Tuesday Night at Mt. Pleasant High School was one for the books as the Girls & Boys Varsity teams each defeated Traverse City West, with the Boys doing so in dramatic fashion.
The Doubleheader action started with the Oilers Girls looking to capture a third straight victory. Mt. Pleasant came into the non-conference contest at 12-5 overall – and 7-1 at home.
The game started tight with a 6-6 tie a few minutes in, but then the Oilers would catch FIRE.
Mt. Pleasant ended up hitting FIVE first quarter triples and finished the first on a 17-0 run, to lead 23-6 after one. Bella Colores was quick to get into double figures, finishing the first quarter with 10.
The 2nd quarter saw a surge in the back half from the Titans, as they would put up 21 points in the quarter. Mt. Pleasant still led 35-27 at the break.
The second half would see Mt. Pleasant retake the double digit lead for most of the way, despite TC West Senior Guard Raegan LaCross keeping the Titans in it with several splashes from downtown.
Big 3rd quarters from Ava Petrino & Lizzey Laney followed by a high scoring 4th from Jordyn Egger led the Oilers to a comfortable win, as they defeated TC West 67-51.
Jordyn Egger led the Oilers with 17 including 3 triples, and added in 7 rebounds and 8 STEALS! Ava Petrino was right behind her with 15 points and 3 swipes, and Bella Colores added in 12 with a couple three-balls and 3 steals herself.
Our JNR Engraving Player of the Game for the opener of our doubleheader went to the Freshman Phenom Lizzey Laney. Lizzey finished with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 2 steals! She made it very difficult for the Titans to score in the paint all game long.
Raegan LaCross had a huge game for TC West, leading them with 27 points.
Game Two of the Doubleheader was looking to be a good one, as the 11-7 Oilers Boys were looking to bounce back from a 3-game losing streak. This was not going to be easy however, as they hosted a 16-3 Traverse City West squad.
Despite this being a non-conference game, this was a good test for Coach Schell’s squad – as the Oilers district is in Cadillac with a potential matchup coming against the Vikings in the district final – who beat TC West by a tight margin just a couple weeks ago.
The first quarter showed us immediately that this was going to be a physical battle, and both teams were showing relentless effort defensively and in the break.
Mt. Pleasant led the way for the majority of the first half, despite dealing with several players in foul trouble and an injury. Despite those factors, the Oilers led at the break 37-31 – led by Easton Day with 14, and Will Garcia hitting a couple triples to add 8.
The start of the second half saw balanced scoring from each side, and with 4:33 left in the 3rd Easton Day would hit a tough right-side floater to make it 41-35 Oilers.
Unfortunately for Mt. Pleasant, this would be their last field goal for quite some time. A few free throws from Day and one sunk by Sam Henrie just before the end of the 3rd gave the Oilers a 44-39 lead headed into the 4th.
The 4th quarter is where things went wild, as TC West applied major pressure defensively, and would have the game tied at 44 halfway through the final 8.
Coach Schell saw how the quarter was playing out and decided to play for possession control. Mt. Pleasant would take nearly 3 minutes off the clock on just one possession to get the clock down to 1 minute remaining – still tied at 44.
However, the possession finally ended when the Titans forced a turnover, and now had control to burn the clock themselves. TC West attempted to do the same as the Oilers and hold for the last shot, but that was cut well short as Nick Dise forced a turnover with 40 seconds to go – OILERS BASKETBALL!
Mt. Pleasant now had the chance to score their first points of the entire quarter – and their first field goal in nearly a quarter and a half – on the final possession. Easton Day drove into the paint with under 5 seconds to go before getting it poked loose by the Titans and forced out of bounds.
1.1 seconds remained on the clock. Coach Schell calls timeout to draw up the game winning in-bounds play. And here it is:
Easton Day with a great job selling the flare, before he cuts right behind his defender and Nick Dise dished it right to him for the game-winning left-handed lay.
A great play call from Coach Schell gave Mt. Pleasant their first points of the quarter and they came at the last possible moment!
Mt. Pleasant goes onto win 46-44 and breaks the 3-game losing streak to advance to 12-7.
Our JNR Engraving Player of the Game for Game Two had to go to Easton Day, who led the way with 22 points and hit the shot to give the Oilers the W.
Blake LaFaive & Caden Stoops each had 10 to lead the Titans.
The Mount Pleasant Boys will close out their regular season at home this Friday for Senior Night against Grand Blanc (9-1 in the SVL). The Oilers will then head to Cadillac for their District next week, where they will get a rematch vs Midland Dow on Wednesday.
The Oilers Girls – now 13-5 overall – also take on Grand Blanc Friday, but they will be on the road. This is a showdown of two 7-3 teams in the SVL. Then they will return home for Senior Night against Cadillac on Tuesday (which we will have on Buck92.3)
Our Local High School Coverage continues tonight at Beal City High School for the Aggies Boys Senior Night vs Manton.
Make sure to follow us on Facebook and check our website for an updated playoff schedule, which will be coming later this week.
Kyle Sandel – Buck92 Sports Director
