GAYLORD–Jade Schultz scored 21 points and the Alpena High girls basketball team played a solid defensive game to defeat Gaylord 45-31 on Friday.

Schultz was 5-of-8 from the free throw line and Allie DeRocher added seven points for the Wildcats (9-5, 4-3 Big North Conference), who pulled away from Gaylord in the second quarter and led 26-18 at halftime.

“Defense and rebounding (were key). Tonight they did a good job on all Gaylord’s shooters,” Alpena coach Erin Andrews said. “We’re always happy to go to Gaylord and come home with a win, but we know we need to win all of our (remaining) Big North games and we’re motivated by that.”

Andrews praised the defensive efforts of Anna Young, who was tasked with guarding Savanna Gapinski and limited her to three points.

Alpena plays at Bay City Western on Tuesday.

Alpena’s JV lost 43-21. Lanie Morgan led Alpena with six points and Mariah Wisniewski had five.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Petoskey 69, Alpena 57

PETOSKEY–Second-half mistakes cost the Alpena High boys basketball team on Friday and the Wildcats lost to Petoskey 69-57 on the road.

Alpena (8-6, 1-5 Big North) fell behind by 10 early in the second half, but rebounded to cut the Northmen’s lead to five. From there Petoskey took over and Alpena couldn’t find another gear.

“It’s one of those games where we mistakes and missed too many shots,” Alpena coach John Pintar said. “The difference was that it came down to free throws for us.”

Alpena was 11-of-23 from the charity stripe for the game.

Kelley Stark led Alpena with 16 points, Cooper Bright and Jordan Schultz each had 13 and Jack Schmanski had 11.

Alpena plays at Gaylord next Friday.

Alpena’s JV team lost 58-27 and was led by Luke Young with nine points.

Alpena’s freshman team lost 59-50 and was led by Nicholas Geister with 15 and Devin Lamay with seven.

Posen 51, Hillman 37

POSEN–Eyan Hincka’s monster night led the Posen boys basketball team to a big win on Friday.

Hincka scored 25 points and was a constant on offense for the Vikings all night as they defeated Hillman 51-37 at home.

Posen (10-4) trailed 15-8 after one quarter, but clamped down defensively and slowly closed the gap before taking over for good.

“Hillman came out aggressive like Hillman does and worked their butts off and knocked down some shots,” Posen coach Chris Keller said. “I couldn’t be prouder of my guys. We forced some turnovers and closed on them.”

Posen led 23-20 at halftime and 38-30 after three quarters as Hillman struggled to score.

Wyatt Romel added 10 points for Posen and Chase Dubie and Lucas Stone each had eight.

Isaac Morrison led Hillman with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

“We played a good three quarters, but it’s the same kind of thing where scoring and rebounding have been issues for us,” Hillman coach Eric Muszynski said. “Hincka was a game-changer for them tonight.”

Oscoda 77,

Rogers City 31

OSCODA–Brayden Mallak scored 27 points to become the sixth player in Oscoda history to reach 1,000 career points and the Oscoda boys basketball team wrapped up a second straight North Star League Big Dipper championship on Friday with a 77-31 win over Rogers City.

Owen Franklin added 17 points for Oscoda (13-0) and Gabe Kellstrom and Gavin Lueck each chipped in with 11.

Onaway 77, Central Lake 69

ONAWAY–Spencer Nash scored a career-high 25 points and the Onaway boys basketball team overcame a slow start and finished strong to beat Central Lake 77-69 on Friday.

Onaway (2-10) trailed 24-11 after one quarter, but rebounded to take a 37-36 halftime lead. Nash led the charge for the Cardinals, knocking down five of his seven three-pointers in the second quarter.

Onaway led 57-53 after three quarters and closed the deal with a 20-16 run in the fourth quarter.

“We’ve struggled to battle back and finish a game. It’s a big win for us,” Onaway coach Eddy Szymoniak said. “We started off slow and everything that could go wrong did. In the second quarter, we settled in and saw some opportunities for Spencer to get going. We settled in and moved the ball extremely well.”

Kevin Pearson added 19 points for Onaway and Jager Mix had 17.

Onaway plays at Forest Area on Wednesday.

Mio 75, Alcona 40

LINCOLN–A slow start cost the Alcona boys basketball team on Friday as the Tigers were forced to play catch-up most of the night in a 75-40 loss to Mio.

Mio raced out to a 28-8 lead after one quarter and upped it to 48-18 by halftime.

“We came out flat and we’re outgunned in the first quarter. We played better in the second half, but made way too many mistakes to compete against the team as skilled as Mio,” Alcona coach Ryan Bilbey said. “Hats off to them they shot the ball very well tonight and played excellent defense.”

Drew Hess led Mio with 18 points, Brendan DeFlorio had 15, Brennon Mills had 12 and Rasmus Winfield had 11.

Aiden Wrobel had 19 points to lead Alcona.