Photos by Laura Moat for CatchMark
NORTH MUSKEGON — North Muskegon and Ravenna have played some highly competitive football and boys basketball games in recent years.
Friday night’s West Michigan Conference Rivers Division boys basketball contest at North Muskegon’s barn started that way, but it didn’t end that way.
North Muskegon cruised to a 64-35 victory over Ravenna as senior Troy McManus finished with 24 points, five steals and four assists. It was the Norsemen’s fourth straight win.
“A close game early as Ravenna did a nice job of going inside to their two bigs. They got us in some foul trouble and we were having a tough time with their zone,” North Muskegon coach Chuck Rypstra said.
“In the second half, we found a few gaps and were able to extend the lead, but Ravenna turned up the pressure and cut a 20-point lead down to 13. We had a timeout and talked about what to do and the kids did a great job of executing. From there. we pushed it out again and we were able to catch them in a few passes out of traps for layups.”
North Muskegon improved to 9-2 overall and 4-2 in WMC Rivers play. Ravenna is now 3-7 and 2-3, respectively.
James Young totaled 12 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Norsemen, while Jaxon Lisinski scored 11 and Carsen Moat snagged six rebounds.
For Ravenna, Wyatt Young and Carter Schullo scored eight and seven points, respectively. Drew Mabrito and Caleb Forsythe added six points apiece for the Bulldogs.
North Muskegon next visits Muskegon Heights Academy on Monday, while Ravenna heads to Holton on Monday.
“I was real proud of how we played as we got some difficult news that one of our starters is going to have season-ending surgery on his knee,” Rypstra said. “We all picked it up for him and got a great Friday night home victory.”
