PETOSKEY–Anden Marceau’s big night kept the Alpena High hockey team’s winning streak alive.

Marceau scored four times and the Wildcats held off a couple of brief rallies to defeat Petoskey 5-3 on Friday on the road.

The win pushes the Wildcats’ (6-10-2) winning streak to four.

Marceau’s third goal–which came just five seconds into the third period–gave Alpena a 4-2 lead, but the Northmen answered back to make it 4-3. Marceau then added an empty net goal with an assist from Evan Kraenzlein to ice the game.

“We capitalized on our chances. We had control of the game, but we got a little lax at different points and let them get into the game,” Alpena coach Chris Limback said.

Brody Thompson scored Alpena’s other goal, giving Alpena a 1-0 lead in the first period. Eli Gosselin, Mitch Agius (2) and Tanner Orban (2) each had assists for the night.

Alpena led 2-0 after one period after Marceau scored on an assist from Orban. Petoskey scored twice in the middle frame and Marceau lit the lamp again with assists from Orban and Agius to give Alpena a 3-2 after two periods.

“He’s gifted for his age. He’s got great hands and a great shot and he’s going to be important for us down the stretch,” Limback said of Marceau.

Alpena goaltender Colin Lightfoot made 21 saves in the win and Petoskey goalie Will Parker made 31 stops.

Alpena plays at noon Saturday at Cadillac.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Alcona 43, Hillman 30

LINCOLN–Megan Grove scored 16 points and the Alcona girls basketball team used a quick start to run by Hillman 43-30 on Friday.

Alcona (8-3) led 10-0 after one quarter, 18-11 at halftime and 30-17 after three quarters, finding consistent offense while Hillman (7-4) struggled to keep up.

We had another good start and played really good defense tonight,” Alcona coach Mark Feldhiser said. “We were able to hold their best player to five points and really controlled the tempo of the game.”

Kelsey Hansen added 10 points for Alcona and the Tigers got scored from seven different players in the win.

Julia Taratuta led Hillman with eight points and Bailey Schook had five.

Both teams are back in action on Monday. Hillman hosts Mio and Alcona plays at Hale.

Oscoda 70,

Posen 51

OSCODA — The Oscoda girls basketball team got off to a fast start and put together a strong offensive performance in a 70-51 victory over Posen on Friday.

The Vikings (8-2) fell behind 23-10 after one quarter and Posen had no answer for Lauren Langley and the Owls.

Langley scored a game high 26 points on the night and Oscoda hit nine threes in the game.

“You can’t fall behind that big early to a team like Oscoda,” Posen coach Karl Momrik said. “(Lauren) Langley showed why she is the best play in the league tonight. I don’t think anyone comes close. She scored 26 points, but also had several assists and is just a tremendous player.”

Along with Langley, Macy Kellstrom finished with 19 points and Izzy Hulverson added 10 points.

Posen was led by Riley Krajniak who scored 17 points and both Elena Kalbitzer and Faith Cousins each chipped in with 11 points apiece.

Posen will host Rogers City on Monday.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Alcona 37, Hillman 31

HILLMAN–On a poor shooting night for both teams, the Alcona boys basketball team prevailed over Hillman on Thursday, topping the Tigers 37-31.

Dominic Howe and Mason Clark each scored 12 points for Alcona (4-6), who combined with Hillman to shoot 56 free throws during the contest.

Alcona was 15-of-37 from the charity stripe, while Hillman (3-6) was 7-for-19.

“On a night of very poor shooting, we were happy to come out with a win. The boys showed perseverance in the second half and they never gave up and that was the difference in the game,” Alcona coach Ryan Bilbey said. “It was a very physical game with a lot of fouls and we struggled from the free throw line which made it difficult to pull away.”

Alcona led 13-9 at halftime.

Nash Steinke led Hillman with 13 points and Gunner Mellingen had eight.

“It was kind of the story of the year for us: I thought we did some good things defensively, but we couldn’t get the lid off the basket,” Hillman coach Eric Muszynski said.