COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – In high school boys basketball, the Coldwater Cardinals were unable to recover from a slow start Tuesday night as they were stunned at the Coach Floyd Eby Gymnasium by the Jackson Northwest Mounties 60-57.
The loss prevented Coldwater from taking over sole possession of first place in the Interstate 8 after conference co-leader Pennfield lost to Harper Creek 58-50. That sets up a showdown for first place on Friday night when Pennfield hosts Coldwater. Both teams are 8-3 in the I-8.
Coldwater played a sluggish first half as they fell behind 28-20 at the intermission. They managed to tie the game in the final quarter but could never get the key bucket to take the lead.
Carson Cooper and Dawson White combined for 51 of the Mounties 60 points. Cooper scoring a game-high 28 points and White finished up with 23 points thanks to six buckets from beyond the arc.
Ethan Crabtree led four Coldwater players in double figures with 20 points. Austin Santure had 12 points and eight rebounds while Brandon Downs had 11 points and six assists and Dylan Targgart added 10 points.
The underclassmen games were split. Coldwater won the J.V. game 45-36 as Lu LeBron led the Cardinals with 12 points. Northwest took the freshman game 59-20. Hamid Abdullah led Coldwater with six points.
The Quincy Orioles stayed in the hunt for the Big 8 Conference championship as they defeated Branch County rival Union City 57-31 Tuesday night in the Coolest Gym in Michigan.
The Orioles shot the ball well again as they were 55 percent from the floor. They also registered 13 assists and had a 22-17 edge in rebounding.
Kyler Economou led the Orioles with 20 points, seven rebounds and three steals while Will Dunn chipped in with 12 points. Dunn and Matt Hagaman both had four asists. Kyle Johnson led Union City with 13 points.
The Orioles have won five straight. They are 13-3 overall and 9-2 in the Big 8. Union City is 0-11 in the Big 8 and 2-13 overall.
Also in the Big Conference, Bronson lost at Jonesville 56-48. The Vikings are now 4-12 overall and 1-9 in the conference.
In other Tuesday area boys basketball games…
Mendon 52, Bangor 33
B.C. Academy 58, Burr Oak 41
Harper Creek 58, Pennfield 50
B.C. St. Philip 60, Athens 32
Camden-Frontier 54, Pittsford 35
Colon 61, Climax-Scots 38
Comstock 41, Constantine 39
Centreville 50, Decatur 45
Eau Claire 78, White Pigeon 59
Parma Western 62, Hastings 45
Concord 58, Homer 56
Hillsdale 46, Ida 42
Litchfield 81, Will Carleton Academy 56
Marshall 68, Jackson Lumen Christi 50
Sturgis 45, Mattawan 34
Jackson Christian 73, North Adams-Jerome 55
Reading 64, Springport 30
Portage Northern 55, Three Rivers 48
