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Sam Honaker said the Marine City High School boys’ basketball team got a lecture from Coach Joel Whymer at halftime of Tuesday’s game against Center Line.
Whatever he said inspired his Mariners as they turned a one-point lead into their most dominant win of the season.
Marine City defeated the Panthers 60-38 to snap a two-game losing streak and pick up its first win in the Macomb Area Conference Silver Division.
Paul Carbone scored 16 points and Pete Patsalis added 14 as the Mariners (3-4, 1-2) scored a season-high 60 points.
“Coach came in and gave us a good speech at halftime. He got into us,” said Mariner senior Sam Honaker, who chipped in with 14 points. “We decided to come together and put up a run.”
Honaker scored a bucket just before the buzzer sounded to end a third quarter barrage that saw Marine City outscore Center Line 24-12.
Not a bad run in Whymer’s book.
“We were playing with more energy and a sense of urgency,” Whymer said. “Offensively, we were stagnant in the first half and in the second half we got a lot more movement.”
This was the second time that Marine City put together a 22-point margin of victory over an opponent.
“The magic number is about 50 (points for our offense),” Whymer said. “If we can score 50 or more, we have a chance to win.”
And they’ve reached that total twice this season, both times resulting in victory. The Mariners also met their quota on the defensive side of the court.
“Our goal is to always hold (opponents) in the 40’s or under and that’s just what we did,” Honaker said. “We came out and played strong and forced turnovers when we could.”
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