Everything continues to click for Petoskey against Boyne City
PETOSKEY — When the winter break rolls around late in December every season, some teams are caught between a couple scenarios.
That’s wanting some time off ahead and wanting to keep a good start to the season rolling with the momentum.
As good of a start the Petoskey girls basketball team is on, which continued with a 54-31 win Thursday night over Boyne City, that’s a bit where head coach Bryan Shaw and his team are at.
“That’s 100 percent right, but I think we all want a little break,” said Shaw. “There have been a lot of games, a lot of time in the gym and then school on top of that, which is the priority. But, we feel like we’re playing well right now. We’ve got a heck of a schedule after break too.”
Petoskey’s not even done this week, as they head to Cadillac as well on Friday for a Big North Conference match, looking to make it six straight wins after a season opening loss.
After building a 19-3 advantage in the first quarter against the Ramblers Thursday, that seven-point loss to begin the season looks pretty far off.
“We’re playing a lot better, playing together,” said Shaw. “The thing I like is that we’ve been having 20-21 assists in games. Everybody shares the ball. Caitlyn (Matelski) is scoring some points, but they’re off good passes and when she’s hitting double teams, she hits the wide open girl.”
One of the biggest question marks heading into the season was how Petoskey’s guards would step up, but they’ve been filling the role of veterans before them just fine.
Petoskey knocked down five triples in the first and second quarters Thursday, with Lauren LaHaie hitting a pair, as well as Nevaeh Leonard, while Haidyn Wegmann added one.
“Really a five guard rotation so far with the starting three, then Naveah and Sophia (Lee) off the bench tonight,” Shaw said. “All five of them bring us something. They’re active, they’re aggressive and making better choices, so they’re cutting down on turnovers a bit and that’s what we’re looking for.”
The 3-pointers are something Shaw believes can be an asset this season going forward as well.
“In the summer, that’s what we saw,” he added. “We were getting the open shots and hitting them. Those girls can shoot it when we get that going.”
Matelski led with 12 points and eight rebounds, along with three blocks, then Leonard scored 10 and Wegmann had nine points and five assists. LaHaie also had six points and five assists.
For Boyne City, it was a second straight tough loss after starting the season 2-1, though things did seem to click better in the second half for first-year head coach Mike Wilson’s team.
“We knew when we came in here it was going to be a tall task to take on a team like that,” said Wilson. “I appreciate the never-die attitude from the girls. Credit to Petoskey, they’re deep and they’ve got a lot of athletes out there, so trying to hang with a team like that is a tall task but the girls did a good job.”
Braydin Noble finished with 17 points to lead the Ramblers, many of which came in the second half.
Boyne City (2-3) will next host Gaylord St. Mary on Friday, Dec. 29 during the break period, while Petoskey (5-1) travels to Cadillac for a Big North Conference opener Friday, then heads to Gaylord just out of the break on Thursday, Jan. 4 for another BNC matchup.
“Our conference I think is going to be really, really balanced,” Shaw added. “Cadillac is 4-0 and it’s on the road, so we’ll have to step up to play.”
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: The Petoskey girls have opened on a hot start just before the winter break
