The Northport girls' basketball team won its second game of the season Monday, 43-21 at home over Grand Traverse Academy.

The Wildcats are 2-12 overall and winless in the Cherryland Conference. Coach Gary Longcore said good second and third quarters helped push Northport ahead of the Mustangs after a slow start.

“We didn’t start very well, missing shots. But, the girls picked up the tempo and moved the ball up and down the court,” he said.

Northport and G-T Academy were tied at 4-all at the end of one, but by halftime Northport surged to a 21-8 advanatage. The Wildcats lengthened their lead to 35-15 after three quarters, and cruised to victory. Emily Stowe had 19 points for Northport and Octavia Buss added 8.

Northport didn’t fare as well against T-C Christian, losing 56-11.

“We were moving the ball around, took plenty of shots, we just didn’t get any baskets. Christian, they shot very well, especially in the third,” Longcore said.

Stowe had 5 points to lead Northport.

St. Mary also went 1-1 over the last week with a loss at McBain Tuesday, 65-44, and a narrow win at home Thursday against Suttons Bay, 44-41. The Eagles are 13-4 overall, 3-0 in the Cherryland Conference with only one league game remaining against T-C Christian.

The Eagles started strong against the Ramblers, taking a 17-12 lead after one quarter. By halftime, McBain erased the deficit and to take a 31-25 lead, and outscored St. Mary in third quarter, 21-5.

St. Mary coach Paula Korson said despite the loss she was pleased with the effort. “McBain is a tall team with great athletes. We had Alyssa (Korson, who has an ankle injury) back enough to play half of the game.

Overall, I thought the girls played very well in a tough spot,” she said.
Korson and Susan Herman each scored 11 points to lead St. Mary. Allison Korson added 7 points and Brooke Fortner had 8 rebounds.

Against Suttons Bay, the Norsemen saw an opportunity to avenge an early-season loss at home to the Eagles. Suttons Bay held a 12-11 after one, but St. Mary took a 30-24 lead at the half. By the end of three, the Eagles held a precarious 39-36 lead.

Norse coach Fred Wille said Suttons Bay had an opportunity to tie the game or seal the win with 30 seconds to go in the fourth. “We were down 43-40 when Biri (Luna) got fouled trying to shoot a three. She hit the first one, missed the second and intentionally missed the third, but we didn’t get the rebound,” he said.

Coach Korson said keeping up with Suttons Bay proved to be a hard task. “Those girls came ready to play and it took everything we had to stay with them. Our girls did a really good job of not staying complacent when they had a lead; it was more Suttons Bay was just playing really well,” she said.

Korson’s daughters, Breanna and Allison, both scored 12 points to lead the Eagles. Christy Miller had 8 points and Brooke Fortner had 11 rebounds. For Suttons Bay, Luna had 16 points and 3 steals; Arianna Guillen had 11 points, 5 steals, and 4 assists; Cheyenne Petoskey had 8 steals and 2 points; and Beatrice Shannaquet had 8 points and 10 rebounds.

St. Mary will play at Manistee Catholic Central tonight, at T-C Christian on Tuesday and close out the regular season at home Feb. 14 when it hosts the T-C Bulldogs. Northport played at Buckley last night, will play at Bear Lake on Feb. 13 and closes the regular season at home against Alba.