he first quarter and opening minutes of the second quarter couldn’t have been any closer when the boys’ basketball teams from Plainwell and host Allegan met on Friday, Jan. 6.
The teams literally matched each other point for point, with Allegan knotting the score at 15-15 on a basket by Thomas Voglewede with 6:36 left in the second stanza.
The rest of the game wasn’t quite as evenly contested.
The Trojans closed the first half on a 17-2 run before scoring the first six points of the third quarter to pull away en route to the 65-37 victory at the Tigers’ expense.
Long-range shooting played a big part in the game-altering run by the Trojans. Plainwell connected on four 3-pointers in the second quarter and added another to start the third frame.
Luke Morrell accounted for three of those five triples on the way to a game-best 18 points, 15 of which came in the opening half. Evan Finch, who finished with 12 points, and Carson Spratt each added one triple during that span.
Allegan coach Matthew Haack wasn’t surprised to see the Trojans firing from beyond the 3-point line.
“We knew that they have been playing good basketball and that they have shooters on that team,” he said. “We did a poor job of contesting those 3-point shots in the first half.
“Our defense has to do a much better job if we are going to win games like that.”
For the game, Plainwell (4-1) connected on nine 3-pointers.
“Allegan throws a lot of defensive looks at you and it was good to see our kids make the necessary adjustments all night long,” Plainwell coach Dan Klein said. “We shared the ball well and were patient finding the open man.”
Tristan Rogers added nine points in the win, with Ben Gibson going for seven.
For Allegan, Caleb DeKryger went for team highs of 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Landon Mielke contributed nine points and six rebounds, with Ian Garcia going for five points and three rebounds.
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