MUSKEGON — A 17-point Spring Lake eruption over just four minutes in the second quarter proved too much for Montague to overcome Monday in pre-district action, as the Lakers cruised to a 57-32 win.
The Wildcats’ defensive game plan revolved around the interior, as Montague believed the Lakers were less likely to do damage from distance than they were closer to the hoop. Spring Lake made that plan backfire, drilling seven three-pointers in the first half, four of them in that pivotal span alone. By halftime, what had been a 13-12 Spring Lake lead ballooned to 30-17.
“What we saw was that they weren’t necessarily knockdown shooters from out there,” Montague coach Nick Thaler said. “Credit to them, they made shots. They made a lot of shots.”
Eli Morrison led the Laker attack with 11 first-half points on his way to a game-high 16. Montague’s offense, meanwhile, sputtered as the Wildcats (13-10) found it difficult to find open looks against a Spring Lake group that seemed to be everywhere Montague tried to go.
Thaler said he hoped his team would be more aggressive getting to the basket.
“Obviously we have some size on the inside,” Thaler said. “We just couldn’t get in the paint and finish. They were more physical than us defensively. They were bumping our cutters out. We couldn’t get aggressive cuts. We were just kind of like deers in headlights, just standing around the three-point line and trying to make shots, as opposed to creating those shots.
“Bill (Core, Spring Lake coach) has them organized. They play good defense year-round.”
Neither team scored for almost half the third quarter prior to Morrison breaking the drought with a driving layup. Montague quickly got those two points back, but couldn’t sustain a rally to get back into the game.
It was a tough draw for Montague to get the Lakers in the first round; Oakridge was seeded #2 in the district, but Spring Lake is a strong team in its own right, and impressively so considering, Thaler pointed out, the Lakers were missing a major contributor this season in the injured Zane Stahl.
Montague will have a lot of work to do next season as it loses four-year varsity players Owen Raeth and Isaiah Atchison to graduation. Thaler said there are promising players ready for the challenge.
“I’m pretty excited about some of the sophomores that were playing JV ball (this) year, getting them acclimated to varsity basketball, what our culture is and what our expectations are,” Thaler said. “We have a pretty decent eighth-grade class that’s coming in, and our freshman class is good.
“It’s just a matter of how much these guys want to get in the gym and want to get better. At the end of the day, you’ve got to get in the gym. You’ve got to put in the time. There will be opportunities for that. My job is going to (be to) get them in there and get them better.”
