CHARLEVOIX — A slow start put the Grayling boys basketball team in an early hole, and the Vikings weren’t able to crawl out of it in dropping a 63-46 loss in the Lake Michigan Conference on the road Tuesday night.
While the Vikings, who have lost four straight, failed to get any traction offensively in the first half, the Red Rayders capitalized on Grayling’s troubles to take a 13-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Grayling improved some in the second period, but still was outscored, 20-11 and limped into the halftime break with a 33-19 deficit.
“We came out and lacked energy,” said Vikings head coach Larry Mead. “We didn’t execute well offensively, and did not play well together. I feel like our kids did not perform at their best, for sure. Some of our subs off the bench — Maddox Mead and Matt Pittman — played really well defensively, and brought us some extra energy.
“Cameron Ketchum, the same thing, brought us some extra energy and that helped us get up and down the floor, and put a few points on the board.
But the deficit just grew some more in the third quarter for Grayling when the Rayders finished the period with a 17-10 advantage and rolled into the fourth quarter with a 50-29 lead.
Grayling finally caught some fire offensively in the final stanza and outscored Charlevoix, 17-13. But it wasn’t nearly enough to take any substantial bite into the Rayders’ lead.”
Charlevoix did what they wanted to,” Mead added. “They packed the paint on us, and we didn’t knock down outside shots. They were able to hit a few shots over the top of our pressure.
“They put together a nice game, and we tended to struggle a little bit.”Grayling was led in scoring by senior Dylan Cragg with 12 points, followed by Ethan Kucharek with seven while Caleb Caul, Maddox Mead and Sparty Berry-Skillern all finished with six apiece.
Leading the way for Charlevoix was Evan Sullivan with a game-high 23 points. Jack Gaffnick added 10 and Caleb Stuck added seven points.
Grayling saw its record fell to 8-8 overall and 4-7 in the conference. The Vikings are next scheduled to see action at home Friday against East Jordan.
