By John Raffel
Correspondent
McBain Northern Michigan Christian’s girls basketball team had an impressive win over Manton on Tuesday.
The Comets had quarter leads of 12-8, 18-12 and 27-22. The host Comets had a 9-1 scoring advantage in the final quarter.
Paige Ebels had 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting for the Comets and eight rebounds plus three steals.
Elly Bennett had 13 points with 6-of-9 shooting and had five rebounds. Emma Tossey had six points.
“We had a good win tonight,” Comets coach Rich Bennett said. “We struggled a little in the second and third quarter. We put some emphasis on rebounding tonight and we were able to come out on top. Paige had great court awareness tonight and handled the floor great. Jada’s (VanNoord) defense was outstanding, and she had a big job guarding Helsel.
“Elly also showed up big tonight with 13 points and some huge boards at the end of the game.”
The Comets on Friday beat Roscommon 33-23
“The girls pulled out a great win,” Bennett said. “It was nice to bounce back tonight after dropping one in Beal City on Wednesday (36-28). We were able to get our hands on the ball tonight and picked up some steals in the third quarter that allowed us to get back into the game. Paige did a great job reading the floor and being patient tonight.
“Jada had a great game tonight on both ends of the court. Her defense has been absolutely fantastic. We were able to shoot better from the free throw line tonight. We turned the ball over a lot in the second quarter and we really struggled to rebound.”
NMC led 8-5 after the first quarter but trailed 17-10 at halftime. The Comets had a 17-5 third quarter edge for a 27-22 lead.
Ebels had 15 points, had four rebounds and five steals and VanNoord had eight points.
The Comets are 6-7 and play at McBain on Feb. 2.