High school roundup: Free throws cost Cheboygan boys, Mackinaw City runs away at Wolverine
CHEBOYGAN — The Cheboygan boys basketball team has improved a lot since last season.
But there’s been one major problem that’s nagged them all campaign: free-throw shooting.
On Friday, against a rival, the Chiefs didn’t show enough consistency from the charity stripe, and it end up costing them in a 46-43 home loss to the Sault High Blue Devils.
For the game, the Chiefs (6-4, 1-1 Straits Area Conference) were a disappointing 10-of-23 from the line. In the fourth quarter alone, Cheboygan missed six out of 14 attempts, which played a huge role in the Sault being able to hang on late.
So, can Cheboygan’s free throw issue be fixed?
“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?” Cheboygan coach Jason Friday said. “I think some of it is mental, and it’s something that we’re going to keep working on, but it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating for the coaching staff, and I know it’s frustrating for the kids as well.”
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Cheboygan found itself in a seven-point hole entering the fourth quarter, but the Chiefs responded with a late run to get back into the game. Fueling the Chiefs was senior guard Kaleb Goodrich, who netted 13 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth. Brennen Thater finished with eight points, while Luke Munger tallied five, Gavin Smith scored four, Daniel Hudson added three, and Jordan Johnson and Caden Gardner each chipped in with two.
“We were down 10-12 in the fourth and the kids just kept battling and kept fighting — and that’s how these kids are,” Friday said. “They just keep working hard. When you have a close game, every single mistake is magnified by 10 times, because you can go back and analyze it, and as a coach you go back and analyze it. You talk about coaches who say they don’t go back and second guess — that's a lie. Every coach does, you lose sleep over every substitution that you make, every play that you call, every defensive adjustment that you make. It was a game that, going into it, I don’t think many people expected us to win, and we had a chance to sneak out one there, but we just came up short.
“I’m really proud of the boys and the way that they played.”
Easton Fitzner scored 15 points to lead the Blue Devils (2-5, 1-1). Nate Koepp added 10.
Nolan Schley poured in 26 points to lead Cheboygan to a 56-48 victory in the junior varsity game. Jack Ekdahl finished with 10 points, Andrew Kiefer scored nine, Carson Kiefer tallied eight, and Landon Gahn added three.
Cheboygan hosts Rogers City on Tuesday.
Swanson's big night lifts Comets at Wolverine
WOLVERINE — Another strong offensive night from senior Trystan Swanson helped propel the Mackinaw City boys basketball team to a 76-39 victory at Wolverine on Friday.
Swanson scored a game-high 23 points to pace the Comets (5-3, 3-1 Northern Lakes Conference), who also received double-digit scoring performances from Lucas Bergstrom (14 points), Myran Thompson (14) and Sabastian Pierce (12).
“Tonight was a nice start coming out of the break for us,” Mackinaw City coach John Martin said. “We had an opportunity to implement some of the things we worked on over break. It also gave us an opportunity to get some valuable minutes from some of our bench players. With only eight kids, we are going to need contributions from everyone as we move forward.”
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Tyler Hingston and Nick Vieau tallied five points apiece for Mackinaw City, which built a 45-25 halftime lead. Isaac Valot chipped in with three points.
Kaden Waldie's 22 points led Wolverine.
Mackinaw City hosts Maplewood Baptist on Tuesday, Jan. 9.
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 edged by Sault at home, Mackinaw City boys cruise at Wolverine
