Fueled by dominant inside play and superior depth, Inland Lakes topped rival Onaway in the most recent matchup between the two on Thursday.
INDIAN RIVER – Whether it’s the boys facing the girls or the other way around, the M-68 rivalry between Inland Lakes and Onaway is one of the more exciting rivalries in Northern Michigan.
In the most recent installment of the rivalry, which had its fair share of fun moments, Inland Lakes got the best of the Cardinals by earning a 72-42 home victory on Thursday, Jan. 15.
Here’s some takeaways from the game.
Elite start for the home team
After capturing a thrilling 75-73 victory over Gaylord St. Mary on Tuesday, the Bulldogs (6-3, 6-2) were simply looking not to have a letdown.
And the Bulldogs most certainly didn’t as they opened the contest on a 16-0 run that was keyed by the excellent inside play of sophomore Ryder LaBrecque, who overpowered the Cardinals (2-8, 2-7) and netted 11 of his game-high 19 points in the first quarter, which saw Inland Lakes build a 22-13 lead. Defensively, the more experienced Bulldogs forced several turnovers on the younger Cardinals, which helped balloon their advantage to double digits.
By halftime, Inland Lakes was in total command with a 41-23 advantage.
“We’ve been asking them time and time again, ‘We know you’re big and physical, use it inside,’ and we finally got some inside looks in that first quarter,” Inland Lakes coach Bryan Newman said. “We kind of let off the gas a little bit towards the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter, and Onaway made a run. (Onaway coach Eddy Szymoniak) had them prepared. We corrected some things in the second and a lot of guys got a lot of minutes, and that always helps, especially down the stretch.”
Depth rules – and a sweet rivalry win
Joining LaBrecque in double figures was senior Elijah Elliott, who scored 14 points. Depth-wise, the Bulldogs were superior to the Cardinals, as they saw 11 total players score, including Cash DePauw and Andre Bradford, who both finished with six points, Zander Robinson and Hayden Ridley, who added five points apiece, Tanner Howard and Elijah Perkins, who both netted four, and Mason Green, Landon Fenstermaker and Landen Perkins, who each chipped in with three.
In the end, it was another impressive rivalry triumph in favor of Inland Lakes.
“It’s always pretty good to get a rivalry win,” Newman said. “Eddy (Szymoniak) always has his boys ready to play, especially when they come over here. I think this is one of the best basketball rivalries in Northern Michigan. It’s fun, it’s a good atmosphere, we had a big crowd here tonight, and Onaway travels well. We had a great crowd here that was pretty responsive to everything tonight.”
Inland Lakes hosts Johannesburg-Lewiston on Monday, Jan. 19.
Better after the opening quarter
For the Cardinals, it wasn’t the sort of start they had in mind on the road against a quality foe.
“We came out and we were gun shy,” Szymoniak said. “We weren’t attacking very aggressively, and I think with the way we started out on defense, I think we made the wrong move of having us playing back and trying to get into the flow of the game, and we needed to come out and put a little pressure on them, so that was my fault in starting them out in a soft defense.”
While the score looked lopsided, Szymoniak was pleased with how his team responded after a couple of difficult stretches of play throughout the game. Leading the way for the Cardinals was sophomore Keagan Beyer, who knocked down four 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 18 points.
“We had five guys, two freshmen and three sophomores, who gave us a spark and gave us a run to get us back in the game, which was really good to see,” Szymoniak said. “I think we’re playing on our heels too much at times, so I think we’ve got to start taking chances and put some pressure on other teams.”
For Onaway, Drew Harman-Blanchard recorded seven points, while Brody George and Cooper VanHuysen each had six, Deacon Szymoniak tallied three, and Chris Pauly added two.
Onaway takes on Rogers City at home on Monday, Jan. 19.
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Inland Lakes boys basketball tops Onaway in M-68 rivalry matchup
Category: General Sports
