Gibson's strong play lifts Leland over S-B

Dwuan Anderson went airborne during a shot
against Leland Friday night. Anderson made the
shot, but Leland won the game.

Trailing for much of the first quarter in a style of basketball best described as hurried in a gymnasium best described as loud, Leland senior Jordan Gibson had plenty of emotions.
Panic was not one of them.

“We knew it was early,” said Gibson after the Comets finished a surprisingly easy 89-71 win Friday over visiting Suttons Bay. “We know we can always come back because we have the players with the hustle and the heart to make it a good game.”

Indeed, Leland’s win was a “good game” on several levels, including entertainment, but also served notice on the Northwest Conference that the Comets will be tough to catch.

Leland improved to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the Northwest, with its only loss at Kingsley. The Stags, likewise, have only been beaten once — but have to play at Leland on Feb. 9.

So is Leland, which played a non-conference game with St. Mary last night and have a Northwest match at Buckley Saturday, in the driver’s seat for the title halfway through its Northwest schedule?

“We’ve got to get back up for them. We can’t afford a letdown,” said Leland coach Jason Stowe.

The Comets used balanced scoring with five players in double figures to wear down Suttons Bay, which fell to 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the conference. Gibson scored 20 points, followed by Marcus Whittaker with 16 points, brother Galen Whittaker with 14, Eric Larsen with 13 and Nate Sneed with 10.

“Jordan and Eric, I think, we’re the difference-makers,” said Stowe. Larsen dished out 9 assists, had 6 steels and grabbed 5 rebounds.

But Stowe said Leland’s big men also came through, outrebounding Suttons Bay 42-19. Adam Nedow joined Marcus and Galen Whittaker with 10 rebounds apiece.

It was 10th grader Galen Whittaker who Leland went to when down 18-17. He canned two field goals, which was followed by a Gibson bucket to take a 23-20 lead after one quarter.

Galen Whittaker hit three field goals — one of them a “3” — as Leland continued the streak into the second quarter, eventually rattling off 13 straight points to take a 32-20 advantage that Suttons Bay never recovered from.

“It was the second quarter when they did us in,” said Norsemen coach Ken Hunter. “They had some balanced scoring, they played very, very well that night, and I don’t think we played especially well. That’s a tough team.”

During the game, Leland coach
Jason Stowe gives instructions from
the sidlines to his players.

The game may also be remembered as a “coming out” party for 6-foot-2 Norsemen freshman Dwuan Anderson, whose 35-point night included a dunk, acrobatic lay-ins, and three-pointers. “He played about as good as he can play,” said Hunter.

Added Gibson: “We couldn’t stop him. He dribbled through us.”

Hurting Suttons Bay were the limited minutes of senior center Nick Loberg, who was recovering from the flu bug.

The Norsemen didn’t stay down long, rebounding with a non-conference 76-72 win at Lake City. They went to Anderson at the end of the game to secure the win, clearing his side of the court for a one-on-one move. Anderson responded with a dunk to tie the score with less than a minute to play.

Ben Walters, who had a fine shooting night, stuck two free throws and finished 5-for-5 from the line to keep Suttons Bay in front. Walters finished with 28 points, including seven 3s.

Anderson scored 20, and Loberg scored 19 to go with 8 rebounds. Also credit Jason McKisson with 6 rebounds.

Suttons Bay may have stepped to the line at the end of the game, but it was Lake City that hit 23-of-38 attempts to stay in the game. The Norsemen were 8-of-13.

Glen Lake, meanwhile, got needed victories Friday at Mesick, 57-36, and Tuesday over Northport (see accompanying story), 72-35.

Ryan Dyksterhouse finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, helping Glen Lake take a 24-9 lead after one period and move ahead 32-12 by halftime. Andrew White added 11 points, and Matt O’Brien contributed 8 rebounds.

The win over the Bulldogs moved Glen Lake to 2-4 in the Northwest and 4-5 overall as its schedule front loaded with away games heads for the midway mark. The Lakers will end up playing 10 of their first 13 games on the road.

“These last two games, our bench group got in and played great. Now we have four more on the road. We didn’t know where we were last night (when hosting Northport) and it was a game in our home gym,” said Glen Lake coach Todd Hazelton.

Glen Lake will travel to Suttons Bay Saturday for a rare 6 p.m. start time, play at Elk Rapids next Wednesday, Jan. 23, and then play at the Palace of Auburn Hills Jan. 25 prior to a Detroit Pistons game. The blizzard of road games ends at East Jordan Jan. 30.

“For us, it’s about that .500 mark,” said Hazelton. “We have to get there, and then we have a 10-game season.”

Suttons Bay will travel to Charlevoix next Wednesday, Jan. 23.