Lakers bounce back with win over Vikings
Mon, Feb 8, 2010 
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Spring Lake's boys varsity basketball team bounced back from its heartbreaking overtime loss at Ludington Friday with a 50-47 victory over Whitehall on Saturday.
The Lakers started the game on an 11-2 run and managed to keep a slight lead over the Vikings for nearly the entire game.
"Both teams were a little sluggish and tired from tough Friday night games," said Spring Lake coach Bill Core, whose team is now 10-4 on the season. "They had a big win against Ravenna, and their coach said it was a very physical game. We had the tough loss at Ludington.
"We were ahead by 3-8 points pretty much the whole game. We could never get it to double digits, and they could never take the lead."
The Lakers led by six in the closing seconds before Whitehall's Tyler VanBergen hit a three-quarters court 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Spring Lake center Lucas Holt helped his team get off to a fast start as he scored 12 of his 14 points in the opening half.
Michael Hankinson played his second straight solid game, scoring 15 points. He had the ball in his hands down the stretch, and with the Vikings fouling trying to get back into the game, Hankinson swished 5-of-6 foul shots in the closing minutes.
Trevor Tidswell hit a 3-pointer and finished with eight points for the Lakers, while Aaron Adams and Chris Tilton each scored six.
Whitehall center Aaron Russell hit two of the Vikings' seven 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 15 points. VanBergen added a pair of 3-pointers for 13 points. Whitehall is now 7-6 on the season.
"We did a good job on him. He's averaging 17 points," Core said. "We played good defense and we rebounded well."
Holt pulled down 12 boards as the Lakers finished with a 31-23 advantage on the glass.
Spring Lake has Tuesday off, so the Lakers' next game is a home date with rival Fruitport on Friday.
"One of the things we talked about is that we didn't want to have to wait until next Friday with that sour taste from the Ludington loss," Core said. "We had to get right back in the saddle, and it was good to get a win to get back on track. Now we've got some time to get ready for Fruitport."
Junior Varsity: Spring Lake scored a 44-36 win over Whitehall, improving to 12-2 on the season. Austin Johnson scored 12 points and Adam Clauss added nine, while Ty Chittenden played well off the bench with solid defense and a good job going after offensive rebounds.
