Advertisement

But, the Warriors got off to a slow start and couldn't catch up in dropping a 74-59 game at Pellston last Thursday.

It took the Warriors out of contention in the league, although they still have a chance to finish second if they can win their remaining conference games. That will be a tall order.

"We just don't have that killer instinct like we had early in the season," Forest Area coach Bobby Nix said.

"I don't know what's happening. It's like we went into cruise control mode. Like I told them (the Warriors) after the game, this starts the second half of the season.

"Once this is done, we go into the districts. You lose there, you go home."

Forest Area got within six points in the fourth quarter, but had to foul in order to stop the clock and get the ball back and Pellston pulled away at the free throw line, where it shot 66 percent.

Pellston shot 45 percent from the field, hitting on 21-of-46 attempts. "We came out flat right from the start," Nix said. "Pellston shot the lights out in the first half, and it's a tough atmosphere playing at someone else's house. The crowd was into it." Pellston also benefited from several Warrior turnovers, and a hot shooting night.

The Warriors shot 44 percent from the field, while the Trojans made 46 percent of their floor shots.

Forest Area made only 57 percent of its free throws, but the Trojans were even colder at 29 percent.

Pellston enjoyed an 11-point lead, 24-13 at the end of the first period. It was 44-26 at the halftime break. The Warriors trailed, 59-45 after three. Forest Area made 75 percent of its free throws, but only 29 percent from the floor.

Tyler Denike led the way for Forest Area with 12 points and 2 steals. Mitchell Core had 11 points, making 9-of-10 free throws. Sam Runkel had 8 points, hitting on 8-of-10 from the free throw line, and grabbed 10 rebounds. Bob Hatfield scored 8 points.

Although the Warriors sputtered early against the Trojans, they took a 1310 lead at the end of the first period.

The Warriors opened up a 10-point lead, 24-14 with 3:59 left in the second quarter. Central Lake came back to cut that to five, 30-25 at the half.

Central Lake rallied to take a 48-45 lead after three quarters, and stretched that out to six, 53-47 with four minutes gone in the fourth on a basket by Frank King.

But the Warriors refused to quit. Core scored and made the free throw after being fouled on the play to cut the deficit to two, 56-54. Zach Light backed down the defense and put in a layup to give the Trojans a four-point lead, 58-54.

Forest Area then took charge, its press forcing a couple of turnovers which were quickly converted into scores.

Denike slapped the ball away from the Trojans' guard out front, chased down the loose ball and cooly squared up for a shot to cut the gap to one, 58-57 with 1:13 left.

Carl Snyder made two free throws to give the Warriors a 63-60 lead with 14 seconds to play, and added another with 1.8 seconds remaining to clinch it.

"They're always tough," Nix said of the Trojans. "They're scrappy. Zach Light is a man in a boy's body. He's a great kid.

"I'm glad to have the win. We were picked to finish at the bottom of the league."

Core led the Warriors with 19 points, and he added 4 rebounds. Denike added 15 points and had 8 steals. Hatfield contributed 8 points and 7 rebounds.

Forest Area (7-4 overall, 5-3 in the league) has only one game this week, Wednesday's road trip to Gaylord St. Mary.