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Northern Lakes champion Comets lead boys all-conference teams

drew kochanny, the petoskey news-review
·4 min read
Mackinaw City's Cooper Whipkey etched his name into the MHSAA record books this season for 3-pointers and found himself as an All-Northern Lakes Conference first team selection.
Mackinaw City's Cooper Whipkey etched his name into the MHSAA record books this season for 3-pointers and found himself as an All-Northern Lakes Conference first team selection.

MACKINAW CITY — For the first time in fives years, the Northern Lakes Conference featured a different team atop the league standings at the end of the season in boys basketball.

One of the more exciting races around the area ended with Mackinaw City on top, ending Ellsworth’s run of four straight undefeated titles, along with a shared title in 2017-18.

The Comets finished 11-1 within the league and later made their way to the regional championship round in Division 4, leaning on a talented group of seniors and underclassmen.

Lars Huffman closed out a big campaign that had the Comets atop the league and district and now earns All-NLC recognition.
Lars Huffman closed out a big campaign that had the Comets atop the league and district and now earns All-NLC recognition.

Much of that talent was highlighted on the league’s all-conference squads, recently released by the coaches of the Northern Lakes.

The Comets of course led the way with three first team selections and six overall between the first and second teams and honorable mention list.

Mackinaw’s Cooper Whipkey put together another standout campaign and led the Comets in scoring with 420 points and 16.2 per night. He also averaged 3.1 steals a game and 2.8 assists.

Whipkey also etched his name into the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) record books with 93 made 3-pointers for the season, which puts him at No. 11 all-time in the single season record marks. He’ll also join the career 3-pointer MHSAA record list.

Both Lars Huffman and Lucas Bergstrom earned first team honors for the Comets as well.

Huffman averaged 11.8 points a game in his final season, along with 6.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.3 blocks.

Bergstrom, a junior, upped his game to average 10.8 points and led the team in rebounding, averaging 12.7 a game and 331 for the season.

Harbor Light's David Chamberlin was again a tough guard for opponents to corral and he picked up first team All-NLC honors for his season.
Harbor Light's David Chamberlin was again a tough guard for opponents to corral and he picked up first team All-NLC honors for his season.

Harbor Light Christian junior David Chamberlin earned all-conference first team recognition in helping the Swordsmen to a third place finish within the league, while averaging 13.4 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists.

Ellsworth’s Kelan Pletcher took over the lead scoring duties for the Lancers this season and helped them not skip a beat, thanks much in part to his 24.3 points a game average.

Pletcher also averaged 9.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists to earn first team honors.

Patrick Puroll was also named a first team recipient for the Lancers in a season that came with 12.3 points a game, 7.1 rebounds and 7.3 assists. Puroll also got it done defensively, averaging over 4.0 assists a game.

The remainder of the first team for the league consisted of Alanson’s Christian Silveus, Josiah Brabson of Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian and Ezekiel Glazier of Wolverine.

Brabson turned in a season in which he averaged 21.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists a game.

On the second team, Ellsworth’s Jacob Jenuwine highlighted the group with an average of 20.5 points and 7.2 rebounds a game.

Harbor Light's Kirk Rose put together a strong campaign and earned second team All-NLC honors.
Harbor Light's Kirk Rose put together a strong campaign and earned second team All-NLC honors.

Harbor Light’s Landon Jakeway, only an eighth grader, took over the starting point guard duties for the Swordsmen and earned second team honors as well.

Jakeway did a little of everything from the point, averaging 13.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 5.0 steals a game.

Harbor Light’s Kirk Rose also put together a solid season, averaging 10.0 points and 7.0 rebounds, bringing him to the NLC second team.

For Mackinaw City, both senior Noah Valot and junior Sebastian Pierce were recognized as second team selections.

Valot averaged 10.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals, while Pierce averaged 8.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists.

Alanson’s Mason Weidenhamer, Burt Lake’s Josh Ferraiuolo, Ashton Spang of Boyne Falls and Wolverine’s Kaden Waldie were also named second team selections.

The honorable mention list for the league included: Brandon Nguyen, Alanson; Derek Vest, Burt Lake; Ben MacCurdy, Burt Lake; Trystan Swanson, Mackinaw City; Donavon Honeysette, Alanson; Julian Roloff, Wolverine; BJ Ashenfelter, Wolverine; JT Greenier, Boyne Falls; and Doug Canistra, Wolverine.

Final Northern Lakes Conference standings (league/overall): Mackinaw City: 11-1, 21.5; Ellsworth: 10-2, 17-6; Harbor Light: 9-3, 13-11; Burt Lake: 5-7, 11-10; Alanson: 4-8, 8-13; Wolverine: 3-10, 6-13; and Boyne Falls: 0-12, 0-17.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Northern Lakes champion Comets lead boys all-conference teams