First night of the season. First win of the season.
That was the goal for the Bearcats as Battle Creek Central defeated Jackson, 52-40, in this season-opening non-conference boys basketball game at the BCC Fieldhouse on Tuesday.
"No better way to start the season, than getting a win," BCC coach Durant Crum said. "It wasn't as pretty as it could've been and there were some things that surfaced that we have to figure out, but nonetheless, that's the best way to start the season."
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With 10 seniors on the roster and four seniors that started last year, BCC is hoping for a big year and getting a win the first time they hit the floor was key to that goal.
"We have guys back, we have been working hard in the gym and in practice and we wanted to come out ready to play," said senior Ke'Marion Tucker. "Jackson beat us in the summer league. They had some confidence coming into this game. But we came out, played hard on defense, the crowd got us going and we got the win.
"Feels good to get a win the first night out, now we have to keep pushing."
With Jackson ending the first quarter with a 10-9 lead, Battle Creek Central turned its defense up a notch in the second quarter to set the tone for the rest of the contest. Getting deflections and creating turnovers, the Bearcats were able to create offense as BCC opened the second quarter on a 13-3 run after a 3-pointer by Kierre Young for a 22-13 lead.
That run turned into a a 20-3 spurt after a 3-pointer by BCC's Christian Rolle to give the Bearcats a 29-13 lead with 3:20 left in the half. BCC rode that momentum to a 31-15 advantage at halftime.
BCC was still up 39-25 at the end of the third quarter before Jackson started to rally in the final period. The Vikings cut the lead all the way to 42-36 with 3:41 remaining in regulation. However, four straight points by Tucker put the home team back up 46-36 with 2:21 left to put the game away.
"In the second quarter, playing that kind of defense is more like what we hope to bring to the equation each night," Crum said. "Playing good defense, which creates some things for us offensively. That was good to see. Our speed and quickness was big during that stretch and we talk about using our speed and quickness to our advantage. But we also talk about situations. And we tried to slow it down in the second half with the big lead. Maybe we slowed it down a bit too much there for a little bit and they came back on us. But we held on and made some plays at the end and got it done."
Tucker had 11 points to lead BCC with Mark Lane also adding 11 with Young getting 10 and Karlito Campbell chipping in eight.
Jackson's Savonn Campbell had 13 points with Terrell White adding 12.
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Pennfield 74, Lakewood Lake Odessa 64
Pennfield jumped out to a 21-9 lead after first quarter and was still up double-digits at halftime, leading 38-25. Brendan Duncan led the Panthers with 24 points, four rebounds and four assists. Graham Boyd added 19 points, five rebounds and five assists with Dayshaun Boykins coming up with 15 points and five rebounds.
St. Joseph 58, Harper Creek 32
Keyshaun Matthews had 10 points for Harper Creek in the non-conference loss on the road.
Marshall 52, Edwardsburg 39
Josh Pugh had 16 points, seven assists and three steals to lead Marshall in its season opener. Austin Miller added 13 as the Redhawks earned a non-conference win.
Coldwater 45, Sturgis 33
Zach Coffing had a double-double for Coldwater to open the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds as Donte Work added eight points and eight rebounds in a non-conference win.
Bronson 80, St. Philip 34
Aden Hathaway had 24 points to lead Bronson in this non-conference win over St. Philip. The Tigers' Jackson Dzwik had 12 points and Carter Dzwik added 11.
Hillsdale Academy 78, Athens 23
Addison Stanton had 19 points for Athens in a loss to perennial power Hillsdale Academy.
Union City 52, Hillsdale 36
Landon Galvin, Rick Austin and Jeremey Zehr all had 11 points each in a balanced scoring effort for Union City in this non-league victory.
Maple Valley 56, Delton Kellogg 53
Maple Valley led 36-13 at halftime and held on in the final minutes for the non-conference win. Ayden Wilkes led the Lions with 23. Jason Lundquist had 15 for Delton Kellogg and Phillip Halcomb added 14.
Calhoun Christian 48, Jackson Christian 46
Calhoun Christian won its season opener on Monday with Josh Andren leading the charge with 17 points and eight rebounds. Nico Gummer added 10 points and Micah Reed had eight points and 12 rebounds.
Girls Basketball
Lakewood Lake Odessa 57, Pennfield 41
Natalie Hensel had 17 points, five rebounds and two blocks for Pennfield in the non-conference loss, with Kaylee Glidden adding 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Chelsea 45, Marshall 26
Marshall falls to 1-2 on the young season, losing to an undefeated Chelsea team. Emily Dingee and Natalie Frever each had six points for Marshall.
Coldwater 55, Sturgis 21
Coldwater jumped out to a 19-2 lead and improves to 3-0 with a non-conference win over Sturgis. Coley Burkhardt had 21 points and eight rebounds to lead the Cardinals.
Olivet 42, Charlotte 31
Olivet improves to 3-0 with Payton Otto leading the Eagles with 11 points and seven rebounds as Kara Priddy chipped in with seven points, six rebounds and five steals.
Addison 55, Union City 52
Jordan Chard had 17 points, Aaleya Asher scored 13 points and Gracie Phelps grabbing nine rebounds as Union City falls to 0-3.
Delton Kellogg 39, Maple Valley 28
Jordan Lyons had 14 points as Delton Kellogg gets its first win of the season, improving to 1-2.
Battle Creek Academy 52, Marshall Academy 26
Battle Creek Academy improves to 2-1 as Sofia Keller led the way with 20 points and Olivia Keller added 18.
Contact Bill Broderick at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter @billbroderick
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Basketball Notebook: BCC tips off boys season with win over Jackson
