Wallace, Inland Lakes boys cruise at Pellston; I-L girls win, Cheboygan girls fall

PELLSTON – After a slow start to the season, the Inland Lakes boys basketball team appears to be finding its swagger. The Bulldogs showed more encouraging signs by building a big lead and never looking back in an 82-37 victory at Pellston on Thursday.

Senior Connor Wallace’s 23 points led the Bulldogs (3-1, 3-1 Ski Valley), who pushed their advantage to 47-20 by halftime. Among I-L's other double figure scorers included Sam Schoonmaker, who netted 20 points, Aidan Fenstermaker, who had 15, and Jake Willey, who added 10. Kiontae Mund tallied six. Noah Shugar and Payton Teuthorn registered four apiece.

“I think it’s probably the best defensive game we’ve played so far, but we still have room to improve,” Inland Lakes coach Lee Nash said. “When you hold an opponent to four points in a quarter and 20 for a half, that’s good stuff. Jake Willey was a big factor for us. Connor Wallace and (Schoonmaker) did a nice job of being the two-headed monster, Aidan Fenstermaker had a balanced game, and we had a good supporting cast with (Noah) Shugar and (Kiontae) Mund off the bench, and Payton Teuthorn’s finally starting to get healthy and find his groove.”

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Jack Schmalzried and Josh Grondin finished with 14 points apiece for Pellston (1-4, 0-3).

Inland Lakes hosts Rogers City on Wednesday, Dec. 20. Pellston heads to Mackinaw City on Monday, Dec. 18.

Inland Lakes girls grind out home win

JOHANNESBURG – It was a win, but it was far from pretty.

Despite offensive struggles, the Inland Lakes girls basketball team earned a 37-26 victory at Johannesburg-Lewiston in a Ski Valley Conference matchup on Wednesday.

“For the second game in a row, we were really sloppy,” Inland Lakes coach Daryl Vizina said. “We had way too many turnovers and got beat up on the glass. The things that saved us were our defensive intensity and hustle. Nearly half of our roster is comprised of sophomores who have zero varsity experience.”

Brooklyn LaBrecque scored 11 points to lead the Bulldogs (1-1, 1-0 Ski Valley). Chloe Robinson tallied six.

“The girls are getting better every day, but we have a long way to go,” Vizina said. “They know that, and they work hard every day. In spite of not playing particularly well, we are pleased to get a win at Johannesburg. It is a tough place to play. Every player on our roster made a contribution and that is a huge positive. Taylor Jones and Ashley Murray played phenomenal defense. They were arguably the players of the game.”

In a 58-51 season-opening loss at Boyne City on Monday, Robinson led the Bulldogs with 24 points and 13 rebounds.

Inland Lakes heads to Bellaire on Friday.

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Cheboygan girls battle, but fall at Newberry

NEWBERRY – The Cheboygan girls basketball team dropped to 0-4 overall after suffering a 39-32 road loss at Newberry on Wednesday.

“There isn’t a whole lot of short cuts for us. We need to learn how to win," Cheboygan coach Walter Hanson said. "Last year there weren’t many situations like this. So, we are learning how to handle close games and what it will take to close out games. Newberry was a physical team and at moments I felt like we weren’t physical as we needed to be.”

Leading the Chiefs (0-4, 0-1 Straits Area Conference) was sophomore Jaelyn Wheelock, who scored 12 points. Emily Clark tallied seven, Kinsey Carpenter netted five, Olivia Patrick added four, and Cloee Rupp and Emily Bunker chipped in with two apiece.

In the junior varsity game, Cheboygan dropped a 39-38 contest. Amber Gahn led Cheboygan with 13 points, Isabella Hingston scored eight, and Kyleigh Burt, Addison Ptasnik and Caleigh Easter registered four apiece.

Cheboygan hosts Cedarville on Tuesday, Dec. 19.

Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Inland Lakes basketball teams pick up wins, Cheboygan girls fall at Newberry