Scoring balance, defense spark Mackinaw City girls in home victory over Onaway

MACKINAW CITY – For almost one quarter of play, the Onaway Cardinals hung right in there with the high-powered Mackinaw City Comets.

But as we’ve seen a lot from the Comets over the years, they can impose their dominance at any given moment.

On Thursday, the talented and experienced Comets used two of their best qualities – balanced scoring and suffocating defense – to overwhelm the young Cardinals the rest of the way in a 68-33 non-conference victory.

“Another great team effort tonight,” said Mackinaw City coach Jake Huffman. “I’m so proud of how hard these girls work defensively and rebounding, and just the overall team effort, four girls in double figures again tonight, and our ball movement is so good. I think that really makes us solid offensively on that end of the court as well.

“(Onaway coach John George) has got a really nice team, some good athletes, and I was really happy with the game plan we executed. He’s got some really nice players.”

Both teams set the offensive tone instantly, with Mackinaw City’s Gracie Beauchamp and Onaway’s Charlotte Box connecting on made 3-pointers. The Cardinals stayed red hot from the field and took a 10-8 lead with a mid-range jumper from Madilyn Crull.

But in an instant, the undefeated Comets transformed back into the well-oiled machine they’ve been this season, erupting with a 15-3 run to close the quarter and taking a 23-11 advantage into the second.

The overall length and defensive ability of the Comets continued to overwhelm the Cardinals in the second, while Mackinaw City’s offense saw several players contribute. As a result, the Comets outscored the Cardinals by a 16-6 margin and took a commanding 39-17 lead into the break.

While they looked terrific on offense for most of the first quarter, the Cardinals struggled to make shots and take care of the ball against the well-organized and aggressive defense of the Comets for the rest of the half.

“I think we just were a little too timid, we were intimidated,” said George. “They got (Madison Smith), who is a rim protector in the middle, and when you try to drive it through there, and before you know it you’re getting blocked every time, and then you start second-guessing yourself. That was pretty obvious what was going through our heads there at some point.”

As for the scoring balance, the Comets saw four players reach double figures on the night, with Marlie Postula’s 23 points, three steals and two assists leading the way. Larissa Huffman recorded 12 points, nine rebounds, seven steals and six assists, while Smith tallied 12 points, eight rebounds, five blocks, three assists and three steals. The last Comet to hit double digits was Julia Sullivan, who had 10 points, five boards, three steals and two assists.

“I think at this point this year we’ve had six different leading scorers in different games and all sorts of types of games, and a lot of that is attributed not only to the effort and time that these girls have put into the gym, but the piece that they truly enjoy is playing with one another, and they share the basketball,” Huffman said. “At the end of the night, I don’t think any one of them is running up and down that court thinking about, ‘Oh, I've got to get mine.’ They’re more like, ‘I’ve got to make sure to get the right shot, I’ve got to make sure I get the great shot,’ and if we continue to share the basketball like that, that makes us tough to defend offensively.”

Rounding out the Comets offensively were Gracie Beauchamp (seven points, five assists, five steals, three rebounds), Jersey Beauchamp (four points, six assists, five steals, one rebound) and Carla Blake (one rebound).

Leading Onaway’s offensive attack was Box, who finished with 12 points, while Kailyn George added nine, Crull scored seven, Aubrey Benson registered three, and Ema DeMaestri chipped in with two.

“It was (a great start) until they really closed us down,” George said. “It just shows that our potential is there. That’s what we look for. We look for little goals and little victories throughout a night like this, but it wasn’t our night. I don’t know if we run with them on our best night, but that’s definitely what we aspire to be in the future.

“We got all our sophomores and freshmen and everybody else and a couple upperclassmen going up against a bunch of seniors. That’s what I told them in the locker room is, ‘Hopefully this is what our program looks like in 2-3 years.’ They (Mackinaw City) didn’t miss, it’s hard to beat that. We didn’t create enough offense.

“I don’t know what else to say. They’re good.”

Huffman had plenty of praise for the Cardinals, a team he believes could make some noise in the postseason.

“Our girls, like I said the other night, they want to get out and see that tough competition and play good athletes, and Onaway’s got a bunch of good athletes,” Huffman said. “They’ve beaten (Johannesburg-Lewiston), they were 8-2 coming into tonight, and even their two losses were quality losses where they competed with (Gaylord) St. Mary’s and Inland Lakes.

“To be play that level of competition does us a lot of good.”

Mackinaw City (11-0, 5-0) returns to Northern Lakes Conference play when it travels to Boyne Falls on Monday.

Onaway (8-3, 6-2 Ski Valley Conference) heads to Pellston for a league game on Tuesday.

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Scoring balance, defense spark Mackinaw City girls in home victory over Onaway