MORLEY — The Pine River boys improved to 3-0 in the young season with a 61-40 victory at non-league foe Morley-Stanwood.

Trevor Holmquist had a big day inside for the Bucks, delivering a double-double with 15 points and 12 boards. Mason Gugle struck for 10 points with eight boards and Xander Martin put eight on the board. Eli Smith and Sheen Pink each scored seven.

“We came out very sluggish in the first half and didn’t play the kind of defense we need to play to be successful,” said Pine River coach Brian Goodenow.

“We weren’t forcing any turnovers to start our offense. We challenged them to change during halftime and the boys responded with great intensity. Sheen Pink hit a couple of big threes that helped us get separation.”

Goodenow also commended J.J. Dean, Cash Wheeler, and Braeden Larr for providing gritty minutes off the bench in the second half.

Pine River (3-0, 1-0 Highland) is home Friday for a girl-boy varsity doubleheader with Highland foe Houghton Lake.

FRANKFORT — Lake City kept things close for a while at the court of non-league foe Frankfort but the Panthers pulled away as the game went along, winning 69-36.

“Frankfort is a very good team and they played well tonight,” said Lake City coach Brad Besko.

“We battled in the first half and did a lot of positive things. Unfortunately, we ran out of gas in the second half. Hopefully we get some guys back healthy soon.”

Frankfort led 18-15, 30-20 and 49-27 at the quarter breaks.

Corbin Bisballe tallied 13 to pace the Trojans and James Vanderbrook hit for 10. Kaden McGiness scored seven.

Lake City (1-1) is home Thursday in the Highland opener against Evart.

FIFE LAKE — Forest Area earned its first victory of the season, edging visiting Cadillac Heritage Christian 49-36.

Cameron Patton put 22 on the board for the Warriors while Lucas Blankenship struck for 15 and Tyler Singer for eight.

“Henry Culler, Luke Czuk and Jake Erickson worked the glass and everyone on the team contributed to the win,” said Forest Area coach Brandon Deike.

Heritage started hot, with junior Sebastian Vrieze hitting for six quick points in the first quarter. Vrieze ended up with 12 points to pace the visiting Patriots and Ethan Glupker added seven.

“We played some unselfish team ball, with eight different players scoring points tonight,” said Heritage coach Andy Brubaker.

“However, we didn’t hit from the free throw line and that hurt us.”

Forest Area (1-2) plays today at the court of Ski Valley foe Gaylord St. Mary.

Heritage Christian (0-1) is home Friday against Rudyard.

FRANKENMUTH — The Lake City girls traveled to the court of Frankenmuth, the Division 2 state runner-up last year, and dropped a 39-23 decision to the talented Eagles.

Lake City trailed 18-5, 20-12 and 31-15 at the quarter breaks.

“It’s a tough start to our season,” acknowledged Lake City coach Bill Tisron.

“Frankenmuth is a great team with a lot of experience returning from their state runner-up team. I thought after the first quarter we settled down and played better but the first quarter hurt us tonight.

“We have work to do on both ends of the floor but we’ll get there. It’s a long season and we’ll find our groove.”

MacKenzie Bisballe paced the Trojans with 10 points to go with six boards and three blocks. Alie Bisballe hit for nine with 14 boards, two blocks, and three assists.

Lake City (0-1) is home Friday to begin Highland play with Evart, the only team to defeat the Trojans in the regular season a year ago.

MORLEY — The Pine River girls opened the season at Morley-Stanwood and dropped a 63-29 decision to the Mohawks, who are a perennially solid program.

“Morley is a very well-coached team that returns all but two players from last year,” said Pine River coach Derek Kanouse.

“We started out slowly and didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half. This was a long learning experience for us. We settled down and shot the ball better in the second half.”

Emma Tice tallied eight to pace the Bucks and Riley Thompson scored seven.

Pine River is home Friday in the Highland opener against Houghton Lake.

BUCKLEY — The Buckley girls dominated the boards Tuesday against visiting Mesick in the season opener, posting a 52-18 victory.

Buckley secured more than 50 rebounds in the game. Sophomore Kayla Milarch hit for 13 with seven boards and three steals.

Freshman Lucy Moyer scored 12 with eight boards and a block, and sophomore Maddie Chilson tallied eight with 10 boards to go with five steals and two assists.

Leading for Mesick was Rylee Blach with seven points ad Kayla McCoy with six.

Mesick (0-1) is at Brethren on Thursday. Buckley (1-0) is home Thursday against Kingsley.

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