Blue Devil boys can't keep momentum going, fall at Boyne City
BOYNE CITY — Boyne City boys’ basketball head coach Randy Calcaterra knew things would take some time to develop this season.
Missing a four-year varsity player and leader on the court for a bit will do that.
It’s shown some two games in, though if the Ramblers share the ball and take care of it like they did midway through the second quarter and on against Sault Ste. Marie Thursday, they’ll be just fine.
Welcoming in the Blue Devils for their first home game of the season, things clicked for the Ramblers out of a second quarter timeout while down seven and an eventual 59-43 victory followed.
“They were tentative and kind of hesitant at the start,” said Calcaterra. “There was too much holding the ball, it wasn’t moving. But once we started passing, the game really started flowing. That was the key to that run for sure. It was offensive execution.”
The win comes as the first of the season for the Ramblers (1-1), after opening with a loss at St. Ignace, while for Sault Ste. Marie (1-1), it comes as the first loss.
For Sault coach Mike Fitzner, it was hard to not like a 16-12 opening quarter lead that closed on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Carter Oshelski, though there was a lot he didn’t like so much ahead.
“I loved our energy defensively, I thought we had a good gameplan and were executing it pretty well, then we started getting a little sloppy and then we’re a half step slow so we’re reaching,” said Fitzner. “I didn’t love our shot selection tonight. I thought we settled for some not so good threes. But we made some shots and we were up 10 and in good shape. But, Boyne is a good team. We knew we weren’t going to run away with this thing down here.”
The Blue Devils took a 21-12 lead early in the second, then Calcaterra took a full timeout to settle his guys down and add some reminders.
Out of that timeout, Alex Calcaterra got Boyne going with a perfect trip at the line, then a 17-4 run followed, with Jacob Johnson getting going inside and both Calcaterra and Gavin Hewitt adding 3-pointers. The Ramblers then led 29-25 at the half.
It stayed close in the third quarter, with Boyne’s Mason Wilcox and Dominic Haller of the Sault going back to back on threes in a 34-29 game, but things turned a bit there, as threes didn’t fall like they were for the Blue Devils and the Ramblers began to pull away.
“We had our opportunities,” said Fitzner. “It certainly wasn’t our best shooting night, especially in the second half. Too many turnovers, we got sloppy with the basketball.
“We really want to play inside-out. We think our highest percentage of threes are the inside-out threes and we didn’t do a good enough job getting the ball in, then getting kick outs.”
Boyne City later led 46-36 after the third quarter, then kept it at a comfortable distance in the fourth.
For Calcaterra, it was good to see his guys pick things up as the game went on, as they still learn how to play without guard Jack Neer, who they expect back around January.
“We knew we weren’t going to be at full strength and it’s going to take a while to get there,” he said. “It has been a little slower than I hoped getting in, but hopefully we just keep it going and just play the way we played the last couple minutes of the second quarter and keep it rolling.”
Haller led the Blue Devils with 15 points, while Maxwell Scott had nine and Oshelski scored eight.
For Boyne City, Johnson led the way with 16 points, getting it done inside, while also hitting a 3-pointer.
“He’s totally capable of that,” said Calcaterra on Johnson’s game. “He’s put so much time in over the offseason and you can tell. You can tell it in his body, can tell in his confidence. The guys and team trust him more. He’s still got a long way to go to reach his ceiling, but we’ve got high expectations for sure.”
Hewitt added 15 points, Wilcox scored 13 and had three assists and Alex Calcaterra had 10 points, eight rebounds and a team-high seven assists. As a team, the Ramblers combined for 17 assists in the game.
“We’re talking a lot about sharing the ball and that’s pretty great when we’re sharing the ball that much,” added Randy Calcaterra. “They were keying on (Alex) so hard, so that’s what he’s going to have to do drawing attention. The other guys got going, so that’s great.”
Boyne City returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 15 at Elk Rapids, which will come as their Lake Michigan Conference opener, while Sault Ste. Marie will head to Petoskey on Tuesday, Dec. 13.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Blue Devil boys can't keep momentum going, fall at Boyne City
