Unselfish play fuels Cheboygan boys basketball team in home rout over Tawas

CHEBOYGAN – It’s been a long time since the Cheboygan boys basketball team started 3-0.

Well, it happened on Friday night – and even coach Jason Friday didn’t know the last time it had occurred. One full week after their last contest, the Chiefs saw several players contribute and stayed undefeated with an emphatic 67-23 home victory over Tawas.

Here’s some takeaways after another Cheboygan win.

Everybody doing their part

From the opening tip, to the final buzzer, the unselfishness of Cheboygan was on full display Friday, as the Chiefs saw just about everybody score. On the night, 12 Cheboygan players scored, including seven who netted five points or more. Defensively, Cheboygan was swarming throughout the matchup, causing several Tawas turnovers and taking advantage with easy transition buckets.

Overall, it was the sort of display Cheboygan coach Jason Friday wanted to see after his team hadn’t played in seven days.

“I talked about it in the locker room after the game that these are the hardest games to coach,” Friday said. “Everybody might not believe that, but everybody wants their minutes. My starters didn’t play in the fourth quarter, and it was nice to look down and see them cheering on our kids who don’t get to play as much, and also the unselfishness in that quarter, because everybody wants to pad their stats in games like that.

“It was just unselfish basketball.”

FRESHMAN IMPACT: Only a freshman, Gavin Smith’s skill, energy already on display for Cheboygan basketball

WIN OVER EAST JORDAN: Ferocious defense among main takeaways as Cheboygan boys top East Jordan, improve to 2-0

Goodrich sets the tone early

While the Chiefs started slowly by committing turnovers, senior point guard Kaleb Goodrich settled things down, got aggressive and made his presence known, scoring seven of his game-high 13 points in the opening period. Goodrich also stood out defensively for the Chiefs, who only allowed two second-quarter points and built a commanding 35-12 halftime advantage.

“He just slithers and is able to split double teams, he’s able to finish up there with either hand, and he really gets us going because not only can he finish, but he’s a great distributor, and he reads the court very well,” Friday said of Goodrich. “He’s hurting right now. He went to the orthodontist and was really hurting (Friday morning), but he’s a gamer.”

Netting eight points for Cheboygan was Owen Kimbrell, while Caden Gardner, Gavin Smith and Luke Hoskins each tallied seven, Brennen Thater had six, Luke Munger recorded five, and Jordan Johnson added four. Patrick Watson, Robert Godfrey and Blake Blaskowski registered three apiece. Daniel Hudson added one.

“Luke Hoskins played fantastic both rebounding the offensively,” Friday said. “He was very aggressive. Robert Godfrey played very hard. I thought Luke Munger played hard tonight. He battled the boards. He had five points, but he had a ton of rebounds and just worked really hard. Owen Kimbrell knocked down a couple threes, and it’s just great to see those guys really come out and play hard and unselfish.”

CHEBOYGAN GIRLS: Cheboygan girls basketball shows signs of progress despite loss to Boyne City in opener

A group with a ton of confidence

Following another win, the confidence continues to soar for a Cheboygan team that’ll have a chance to go to 4-0 when it hosts Newberry on Tuesday, Dec. 12.

“Our (junior varsity is) 3-0, we’re 3-0, and you can sense it in practice,” Friday said. “You can feel it before games, you can feel that energy, and it’s contagious. It really is.”

The Chiefs will head into the Newberry matchup with momentum, but Friday knows his team will be in for a tough clash.

“I know they have the (Matthew) Rahilly kid, who is tough,” Friday said. “We didn’t see him last year because he plays hockey as well, and I know he’s really good. If we play our game – if we play solid defensively, close out and get out and run – I think we’re going to be pretty successful.”

Nik Klein scored 11 points to lead Tawas.

Cheboygan also won the JV game, 72-48. Jack Ekdahl led with 16 points, Landon Gahn scored 14, Carson Kiefer and Andrew Kiefer each netted 13, Nolan Schley finished with 11, Luke Lafrinere and Frank Leonard chipped in with two apiece, and Sam Brown had 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 team delivers dominant display in win over Tawas