Photo courtesy of Blaine Johns.
By Ben Murphy
Beacon Correspondent
No matter how good you are, you probably aren’t going to win them all. That unfortunately proved true for the Munising girls basketball team last Wednesday, when they lost a road game at Newberry, 38-34.
“I thought we certainly could have played better defensively, but offensively we gave Addie Bowerman no help,” head coach Matt Mattson said. “We’ll have to get more offensive production out of other players, or we’ll continue to struggle. Newberry played well and beat us.”
Kaylen Kienitz hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter, but that was the only field goal the Mustangs had in the frame. They were behind 12-7 after one.
Bowerman got going in the second, hitting a 3-pointer as part of her nine points, and Munising was down just 20-17 at the break.
It was 11 more points for Bowerman in the third, and the Mustangs took a 32-26 lead entering the fourth.
Their offense ran dry in the final 8 minutes, however, and Newberry rallied to claim the win.
Bowerman led the team with 22 points. Kienitz finished with seven points, Kiera Curtis added four and Taylor LaFlamme scored one.
On Jan. 5, Munising outlasted host Bark River-Harris to get a 34-30 victory.
“Tough week for us with two good teams and two tough places to play,” Mattson said. “I thought our defense played very well. Offensively, we struggled at times but still came out with a win.”
Munising finished each quarter with a lead: 13-7 after one, 21-7 after two and 30-21 after three.
The Mustangs were led by Curtis, who had 13 points. Bowerman scored nine points, while Kienitz added eight and LaFlamme three.
Munising (6-1 overall) hosted Carney-Nadeau on Monday, was at home against Manistique on Tuesday, will host Newberry on Friday and heads to Stephenson on Monday.
Boys basketball drops three
Munising couldn’t right the ship in its boys basketball game on Friday. The Mustangs were playing at rival Newberry, where they lost in a heartbreaker, 46-45, giving them their third loss of the week.
“Had a great start and jumped out to a 10-point lead, with all five starters scoring,” head coach Terry Kienitz said. “It was a good mix with Jaris Goings hitting two 3s and Dylan Adkinson and Nolan Connaughton attacking the rim. Held the lead heading into the fourth quarter, then Newberry hit some big shots to take the lead. We had a chance at the end to take the lead, but the shot just didn’t fall.”
Connaughton netted eight points in the first quarter, with the 3-pointers from Goings and Adkinson helping the team take a 21-11 lead after one.
Connaughton buried a pair of triples in the second, and Munising was in front at the half, 31-23. That lead dwindled to 37-32 entering the fourth. Adkinson led the offense in the final frame with six points, but it wasn’t enough for the Mustangs to come out on top.
Connaughton finished with 16 points, and Adkinson added 15. Goings finished with nine, Brandon Boyak added three points and Caden Curtis scored two.
“It was the best we played all week; they really played hard,” Kienitz said. “I think things were kind of clicking for them offensively at times, and defensively they communicated well. Nolan and Dylan played a great game, scoring 16 and 15, and defensively they combined to hold Newberry’s best player to five points. It’s tough to play well and play hard and still come out short, but I think the team took a big stride this game. Jaris played really good, scoring nine. For a freshman to just step into this varsity role and play 32 minutes is not an easy task.”
Last Wednesday, Munising came up short in a home contest against Norway, 54-32.
“We played hard, but Norway just gradually pulled away from us,” Kienitz said. “Boyak hit some big 3s in the first half to kind of keep us in the game. Norway likes to throw several different defenses at you, and it keeps your offense out of rhythm. They had four players in double digits in scoring, which made them really hard to defend. We were a little shorthanded, so I think a little fatigue had a factor.”
Boyak hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter, but Munising was down 12-7 after one. Boyak drained another triple in the second, but they were still down at the break, 23-15. They also faced a deficit of 37-21 entering the fourth.
The Mustangs had Boyak finish with nine points thanks to his three treys. Adkinson finished with eight points, Goings added four and with three apiece from Connaughton, Curtis and Coppick. Carter Rautanen also had two points.
Munising began the new year with a road game at Manistique on Jan. 5. The Mustangs came up short, 55-30.
“We had a slow start offensively and just couldn’t recover. Credit Manistique’s defense; they were playing with a lot of intensity and purpose,” Kienitz said. “Defensively, we didn’t communicate very well, which ended in them getting open shots Credit them; they shot the ball at a high percentage. We played hard, just couldn’t get any rhythm offensively or defensively.”
The Mustangs struggled in the first quarter, falling behind 13-1 after one. They were looking at deficits of 31-8 at the half and 47-14 entering the fourth.
Connaughton led the team with eight points. Boyak added seven points, Curtis finished with five, Jaxon Malone and Adkinson added four points apiece and Westcomb scored two.
Munising (3-5 overall) was at home against Carney-Nadeau on Monday, will head to North Dickinson on Thursday and travels to Bessemer on Monday.
Seven wrestlers place at Mariucci meet
The Munising wrestling team saw action at the Ray Mariucci Invitational on Saturday in Kingsford. The Mustangs did quite well on the day, having seven wrestlers place during the event.
Henry Basley (132 pounds) had a solid second-place finish. After getting a bye in the first round, he defeated Colt Nevil of Norway and Kaden Zuraski of Menominee to get to the championship match. He lost there, however, getting pinned by Beepsee Teeple of Marquette in the second period.
Brody Johns (165) was the Mustangs’ next best finisher, winning one match on his way to a fourth-place finish.
Keelan Haase (126) had two wins on his way to a fifth-place finish. Nolan Dolaskie (157) lost his first match but rallied to win the next three to take fifth overall. Chris Kulik (165) was also able to come in fifth, recording four wins.
John Nord (113) had a victory during the day as well, giving him sixth place. Levi Hauler (144) had two wins but had to settle for sixth.
Dylan Krause (106), Aliyah Shalom (138), Chase Hauler (150), Orin Shalom (150), Ramsey Cearley (190) and Matthew Nord (215) competed as well.