Photos by CJ Bennett for CatchMark
Nobody can seem to slow down North Muskegon’s boys basketball team, especially in the West Michigan Conference Rivers Division.
Division 3 second-ranked North Muskegon defeated host Shelby Tuesday night, 57-35, to remain perfect at 20-0 and clinch at least a share of the WMC Rivers championship.
The Norsemen (10-0 WMC Rivers) have a two-game lead in the division over Hart (7-2) and host the Pirates on Friday.
Adam Dugener led all scorers with 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists for the Norse, while Lamarkis Graham had 15 points, six rebounds, four steals, and four assists. Jaxon Lisinski scored 14 points and James Young added eight rebounds and four assists.
“We both played the second of back-to-back games,” said North Muskegon coach Chuck Rypstra, whose team defeated White Cloud on Monday while Shelby lost at Newaygo. “Both teams worked hard. We were able to string together a little more offense.”
Phillip Hayes paced Shelby (3-15, 1-8 WMC Rivers) with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Wyatt Dickman had nine points and four boards.
North Muskegon shot 42 percent from the floor compared to 25 percent for Shelby. The Norsemen outrebounded the Tigers, 34-27, and the Norse won the turnover battle with 11 compared to 16.
“We missed many easy opportunities in the first half and were only down 11,” Shelby coach Rick Zoulek said. “They are a hard team to come back on. We forced some things in the second half and didn’t play as well.
“North Muskegon controlled the game from the beginning with their quickness and shooting. They do a great job of attacking the basket off the dribble and on the offensive rebounds.”
