Sam Bookmyer goes up for the layup in the game Friday night against Caro. Bookmyer scored seven points in the 73-36 win over Caro.
By Tom Gilchrist and Mike Gallagher
Staff Writers
FRANKENMUTH — Eleven players scored for Frankenmuth’s boys basketball team here Friday night, six of them nailed 3-point shots and every Eagle, it seems, hawked Caro’s dribblers.
“I was proud of our guys for our defensive energy,” said Frankenmuth coach Andy Donovan, whose squad used defensive pressure to help cause 29 Caro turnovers en route to a 73-36 win over the Tigers.
“We are a deep, balanced team,” Donovan said. “I would say that’s a strength of ours. We’re at our best when we’re sharing the ball and when we’re competing together.”
Brady Wood led Frankenmuth with 18 points, with Mario Whitley scoring nine, Grant Bronner adding eight, and Sam Bookmyer and Colton Zimmer getting seven apiece.
“Primarily, we’re playing a nine-man rotation, and I think all nine of our guys — on a given night — can put it in the bucket for us,” Donovan said. “I don’t know that I’d pick out one guy. We want to do it with balance.”
Frankenmuth, now 5-0 overall, moved to 4-0 in the Tri-Valley Conference East Division with the win. The Eagles led 29-14 at halftime and expanded the margin in the second half.
“They were quicker to the ball,” said Caro coach Dan Bills. “They killed us on the boards in the first half. We didn’t come out ready to go, we didn’t box out well. They ran well, they pressured us well. We kind of got flustered a little bit and turned the ball over too much.
“When you don’t rebound and you turn the ball over, you’re going to be in for a long night, and that’s what happened to us tonight.”
Caro, 3-4 overall, dropped to 2-2 in the league. Brandon Tomlinson scored 11 points to lead the Tigers, with forward Tanner Tysick adding six.
Caro played without Kyle Sharp, who missed the game due to illness. Tysick had scored 31 points earlier in the week against North Branch, but Frankenmuth “frustrated him a little — he had size on them but they were physical down low,” Bills said.
Frankenmuth travels to Birch Run on Wednesday, while Caro visits Essexville Garber.
The Tigers shot better at the foul line on Friday than Frankenmuth. Caro made eight of 11 foul shots, while the Eagles connected on only 13 of 27.
Reese 53, Sandusky 48: The Rockets earned a comeback victory over the Redskins Friday night in Greater Thumb Conference crossover action. Trailing 43-35 at the end of the third quarter, Reese stormed back in the fourth going on an 18-5 run to steal the win on the road. Jared Schrader led all scorers with 16 for the Rockets, while Kyle Gnatkowski added 10, and Kyle Stockmeyer had nine. Danny Hale led the Redskins with 14 points. Sandusky shot 3-16 from the 3-point line on the evening. “Sandusky played tough on ball defense, but we made some plays late in the game,” said Reese coach Brian Kern. “We really played all four quarters tonight”. Reese (4-2, 1-0) will play on the road against Harbor Beach on Wednesday.
Millington’s Austin LeVan finishes a dunk during a game versus LakeVille. Levan recorded a triple-double Friday night against Bridgeport
Millington 81, Bridgeport 56: Austin LeVan had a special night Friday while leading the Cardinals over the Bearcats. LeVan had a triple-double scoring 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists, pushing the Millington win streak to seven wins to start the season. Shawn Pardee led all scorers with 29 points, and Millington scored over 80 points for the third time this season. Millington (7-0, 4-0) will be on the road against North Branch Wednesday.
Vassar 60, Laker 19: The Vulcans started off Greater Thumb Conference West Division play in fine fashion at home Friday night, with a convincing win over the Lakers. Vassar held a 30-7 halftime lead, and outscored Lakers 30-12 in the second half. Tyler Humpert recorded 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots for Vassar, while Evan Wilcox added 11 points for the Vulcans. Vassar (6-1, 1-0) will be on the road Wednesday against Ubly.
Bad Axe 50, Cass City 37: The Hatchets, playing at home, used an 11-0 run to open the game to help put away the Red Hawks Friday night. Bad Axe led 17-7 after one quarter, but Cass City came back to make it only a six-point halftime lead for Bad Axe, 30-24. The Hatchets used some stiff second half defense to pull out the win, allowing only 13 points in the last two frames. Tommy Morneau scored a game-high 23 points for Bad Axe, while Sawyer Cuthrell led Cass City with 15. Mason Erla added nine points. Cass City (1-5, 0-1) will be at Marlette on Wednesday.
Bay City All Saints 81, Owen-Gage 32: The Bulldogs dropped their second conference game of the season against the Cougars in Bay City on Friday night. All Saints jumped out to a 13-0 lead, and held a 60-19 halftime lead. Justin Bates scored a game-high 34 points for the Cougars and hit eight 3-pointers. Jacob Wright led the Bulldogs with 23 points. Owen-Gage (1-5, 0-2) will be back in action Tuesday night on the road against Flint International Academy (0-5, 0-0).
WEDNESDAY RESULTS
Frankenmuth 59, Essexville-Garber 46: The Eagles kept their record unblemished while picking up their third TVC East victory of the season. Frankenmuth used a strong defensive effort to jump out to a 25-14 halftime lead. In the second half, the offenses warmed up for both teams, with the Eagles outscoring the Dukes 34-32. Mario Whitley led Frankenmuth with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Colton Zimmer added 10 points and seven rebounds, and Brady Wood scored 11 points. Blake Oakes led all scorers with 15 points for Garber.
Millington 88, LakeVille 43: The Cardinals rolled to their sixth win of the season, earning their third TVC East win in the process. Millington jumped out to a big 55-24 halftime lead, and then outscored the Falcons 33-19 in the second half. Shawn Pardee filled the stat sheet for Millington with 23 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists. Three other Cardinals scored in double digits: Jimmy Reed (18), Cody Hill (14) and Austin LeVan (11).
Vassar 49, Harbor Beach 40: The Vulcans won over the Pirates in GTC crossover action at Vassar. Harbor Beach jumped out to a 28-20 halftime lead, behind Josh Schelke’s 18 first-half points. Vassar, however, grabbed the momentum in the third quarted behind some great defense and timely shooting. DeAundre Callahan matched up with Schelke in the second half, and held the Harbor Beach star to only two points, while nabbing six steals and also drawing two charge calls against Schelke. Colton Fabbro hit two 3-pointers in the third quarter, including the game-tying three, before Callahan took the lead on a steal and score. Tyler Humpert had a big game for the Vulcans, picking up his fourth double-double of the season with 21 points and 15 rebounds.