pickford in home loss
