Basketball Notebook: BCC boys run past Portage Northern

Battle Creek Central players come out for warmups prior to a Tuesday night game with Portage Northern at the BCC Fieldhouse.
Battle Creek Central players come out for warmups prior to a Tuesday night game with Portage Northern at the BCC Fieldhouse.

On the second of back-to-back nights, you wondered what kind of Battle Creek Central team would show up on Tuesday against Portage Northern.

Despite losing on a buzzer beater on Monday, BCC bounced back for a 51-27 win over Portage Northern (2-7) on Tuesday in a Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference boys basketball contest at Fieldhouse.

MORE: Coldwater gets key I-8 win over Pennfield in battle for first place

"We lost a tough one last night, but we came out and played well tonight," said BCC coach Durant Crum.

Possibly with some heavy legs with two games in as many nights, BCC started slow and only scored seven points in the first quarter. However, the Bearcats outscored Portage Northern 21-10 in the second quarter to lead 28-12 at halftime.

"We started out with our full-court defense and forced their hand early," Crum said. "In the second quarter, we were able to get some easy, transition buckets."

Kylon Wilson led BCC with 12 points in a balanced offensive effort, with Kierre Young, Ke'Marion Tucker and Mark Lane all adding nine points.

BCC has won four of its last five games to climb to 6-3 overall. Monday's 46-44 loss at the buzzer to Wayne Memorial at Jackson High School is the only blemish.

"Feeling pretty good about the progress we are making. Guys are starting to reap the benefits of being in the gym on a consistent basis and working hard," Crum said.

Adrian 72, Lakeview 62

Lakeview lost for the fifth straight time and drops to 3-7 after this non-conference contest against Adrian (6-3). Adrian outscored the Spartans 21-11 in the third quarter. Hayden Mueller had 24 points for Lakeview, along with 10 rebounds and four assists. Jashaun Boggerty added 11 points and seven assists and Walter Brown had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Harper Creek 79, Lumen Christi 62

Harper Creek goes to 5-1 to share the top spot in the Interstate 8 Conference and is 7-2 overall with the win over Lumen Christi (2-8). Cooper Fry led the Beavers with 19 points, Will King had 14 and Chris Castle added 10.

Marshall 72, Parma Western 57

Marshall remains in a first-place tie in the Interstate 8 Conference at 5-1 and goes to 8-1 overall. Nate Tucker had 32 points and 10 rebounds, with Nauvion Burnett coming up with 13 and Alex Costa adding 11.

Delton Kellogg 68, Climax-Scotts 53

Delton Kellogg jumped out to a 31-23 lead at halftime in this non-conference contest and improves to 4-6. Austin Blocker had 27 points and Alex Whitmore added 24 for Delton Kellogg. Jackson Lawrence finished with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists for Climax-Scotts, who fall to 3-3. Miles Shannon added 14 points and eight rebounds for C-S.

Olivet 59, Bronson 54

Bronson jumped out to a 24-13 lead, but Olivet rallied to remain undefeated at 9-0. Brayden Wine had 22 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles, with Tayven Feldpausch adding 14 points and Drew Priddy coming up with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Athens 62, Battle Creek Academy 24

Aiven Roach had 18 points and Landon Bennett added 14 as Athens improved to 4-4.

Girls Basketball

Battle Creek Central 35, Portage Northern 27

BCC was only able to dress five players, but came away with the win to improve to 3-5. A'Mya Hodges had 19 points with Shayla Ardis adding eight points and 10 rebounds.

Harper Creek 62, Lumen Christi 33

Harper Creek won back-to-back games for the first time all year and improves to 3-8. Alyssa Smith, Marissa Smith and Izzie Miller each had 11 points for Harper Creek.

Coldwater 54, Pennfield 25

Coldwater improves to 5-4 as Elli Foley had 17 points and six steals to lead the Cardinals. Elli Anderson added 16 points for Coldwater. Pennfield's Kaylee Glidden had 10 points as the Panthers drop to 4-7.

Parma Western 54, Marshall 38

Parma Western remains undefeated with the I-8 win over Marshall (6-4). Mallory Tucker had 11 points for the Redhawks.

Colon 41, Camden Frontier 32

Colon led 19-11 at halftime as the Magi climb to 7-1. Reese Williams led Colon with 23 points and six rebounds with Megan Mullins adding 10 points.

Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com or 269-966-0678. Follow him on Twitter: @billbroderick.

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Basketball Notebook: BCC boys run past Portage Northern