Advertisement

KALKASKA - Too many turnovers and not enough defense doomed the Kalkaska boys basketball team in a 60-49 loss to Mio in the opening game of the Blazers' Christmas Tournament last Friday night.

Playing for third place in its own tournament wasn't what the Blazers had in mind. Neither was ending up fourth, which is exactly what they did when Houghton Lake defeated them, 71-70, in overtime the next night. On the positive side, Kalkaska - which dropped to 4-4 overall - remained undefeated in Lake Michigan Conference action at 3-0.

"It would have been nice to win our own tournament," coach David Manchester said, "and have some good momentum going into the hostile environment like Charlevoix, the only other undefeated team in the LMC."

The Red Rayders are 7-0, and occupy the top spot in the Class C state rankings released by the Associated Press.

Kalkaska had three players in double figures against Mio, but it wasn't enough to overcome their mistakes.

Mio's defense also presented problems for the Blazers.

"They played good man-to-man defense, and we didn't play very well," Manchester said. "We made a couple good runs, but they countered right back every time."

Alex Krause had another breakout game, scoring 16 points and hauling down 6 rebounds.

Travis Schuba led the Blazers with 17 points and 4 rebounds. John Kasza contributed 12 points and had 8 rebounds. Jake Heller topped the team with 10 rebounds, and Jake Royston dished out 7 assists.

Kasza enjoyed a big game against Houghton Lake with 27 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and was 13-of-16 at the free throw line.

Heller finished with 13 points and had 3 blocked shots. Schuba contributed 11 points and dished out 6 assists. Royston added 9 points and 8 rebounds. Krause had 10 rebounds.

"We need to work on our conditioning for Charlevoix," said Manchester, "and our defense. We have to run our offense, and keep going to the post."