Cardinal boys win slugfest with Central Lake; improve to 4-0
The Onaway High School varsity boys’ basketball team will take a perfect record into the holiday break, following Tuesday’s 68-50 victory over visiting Central Lake.
The win improved the Cardinals’ record to 4-0 (3-0 Ski Valley Conference), the program’s best start in recent memory. The team will return to action January 3 when it hosts Inland Lakes.
The Trojans came into the game with a reputation for physical play, and they lived up to that reputation by committing hard fouls on Cardinals who dared drive the ball into the paint.
Those fouls, however, put OHS at the charity stripe for much of the night. Onaway shot 51 free throws in the game, and the Cards would have won by more than 18 points if they’d managed to connect on more than 18 of those freebies.
Joe O’Bradovich had a huge night for the Cardinals, with 25 points, nine rebounds, five steals, and four blocks. It was the second straight 25-point game for the junior.
Carlos Bautista scored 14 points, grabbed eight boards, and had five steals. Rich Hoff Jr. scored eight points, while Jason Sigsby and Rasheed Porter had seven each. Chris Cleaver had nine rebounds.
A Sigsby three-pointer gave the Cardinals a 10-1 lead, but the Trojans cut the gap to 17-13 by the end of the first period before taking a 20-19 lead of their own early in period two.
Onaway responded to the deficit with a 23-2 run stretching into the third period. Bautista knocked down a three-pointer at the first-half buzzer to put his team up 33-21, and a driving hoop by Sigsby made it 42-22 early in period three.
Central Lake never got closer than 16 the rest of the way, though the Trojans did manage to send Onaway to the line plenty of times in their attempt to come back.
Earlier in the evening, the OHS JV defeated Central Lake, 54-48, to improve to 3-1. The Cards trailed 18-15 after one period and 27-23 at the half, but led 39-34 through three quarters.
Joe Sigsby scored 15 points to lead the way for the home team. Cody Morell scored 13 points, while JT Pasella, Elijah Shockley, and Patrick Dunn scored seven apiece.
Five d
O’Bradovich scored 25 points, Bautista scored 12, Andrew Prow scored nine, and Hoff Jr. scored eight. Matt Spyhalski and Nick Lonchinski scored 14 points apiece for the Snowbirds.
The Cardinal JV lost its game to GSM, 46-42, despite leading 15-9 after one period, 22-12 at the half, and 31-26 through three quarters. Dunn had nine points, Sigsby had eight, and Morell had seven.