High school roundup: Mackinaw City girls dominant, Inland Lakes boys build more momentum

MACKINAW CITY – Mackinaw City didn’t even know if it was going to have a game on Thursday.

But thankfully for the Comets, they got their opportunity when Petoskey St. Michael made the trip up to Mackinaw. It was another winning night for the undefeated Comets, who cruised to a 54-10 girls basketball triumph.

“Our team defense got better as the night went along, as we chipped off some rust from a long layoff due to our recent influx of winter weather,” Mackinaw City coach Jake Huffman said of his squad, which built a 31-8 halftime lead. “It was great to get back on the court and watch my group put forth a great team effort. (St. Michael) have a new program in their second year. St. Michael has a young team that put forth a great effort and has some nice pieces as they build their program.”

The 8-0 Comets received a big night from senior Gracie Beauchamp, who finished with 25 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, three steals and two blocks, while fellow senior Jersey Beauchamp added 14 points, eight rebounds, three steals, three blocks and one assist. Other Mackinaw City contributors included Kerry-Ann Ming (eight points, five rebounds, three steals, one block), Kenzlie Currie (seven points, four assists, two rebounds, one steal), Grace Sroka (six rebounds, one steal, one block), and Rian Esper (one steal, one block).

“Our unselfish play and ball movement is leading to some great shot opportunities as we assisted on 13 of 23 field goals,” Huffman said. “We have a tough stretch coming up with several makeup games, and we start working our way through the conference a second time next Thursday with some big matchups.”

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Wallace, Teuthorn key Bulldogs at Central Lake

CENTRAL LAKE – A couple nights after earning its biggest win of the season, the Inland Lakes boys basketball team kept its momentum going with an 80-70 victory at Central Lake on Thursday.

Senior Connor Wallace scored a team-high 25 points and fellow senior Payton Teuthorn netted 17 for the Bulldogs (6-5, 5-3 Ski Valley Conference), who built a 43-25 halftime lead.

“We typically struggle at Central Lake when it comes to scoring the ball, but I was super pleased with our offense most of the game,” Inland Lakes coach Lee Nash said. “We got a backdoor cut anytime we wanted, the pick-and-roll was there, and I thought Payton Teuthorn, man, he stepped up bigtime. Connor Wallace was just dicing them up through the paint with those tough finishes that he does. Aidan Fenstermaker put two games in a row together, so that’s a lot of good, positive things.”

Among I-L's five double-digit scorers included Fenstermaker (13 points), Sam Schoonmaker (12) and Jake Willey (10). Cam Kettle had two and Noah Shugar added one.

Inland Lakes hosts Johannesburg-Lewiston on Tuesday, Jan. 23.

Missed chances haunt Chiefs at St. Ignace

ST. IGNACE – When you’re trying to take down a team as talented as St. Ignace, a lot must go right.

Unfortunately for the Cheboygan boys basketball team, it couldn’t capitalize off its offensive chances and suffered a 55-26 road loss to the Saints on Thursday.

“It was amazing in that first half how many layups we missed – easy layups,” Cheboygan coach Jason Friday said. “It’s tough because when you miss a layup on one end, the number of times that the other team gets the rebound and takes it down to the other end and gets a quick basket. I don’t care if it’s middle school, high school, college or pros – a missed layup always seems to add up to an easy bucket for the other team, and that’s what happened a lot in the first half.”

Brennen Thater and Gavin Smith scored six points each to lead the Chiefs (7-6, 1-3 Straits Area Conference). Luke Munger netted five. Jordan Johnson, Daniel Hudson, Kaleb Goodrich and Luke Hoskins added two apiece. Caden Gardner chipped in with one.

“Defensively, we played very well, especially in that first half,” Friday said. “(St. Ignace) had 28 points at halftime, and for a team that’s putting a lot of points on the board, that’s pretty good for us. Offensively, we are just struggling right now.”

Jonny Ingalls scored 19 points to lead the Saints (9-2, 4-0), who received 14 points from Kordell KillsCrow and 10 from Ethan McLean.

Cheboygan travels to Gaylord on Tuesday, Jan. 23.

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Onaway girls hold off Mancelona in OT

ONAWAY – It’s been a tough stretch for the Onaway girls basketball team as of late.

On Wednesday, however, the Cardinals got back on the winning side of things, albeit in dramatic fashion. In overtime, Onaway did just enough to hold off Mancelona in a 45-39 victory.

The Cardinals (6-3, 4-3 Ski Valley Conference) held a 10-point lead going into the fourth, but Mancelona rallied to tie the game up by the end of regulation. Kailyn George scored 16 points and Marley Szymoniak netted 13 to lead the Cardinals, who received nine points from Andrea Ruppert and seven from Ema DeMaestri.

“Big win for our group,” Onaway coach John George said. “Offensively, we did some good things. We came alive from the 3-point line and made some nice extra passes to finish some high-percentage shots. Ema DeMaestri played a great game tonight, leading us with 10 rebounds. I thought we played with good energy tonight and hope this can be a building block for what’s left to come this season.”

Onaway hosts Bellaire on Friday.

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: Basketball roundup: Mackinaw City girls, Inland Lakes boys capture Thursday wins