As the "Night Before Christmas" poem explains, all three Leelanau County boys' basketball teams have "just settled down for a long winter's nap."

Galen Whittaker of Leland and an unidentified
St. Mary player vie for the ball as Marcus Whittaker
(far left) and Gabe Gallagher (32) look on. The
Comets defeated the Eagles. Below, Glen Lake's
Andrew White prepares to shoot in the Lakers'
win over Northport.

They might need the rest, as the post-Christmas season, like St Nick himself, will begin "lively and quick."

Conference-leading Suttons Bay will play four games in nine days starting Jan. 3 at Northport and ending with a much-awaited clash Jan. 11 at Leland.

The Norsemen and Comets are emerging as teams to beat in the Northwest. Suttons Bay secured an impressive 103-68 win last Wednesday, Dec. 19, over Mesick, to carry a 3-0 conference mark into the Christmas break. The Norsemen are 4-1 overall.

A loss by Leland at Kingsley on the same night — its first defeat of the season — served notice that winning on the road in the Northwest will be no small feat.

"It opens it up a little bit," said Suttons Bay coach Ken Hunter of the Leland loss. "I think Kingsley will be right there."

Kingsley's only conference loss was at the hands of Suttons Bay, 81-77, on Dec. 11.

Leland's slip also gave the Norsemen sole possession of first place "temporarily. Our lead may not be that big — but we'll take it," said Hunter.

Suttons Bay had no problem dismantling Mesick in a high-scoring affair. The Norsemen led 27-18 after one period, 50-32 at halftime and 80-56 after three periods.

Adam Moritz, who finished with four points, grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a follow-up to give Suttons Bay 101 points as the Norsemen gym erupted.

It was a night for scoring, with Nick Loberg and Ben Walters sharing high-point honors at 23 apiece. Andy Wheelock scored 10 points to go with 5 steals, and Greg Jasinski chipped in with 9. Credit Blake Ibbotson with 6 rebounds and Charlie Olson with 5 carems.

While Suttons Bay won't play in a Christmas tournament, the squad will host two scrimmages. The public is invited to view the Norsemen take on Bellaire today at 10 a.m., and Traverse City Central Saturday at 3 p.m.

Leland, meanwhile, jumped out to a 27-13 lead midway in the second period, but couldn't hold on in a 65-59 loss at Kingsley.

"They rebounded over us heavily on the offensive glass, and we turned the ball over 23 times," explained Comet coach Jason Stowe. Leland's previous high for turnovers: 13.

With their fast break slowed by a lack of rebounds, Leland's shooting percentage also took a dip. The team has shot better than 50 percent from the field in all but the Kingsley game, when accuracy dipped to 33 percent.

Marcus Whittaker topped Leland with 20 points, followed by Jordan Gibson with 14.

But Leland didn't stay down long, rebounding with an easy non-conference win Friday over St. Mary, 71-32.

Eagles' coach Jim Smith credited Leland with playing over a defensive scheme designed to slow the Comets.

“We knew what they would do when they came out and planned for it,” Smith said. “But, Leland came out and did it anyway. That one kind of hurt.”

Leland jumped out to a 51-20 halftime lead.

“We just couldn’t get on track the first quarter,” Smith said.

One reason was the inspired play of Whittaker, who had 24 points and 12 rebounds — and one of his patented dunks — while being used sparingly after the lead ballooned. Gibson was also impressive with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.

Credit Galen Whittaker with 9 points.

Adam Peplinski was the top Eagle scorer with seven.

“Leland is well coached and they work hard,” said Smith. “You can see that on the court.”

The Eagles took the junior varsity contest, 63-36. Tyler Shaffran had 13 points and Christiaan Krombeen added 12 in the victory.

Glen Lake slipped to 1-2 in the Northwest with  73-57 loss last Wednesday, Dec. 19, at Frankfort, although Ryan Dyksterhouse scored a game-high 21 points. No information was available about a scheduled Friday contest at McBain Christian.