By John Raffel
Correspondent
MCBAIN – It was another good week for McBain, the first-place boys basketball team in the Highland Conference.
The Ramblers on Tuesday beat Roscommon 77-30 and last Friday at home slipped past McBain Northern Michigan Christian on Friday 54-42,
With the win over Roscommon, McBain improved to 12-1 in the league and 12-4 overall. The Ramblers have a solid two-game lead over Beal City which is in second place at 1-3. Roscommon fell to 2-10 in the league and 4-11 overall.
Against Roscommon, McBain had quarter leads of 27-6, 51-18 and 62-25.
Leading scorers for McBain were Evan Haverkamp and Clayton Ingleright with 16 points apiece. Nathan Koetje had nine points while Ben Rodenbaugh had eight.
“I thought we played a well-rounded game tonight,” McBain coach Bruce Koopman said. “We were solid on defense and executed offensively. I was happy that we transitioned well. We got 20-some points in transition. We got good depth off the bench. Nathan Koetje came off the bunch and did well for us. Kalvin Mcgillis had a good game for us.
“We’re getting closer to clinching the conference,” Koopman said.
Against NMC, the Ramblers were up 16-5, 28-15 and 42-33 after the first three quarters. Haverkamp had 17 points, Ingleright nine. Braylon Pace eight and Mcgillis and Rodenbaugh with seven apiece.
Blake Dezeeuw had 16 points and Ethan Bennett 11.
“I thought we controlled the game,” Koopman said. “We broke it open early and played great defense. We operated offensively very well. I was pleased with our patience and execution on offense.”
McBain only has three league games remaining and would clinch a tie if it beats Pine River on Thursday of this week.
The Ramblers have two nonleague games next week at Kingsley on Monday and Maple City Glen Lake at home on Tuesday.