by Ben Murphy
Sports Writer
They continue to get closer to the outcome they want, but the McBain boys basketball team is still searching for their first win of the season; this after a narrow 39-38 setback at Pine River Friday night.
The Ramblers led the Highland Conference game 14-11 after the first quarter, but the Bucks surged ahead to leads of 22-14 at the half and 29-25 entering the fourth.
“The first quarter was one of our better starts so far this season,” head coach Bruce Koopman said. “We started a little slow, but found some rhythm offensively and defended OK. The second quarter our offense sputtered with turnovers, missed shots and poor offensive rebounding.”
Pine River hit a pair of late free throws in the final seconds to make it a three point lead and hung on in the final moments.
The Ramblers had Evan Haverkamp lead the way with 14 points and Joe Winkle chipped in with 11 points. Dylan Schonert and Brock Maloney added four points each.
McBain (0-3 overall, 0-3 Highland) was at Houghton Lake on Thursday and hosts Lake City on Wednesday.
“We are a young team still learning the system on defense and offense, the importance of rebounding and protecting the basketball,” Koopman said. “Due to power outages, and snow days this is only our third game. The guys are working hard and getting better acclimated to the varsity game every day.”