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Boys Basketball: Jeffers spills LL-Hubbell

LAKE LINDEN — Jack Kumpula can only look down his bench and wonder what kind of season his Lake Linden-Hubbell boys basketball team might have had.

The Lakes lost All-U.P., performer Carter Crouch with a football injury early in the season before starting center Will Lyons recently sustained a broken arm.

Jeffers took advantage of the Lakes’ shortened bench in a 55-44 win on Friday.

“We’ve had two go-overs this season,” Kumpula said. “One when we were trying to adjust without Carter in there. Secondly, we are trying to pick up the pieces after Will (Lyons) left. It’s been tough, but the kids keep on playing hard — they did again tonight.”

In the end, the Jets, 10-6 on the season, had too much size under the hoop in junior center Christian Hocking.

The 6-foot-4 Hocking collected a game-high 26 points and also took down 14 rebounds. He was especially potent in the opening half when he tossed in 22 points.

“Christian (Hocking) dominated in the first half,” Jeffers coach Trent Keteri said. “They (Lakes) had no one to match up with him.”

Jeffers led 38-18 at the half and appeared to be on the way to an easy win.

But the spunky Lakes bounced back with a 16-4 edge — led by pressure defense — in the third stanza to reduce the deficit to 42-34 by the end of the quarter.

Sophomore Marcus Sutherland sparked the second half rally with seven points and good work underneath. It was his three-pointer at the buzzer that got the margin under double digits.

Sophomore guard Isaiah Frahm kept the Jets in front in the fourth period, bagging seven of his career-high 19 points.

“He (Frahm) did a nice job of controlling our offense, Keteri said. “And he did a good job at the free throw line (7 of 8). You have to hit those free throws in a tight game.”

The Jets’ coach wasn’t pleased with the number of times his charges turned the ball over, however.

“We’ve got to cut down on the mistakes,” he said. “Those will kill you.”

Kumpula said his young team is still learning.

“We started out with an experienced team to start the year,” he said. “Now, we’re playing with some young kids.”

Caleb Gregoire topped the 5-11 Lakes with 15 points before fouling out late. Sutherland chipped in 11 points and nine rebounds, while Cole Gregoire was good for 8 points and six steals.

Kyle Mattila netted eight more markers for Jeffers, which hosts Hancock on Tuesday.

The Lakes visit Calumet on Friday, Feb. 28.

Jeffers 17 21 4 13 — 55

LL-Hubbell 8 10 16 10 — 44

JEFFERS (55): Mattila 8, Kangas 2, Hocking 26, Frahm 19. FT: 17-18. Rebounds: 31 (Hocking 14). F: 14. Fouled out: None. 3-point FG: Frahm 2.

LAKE LINDEN-HUBBELL (44): Cal. Gregoire 15, Mahrley 4, Codere 2, Sutherland 11, Col. Gregoire 8, Hill 4. FT: 8-12. Rebounds: 22 (Sutherland 9). F: 17. Fouled out: Cal. Gregoire. 3-point FG: Sutherland 1, Cal. Gregoire 1.

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