TRAVERSE CITY — Both the Traverse City West Titans and the Bay Reps were coming off overtime wins in the first round of the Scott Miller Memorial Holiday Hockey Invitational. But extra time would not be needed Thursday. Nor would the entire three periods.
The Reps (10-2-1) put a hurting on the in-town rival Titans (5-6) with an 8-0 win that ended less than four-and-a-half minutes into the third period when Ethan Coleman lit the lamp and triggered the mercy rule of an eight-goal lead after two periods of play.
Bay Reps head coach Mike Matteucci said he wasn’t trying for the mercy win and was rolling out different lines to get his players time on the ice.
“You don’t want to be disrespectful to another team, but on the other hand you want to play,” Matteucci said. “I definitely respect (West). They’re a hardworking group that’s well-coached. If you give them an inch, they’ll take a foot; so they’re not anybody to take lightly.”
The Reps built a 4-0 lead after the first period on two goals from Grant Lucas and a goal each from Ben Newman and Thatcher Beaudoin. Assists went to Beaudoin, Thomas Boynton-Fisher, Elliot Mason, Aiden Fairbank, Lucas and Joel Ziecina.
Three more goals in the second made it 7-0 in favor of the Reps as Lucas notched another pair and Boynton-Fisher made it two on the evening. Boynton-Fisher also picked up two assists while Coleman, Ryan Lannen and Fairbank each had one helper. Coleman’s game-ending goal came 4:28 into the third period on assists from Boynton-Fisher and Ziecina.
Matteucci said he didn’t think his team played great in their 3-2 overtime win Wednesday, but he was pleased with their performance Thursday.
“It was nice to come back tonight and move the puck around like we did. I give the kids a lot of credit for coming ready to play,” Matteucci said. “Coming off Christmas break, this is a tough tournament. They’re kids. They’re getting presents. They’re probably staying up late, playing video games, eating good food and enjoying their time off with their families. That’s a great thing, but we’ve never really come out strong in the first game of this tournament.”
Matteucci said the Reps are “back on track” and he is hoping they can get the win Friday and take home an in-season championship from a local tournament. The championship game is slated for 5:15 p.m. at Centre Ice.
“It’s really important,” Matteucci said. “It’s named after Scott Miller, and he was an important player to that (Traverse City) Central program. So it would mean a ton to us to win this tournament. We want to be ready to go at the end of the year, and this will help.”
Although there might not be a lot on the surface for the Titans to take out of an 8-0 loss, West head coach Anthony Palumbo is staying positive about his crew.
“We got a lot of our young kids in there, tonight,” Palumbo said. “We had guys see their first action in high school hockey, and we just took it for what it is — a learning lesson — and move on.”
“You always want to win a big game, so all of that just gets you ready for the playoffs,” Palumbo continued. “You want to win all of your games in February. You don’t need to win them all in December and January.”
The Titans will get a chance to end the tournament with a win as they play in the 1 p.m. consolation game Friday.
“I love this team,” Palumbo said. “They work hard. They play hard. They understand where their weaknesses are. I love going to the rink every day with them because they’re an awesome bunch of kids.”
ICE HOCKEY
TC Central 4
Toledo St. John’s 0
Traverse City Central: Laiken Batcha 2 goals, 1 assist; Cole Herzberg 1 goal; Ben Burley 1 goal; Devin Garner 1 assist; Graham Peters 1 assist; Collin Benedict 1 assist; Drew Davison 1 assist; Kiel Knapp 15 saves.
UP NEXT: The Trojans (6-6) finish up play in the Scott Miller Memorial Tournament against at 3 p.m. Friday at Centre Ice Arena.
WRESTLING
Titans take 2nd at TC West Holiday Boys Invite
TRAVERSE CITY — The Traverse City West Titans brought in more than a dozen teams for their annual holiday wrestling invitational Thursday, taking second place as Cadillac won the event.
Picking up individual championships for the Titans were Matthew Quigley at 120 pounds, beating Traverse City St. Francis’ Tyler Sheeran by a 12-4 final; Body Holmes at 138 pounds with a 6-5 win over Cadillac’s Maximus Narovich; and Brady Vaughan at 215 pounds with a 9-5 win over Charlevoix’s Landon Swanson.
Caleb Thomas and Trapper Holmes earned second place at 132 pounds and 157 pounds, respectively. Also placing for the Titans were Treyson Nyland in fourth at 106 pounds, Finn O’Brien in fourth at 113 pounds, and Daniel Kettler in fourth at 132 pounds.
For St. Francis, Sheeran finished 2-1 on the day for second place, Beau Belanger was 4-1 for third place, and Cam Sellers was 3-2.
BOYS HOOPS
TC West 64
Ludington 52
Traverse City West: Lincoln Lockhart 25 points; Ben Habers 24 points; Quinten Gillespie 6 points; Caden Stoops 5 points.
UP NEXT: The Titans (7-2) host Mount Pleasant on Wednesday.
Spring Lake 54
TC St. Francis 32
Traverse City St. Francis: Max Ogden 13 points; JP Miller 8 points; Isaiah Millward 8 points.
UP NEXT: The Gladiators (2-2) play Muskegon Western Michigan Christian in the Grand Haven Lake Michigan Cup on Friday.
TC Christian 63
Hale 31
Traverse City Christian: Reece Broderick 19 points; Malachi Willis 16 points.
UP NEXT: The Sabres (6-1) play in the Marion Holiday Tournament championship game Friday.
Buckley 53
Ogemaw Heights 41
Buckley: Landon Kulawiak 22 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals (reached 1,000 career points in Wednesday’s game); Carter Williams 12 points, 13 rebounds; Jeremiah Pasbjerg 12 points.
UP NEXT: The Bears (4-4) head to Leland on Jan. 5.
Frankfort 77
Ubly 43
Frankfort: Emmerson Farmer 28 points; Bryce Plesha 24 points, 14 rebounds; Carter Kerby 16 points, 8 rebounds.
UP NEXT: The Panthers (4-2) take on Central Lake in the Lake Leelanau St. Mary Tournament on Friday.
Grand Haven 71
Petoskey 51
UP NEXT: The Northmen (4-4) take on Spring Lake in the Grand Haven Lake Michigan Cup on Friday.
Boyne City 52
Clare 37
UP NEXT: The Ramblers (5-3) host Charlevoix on Jan. 5.
Harbor Springs 52
Royal Oak 43
Harbor Springs:
UP NEXT: The Rams (4-3) host Grayling on Jan. 5.
Negaunee 74
Manton 58
Manton:
UP NEXT: The Rangers (2-4) play Powers North Central in the Negaunee Holiday Christmas Tournament on Friday.
TC West JV 52
Ludington JV 39
Traverse City West: Blake LaFaive 15 points; Graham Heatherington 13 points; Drew Esper 12 points.
GIRLS HOOPS
Lake Leelanau SM 45
TC St. Francis 26
Lake Leelanau St. Mary: Kyla Barnowski 12 points, 6 rebounds, 7 steals; Delana Kirt 8 points, 6 rebounds, 6 steals; Sarah Bunek 7 points; Cathryn Mikowski 8 points, 5 steals. Eagles had 29 steals as a team.
Traverse City St. Francis: Adrianna Spranger 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals; Sophie Hardy 3 rebounds, 2 points; Kate Jensen 7 rebounds.
UP NEXT: The Eagles (7-1) welcome Kalkaska on Jan. 5. The Gladiators (0-5) host Grayling on Thursday.
Manton 50
Negaunee 57
Manton: Lauren Wiilder 18 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals; Aubrey Hiller 15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals; Genna Alexander 6 points, 8 rebounds; Angela Porter 6 points, 5 rebounds.
UP NEXT: The Rangers (5-1) continue play in the Negaunee Holiday Christmas Tournament against Kingsford on Friday.
LLSM JV 46
St. Francis JV 22
Traverse City St. Francis (3-2): Helen Biggar 5 points, 5 deflections, 3 rebounds, 2 steals; Alessandra Cisneros 4 points, 3 rebounds; Addie Peterson 4 points, 3 rebounds; Tessa Asher 3 points, 3 rebounds; Halle Kadlec 5 rebounds.