Showcase Showdown: Thompson's 20 points leads St. Mary to 59-52 win over McBainNMC; Hazelton collects 26 points in Glen Lake victory

Feb. 5—TRAVERSE CITY — When it rains, it pours threes from Lake Leelanau St Mary boys basketball.

St. Mary senior Drew Thompson had himself a Saturday afternoon at the Northern Michigan Showcase at Traverse City St. Francis High School by racking up a team-high 20 points against McBain Northern Michigan Christian (10-5, 8-4 Highland) in the Eagles' 59-52 win.

After being down for most of the game, the Comets rallied back in the fourth quarter to cut into the Eagles' 45-37 lead. After a few made free throws from Comets junior Ethan Bennett, the lead shrunk to 45-39. But that didn't last long.

Eagles Senior Shawn Bramer and Thompson responded to extend their lead to 47-39, but the Comets kept showing fight.

"Don't turn the ball over," Eagles head coach Matt Barnowski said during the Comets' run. "And you've got to make your free throws down the stretch."

After a few minutes, the Eagles (13-1) began to shut the door on the comeback after Thompson made his final free throws in the closing minutes to extend the lead to 56-48.

With under a minute left, the Comets kept fouling the Eagles and allowed them to take their chances in hoping the Eagles would miss. After a few misses, the Eagles maintained the lead because the Comets couldn't make anything either.

"I thought we competed well, but we've got to defend," Comets head coach Kyle Benthem said. "We've got to defend the perimeter better because they are a great shooting team."

After Thompson got fouled for a second time, he couldn't make anything at the line. But the misses didn't affect the Eagles much because the Comets couldn't put points on the board.

Before the Comets' comeback attempt, anything the Eagles let fly seemed to go in.

Thompson shot like Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson behind the arc on Saturday. His hot hand from long distance helped his teammates to get looks as well.

"No relation to him at all," Thompson laughed. "My favorite player is Steph Curry,"

Shooting like Curry on Saturday earned him nod from Coach Barnowski. He credited his scoring ability that helped take the pressure off Shawn Bramer and Dylan Barnowski.

Lake Leelanau entered the second quarter up 15-13; but after soaring to a 12-0 run, the Eagles landed on a 31-15 lead with buckets from Thompson, Barnowski and Nathan Schaub.

After the Eagles cooled down, the Comets rallied back to enter halftime down 32-22. But right out of the gate in the third, Bramer drilled a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 35-22.

The threes kept falling to extend the lead to 41-24, but the Comets kept stayed alive. They rallied on an 11-4 run to shrink the Eagles' lead to 45-27 entering the fourth quarter.

After the game, both coaches expressed how pleased they were to get an invitation to play in the showcase that featured some of the best schools from the area and downstate.

"It just sets a playoff atmosphere for the kids," Benthem said.

"I told our guys they have established yourselves as a quality team in northern Michigan over the last four to five years," Matt Barnowski said. "You guys deserve the respect that you guys got and earned it. It wasn't given to you it was earned and for them to invite us here is huge."

The Comets close their three-game road trip against Houghton Lake on Tuesday. St. Mary travels to Reese on Saturday.

NoMI SHOWCASE

TC West losses 78-42 to Ferndale

TRAVERSE CITY — Everyone's thoughts and prayers were with Traverse City West junior Wally Tupper II after he took a fall toward the end of the second quarter of the Titans' game against Ferndale. Tupper was able to function after going down.

Tupper was placed into concussion protocol when he hit his head on the hardwood floor after getting tangled up inside the paint. After more than 15 minutes, the TC St. Francis and TC West athletic training staff made sure Tupper was taken care of before medical staff arrived to take him to Munson Medical Center.

"He was alert and conscious when he left," TC West head coach Doug Baumann said.

Tupper is undergoing further evaluation. There is no timetable for his return to the court, Baumann said.

TC West: Quinten Gillespie 16 points. Ben Harbers 10 points.

UP NEXT: The Titans (7-10, 4-3 Big North) travel to Gaylord on Friday.

Glen Lake 56

Wayne Memorial 43

Glen Lake: Luke Hazelton 26 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists; Neil Ihme 9 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 8 blocks; Cooper Bufalini 8 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists.

UP NEXT: The Lakers (13-1, 9-1 Northwest) travel to Buckley on Wednesday.

Grand Blanc 74

Cadillac 46

Cadillac: Charlie Howell 14 points; Jaden Montague 7 points; Davin Brown 7 points; Riley Wade 5 points.

UP NEXT: The Vikings (13-2, 7-0 Big North) host Traverse City Central on Friday.