Caro’s Bailey Krueger and Millington’s Austin LeVan fight for position in Wednesday nights game. Krueger would finish with a game-high 31 points, and LeVan scored 20, and the victory.
By Tom Gilchrist and Mike Gallagher
Advertiser Staff
ESSEXVILLE — Millington coach Shane LeVan didn’t like the man-to-man defense his Cardinals played against Caro on Wednesday, so on Friday night in Essexville, he switched to a zone defense.
His Cardinals found themselves down 13-0 in the first quarter.
“We ended up going back to a man-to-man and it worked,” said LeVan, whose Millington team reversed its fortunes and led 16-15 after one quarter.
The man-to-man defense worked “because we played it,” said LeVan, whose team picked up a 70-53 win.
Shawn Pardee was working on Millington’s offensive end, scoring a game-high 30 points for Millington. Austin LeVan added 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists, while Cody Hill pitched in with eight points and Jimmy Reed scored six and grabbed nine rebounds for Millington.
“Cody Hill and Jimmy Reed played the best I’ve seen them play,” coach LeVan said. “It was a great team effort. I was very pleased with our defensive effort tonight after Wednesday’s game against Caro.”
Caleb Wascher scored six for Millington, and LeVan said he was impressed with Wascher’s second-half play.
Caro 71, LakeVille 57: Caro picked up its first conference victory Friday night with a convincing win over the Falcons on the road. Bailey Krueger stayed hot, scoring 21 for the Tigers, after scoring 31 earlier this week. Alex Phillips added 17 points for Caro. Darrell Washington scored 21 for LakeVille. Caro (2-2,1-1) will be off for Christmas break, and will return to action Jan. 7 at home against conference opponent North Branch.
Frankenmuth 63, Bridgeport 51: Frankenmuth used a balanced scoring attack Friday night in Bridgeport, defeating the Bearcats 63-51. Unofficial scoring totals showed Zac Janson with 14 points for the Eagles, followed by Mario Whitley with 11 and Grant Reene with 10. Grant Bronner tallied nine points for Frankenmuth, with Sam Bookmyer adding seven. Frankenmuth, 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the Tri-Valley Conference East Division, resumes play Jan. 7 when it hosts Essexville Garber.
Akron-Farigrove 63, Merritt Academy 34: The Vikings moved to 4-0 on the season with a victory over the Mustangs. “This is a good start to the season, but after the break we will have to pick it up a whole lot more with league play coming up,” stated Akron-Fairgrove coach Adam Moore. Jeremy Verhelle led the Vikings with 19 points, while Adrian Vliet scored 15 and Austin Carter had 12. Cody Lawrence scored 14 for Merritt. Akron-Fairgrove returns to action Jan. 6 on the road against Bay City All Saints to open conference play.
John Glenn 45, Reese 40: The Rockets lost their first game of the season on the road Friday night. Reese couldn’t overcome the scoring of Tyler Robbins, who had a game-high 25 points for John Glenn. Jake Galsterer led the Rockets with 13 points. Reese (3-1) plays at Millington Monday.
Marlette 50, Kingston 29: Marlette went on a 9-0 run at home to start the game before Kingston scored its first basket with 25 seconds left in the first quarter Friday night. The Red Raiders were 5-for-17 from the free-throw line and 20-for-52 from the floor, while Kingston hit five out of nine from the foul line and was 11-for-39 from the floor. The Red Raiders had two players in double digits with Connor Thomas leading the way with 16 points and six rebounds. Andrew Storm added 14 points for Marlette, including three of five from the 3-point line. Kingston was led by Aaron VanHorn with six points, and Travis Tucker scored five. Marlette heads to the Imlay City Invitational Dec. 29, while Kingston will take part in the Harry Moore Classic in North Branch on Dec. 29 against North Branch at 7:30 p.m.
FROM THURSDAY
Kingston 66, Carsonville-Port Sanilac 44: The Cardinals used a balanced scoring attack to earn their second conference victory Thursday night over the Tigers. “We played very unselfish tonight, and we got contributions from everyone,” said Kingston coach Dave Lester. Aaron VanHorn led Kingston with 20 points and eight assists, while Travis Tucker added 11 points and seven assists. Kylan Pennington registered 10 points and 11 rebounds for Kingston. Aaron Cooney scored 18 points for CPS.
FROM WEDNESDAY
Frankenmuth 63, North Branch 47: The Eagles pulled away from the Broncos in the fourth quarter, going on a 21-10 run to seal the victory. Freshman Mario Whitley led the way for Frankenmuth with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Sam Bookmyer added 12 points and six rebounds, and Zac Janson scored 10 for the Eagles. Quentin Andrews was the leading scorer for North Branch with 17, and Curtis Garza had 14.
Reese 77, Bay City All-Saints 62: The Rockets earned a big non-conference win over the Cougars. Reese used a 20-12 second-quarter run to build its lead to 13 points, and outscored Bay City 41-33 in the second half. Jared Schrader led Reese with 24 points. Drew Brechtelsbauer had a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Kyle Gnatkowski added eight points and 12 assists. Justin Bates scored a game-high 31 points and grabbed seven boards for Bay City All Saints.
Millington 78. Caro 71: Bailey Krueger scored a game-high 31 points for Caro, but it wasn’t enough at home against Millington. The Cardinals led 41-30 at halftime, but saw their lead get cut to one point, after being outscored 24-14 by Caro in the third quarter. The fourth quarter was back and forth, until the end of the quarter when Millington started to pull away. The Cardinals were led by Shawn Pardee with 25 points, while Austin LeVan scored 20.
Vassar 43, Sandusky 28: Another win for the Vulcans, and another double-double for Tyler Humpert, who has three in the first three games now. Humpert led Vassar (3-0) to the victory with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Vassar jumped out to a 19-4 lead, and cruised to the victory.