EVART — For night No. 1, Carrie Kunkle will take it.

Evart put together a strong defensive effort as it beat Reed City 47-27 in a non-conference girls basketball contest Monday night.

It was the season opener for both teams.

For the Wildcats, it was the first game out without graduated standout Addy Gray, who is now at Mid Michigan College. Evart returns a number of key players, though, and expectations are still high.

“For our first game out, the girls played really well,” Kunkle said. “There was a lot of unselfish play and we ran the fast break well.

“I thought we played exceptional defense, too, considering they have a really strong post player.”

Kyrah Gray paced Evart with 23 points and Emma Dyer scored seven.

The Wildcats jump right into the deep end with Highland Conference play as they are at Lake City on Friday in a key early-season match-up.

MANTON — Manton used strong defensive play to beat Kingsley 56-42 in its non-league opener.

“I thought our defense was really good tonight,” Manton coach Jon Paul Katona said. “I thought our intensity was really high and we created a lot of turnovers.

“Kudos to our bench, too. We didn’t miss a beat when the starters came out which was great.”

The Rangers led 10-7 after the first quarter and 27-16 at halftime before taking a 46-25 lead into the fourth quarter.

Lauren Wilder paced Manton with 21 points, five steals, three assists and six rebounds in her return from a knee injury last year. Aubrey Hiller had 19 points, four steals and three assists while Angela Porter added nine rebounds, six points and four steals.

“Kudos to Angela for her tenacity in getting rebounds and playing a defensive game,” Katona added. “Aubrey hit four threes in the second quarter, too, and that really sparked us.”

Manton hosts McBain on Friday.

MCBAIN — McBain got the job done, beating Boyne City 56-42 in a non-league contest.

The green-and-gold Ramblers controlled the game for the most part, though, Boyne City made it a little tight in the fourth quarter.

“I was pleased with the second quarter and the third quarter up until the last minute or two,” McBain coach Bruce Koopman said. “The fourth quarter just irritated me. They did nothing different but we just lost focus.

“We’ve got to learn to sustain the focus offensively and defensively but that will come with time.”

McBain led 16-12 after the first quarter and 30-18 at halftime. It was 51-33 going into the fourth.

Evan Haverkamp paced McBain with 23 points while Claydon Ingleright had 10. Darious Pena and Nathan Koetje each had nine while Ben Rodenbaugh scored six.

McBain is at Manton on Friday.

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