All clicking: Mackinaw City boys thump Mackinac Island in district basketball opener
MACKINAW CITY – The regular season was a limp to the finish for the Mackinaw City boys basketball team, which struggled to find offensive consistency.
But with the postseason here, the Comets believe they can turn it around quickly.
Monday night was a great start for the Comets, whose offense was clicking on all cylinders in a 94-53 victory over Mackinac Island in a MHSAA Division 4 district first-round clash.
“It’s probably the best thing that could’ve happened to us,” Mackinaw City senior Trystan Swanson said after the win. “We’ve had a really rough stretch of games, like bad offensive output, so having this game boosts our confidence.”
With Mackinaw City’s district tournament off to a fast start, here’s some takeaways from Monday.
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Hingston’s shooting sets the tone early
Ever since losing senior Sabastian Pierce to a season-ending injury, the Comets (14-9) have been waiting for someone to truly emerge at the guard position. Providing Mackinaw City with a major spark on Monday was sophomore guard Tyler Hingston, who drilled a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight of his 11 points in the first quarter, which saw the Comets build an 18-8 lead.
“When he came back (from injury), he transitioned from our No. 1 defender to, 'Hey, now you’re my point guard and you’re going to be making decisions,'” Martin said of Hingston. “Tonight, he made great decisions. Obviously, he made a couple of 3s, and that was huge for us. It opened up the inside a little bit.”
Bergstrom, Swanson a dominant force
Delivering for the Comets once again was the senior duo of Lucas Bergstrom and Swanson, who were unstoppable against the Lakers (12-10). With Bergstrom dominating the post, and Swanson displaying his versatile offensive game, Mackinaw City pushed its lead to 47-26 at the break. In the end, Bergstrom finished with a game-high 35 points and Swanson tallied 30.
When asked what the two have meant to the Mackinaw City program, Martin got emotional.
“It brings a tear to my eye to think those guys are leaving,” Martin said. “For where we’re at, obviously, we’re nowhere without the two of them. They’ve been great leaders and great role models through the years, especially this year, transitioning from what we had last year to this year coming in. We needed that leadership and they’ve stepped up huge for us.”
Myran Thompson finished with nine points for the Comets, who received three from Nick Vieau, and two apiece from Jared Wiertalla, Braylon Currie and Ben Strittmatter.
The Lakers, who had a solid offensive night themselves, were paced by 14 points from Vincent Davis, 10 from Owen Morse, nine from Derby Kromer, and six apiece from Mason McLean and Brady Hardy.
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Bring on the Swordsmen
With the win, Mackinaw City travels to face Harbor Light in a 6 p.m. district semifinal on Wednesday. The Swordsmen, who rolled past the Comets last week, swept the season series between the two.
However, Swanson and the Comets are confident the third time might just be the charm.
“Last year, when we went into regionals against Onaway, we looked at it as you can’t beat the same team three times in a row, and that’s why Onaway beat us once last year,” Swanson said. “If we go into this – we’ve already lost our two – we’ve got to win it. That’s the mindset. We’ll have to play as well as we did (tonight). We didn’t miss a lot tonight, so I think if we don’t miss as many shots as we normally do against them, we should be in good shape.”
Mackinaw City captured a 54-29 victory over Boyne Falls in its regular season finale on Friday, Feb. 23. Swanson fueled the Comets with 18 points, Bergstrom had 12, Strittmatter added eight, and Vieau scored seven.
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: Bergstrom, Swanson lift Mackinaw City boys basketball to district win over Mackinac Island
