Harbor Springs boys fall in Northville, Boyne City adds two wins in U.P.

NORTHVILLE — There’s been no shortage of early season tests for the Harbor Springs boys’ basketball team.

And the Rams picked up one final challenge to close out 2022 over the winter break.

Harbor’s boys traveled to the Northville Holiday Showcase late last week and met up with a Livonia Franklin team that entered the game unbeaten on the season.

After a dominant first quarter and first half, Franklin then remained undefeated with a 61-46 win over Harbor Springs.

The loss sent the Rams to a 1-3 start to the season.

Franklin opened the game in Northville with a 24-7 advantage after the first, then led in a 38-21 game at the break.

Harbor freshman Braeden Flynn then got going for the Rams in the second half, finishing with 17 points, though the damage had already been done for Harbor.

Jack Clancy also added 11 points and Rider Bartel scored seven.

For Franklin, Mitchell Cronyn led with 24 points, including 10 in that big opening quarter.

Harbor Springs will next travel to Pickford on Tuesday, Jan. 3, then bring in Charlevoix for a Lake Michigan Conference rivalry on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Boyne City at Marquette, Negaunee

MARQUETTE — Things have been right on par for the Boyne City boys’ basketball team ever since opening the season with an overtime loss and that continued across the bridge over the winter break.

Visiting both Marquette and Negaunee, the Ramblers returned home with a 2-0 stretch to add to their strong start to the season.

Boyne earned a 72-62 win over Marquette, needing to grind through some tough stretches, then picked up a 46-39 victory over Negaunee in similar fashion.

The Redmen made the Ramblers scratch and claw for every point in the eventual 10-point victory, with senior Alex Calcaterra coming through with a season-high 25 points, along with four rebounds and two assists.

Jack Neer, back from an injury that kept him out a few games to start the season, added 15 points and nine rebounds, Jacob Johnson had 10 points and Mason Wilcox added eight points and four assists.

Also for Boyne, Chas Stanek had seven points and six rebounds and Gavin Hewitt had five points, five rebounds and three assists.

Against Negaunee, the little things like rebounds and free throws helped the Ramblers to a win, which included shooting 78 percent from the charity stripe as a team.

Calcaterra scored 21 points and had seven rebounds, Wilcox had 10 points and three steals, Johnson scored seven and Neer added five points and five rebounds.

Now 5-1, Boyne City will try to keep the win streak alive with a visit from McBain on Tuesday, Jan. 3. They’ll also head to Kalkaska on Friday, Jan. 6.

Charlevoix at Negaunee, Marquette 

NEGAUNEE — The Charlevoix boys’ basketball team picked up a couple of good looks over the winter break with trips to both Negaunee and Marquette.

While they stayed fresh and a young group of players were tested for the Rayders, Charlevoix also took a pair of losses to drop to 1-4 on the year.

The Rayders opened with Negaunee in a 57-39 victory for the Miners, then closed the two-day trip with a 65-49 loss against Marquette.

Charlevoix fell behind early in a 22-11 game and then 38-19 after one half of play against Negaunee and couldn’t recover.

Joe Gaffney led with 13 points, Hudson Vollmer scored seven and Vitale Collins had six.

Against Marquette, the Rayders stayed in it the whole way through. The Redmen led 21-18 after one, the game was tied 34-34 at the half and then Marquette held just a 50-45 lead after three.

“As a team, we improved from our game vs. Negaunee,” Charlevoix coach Anthony Troshak said. “Our main emphasis was getting back on defense, communicating and moving the ball on offense. Credit to the players, for three quarters we did a great job of all of those. We just had a couple of shots not fall in the fourth and got beat on the glass.”

Gaffney again led with 15 points and four rebounds, Ryan Pearl had 12 points and four assists and Vollmer scored nine.

Marquette was led by Wyatt Lakenen with 16 points and Jacob MacPhee added 14.

Charlevoix will next head to Glen Lake on Tuesday, Jan. 3, then travel to Harbor Springs for a conference matchup on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Harbor Springs boys fall in Northville, Boyne City adds two wins in U.P.