Wikel, Will lead SMCC past Lakota

SANDUSKY — The team. The team. The team. That was one of legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler's famous quotes, a homage to a group of players working as a unit while putting their egos to the side in an effort to strive for success. You could say St. Mary Central Catholic, which is very deep, embodies that sentiment. Behind a great performance from junior duo Cayden Wikel and Leo Will, the Panthers (15-3, 9-2 SBC River) jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in their 61-42 win over Lakota on Friday at the Kinzel Center. SMCC scored the game's first 12 points with Wikel and Will scoring five apiece and Sam Lawrence adding a basket. The Raiders (10-8, 7-4) scored the next six points on Jack Widman's two 3-pointers, cutting the deficit to 12-6, but that's as close as Lakota would get for the rest of the game. Wikel killed the run with a 3 of his own, and the Panthers led 17-8 after one quarter. "I thought the start was huge. We really executed there," SMCC coach Kyle Hammond said. "Lakota showed toughness by cutting back into our lead, but we kept them at bay." A 6-1 SMCC run in the second quarter with points from Will, Trace Smith and Elijah Conway, gave the Panthers a 29-13 lead. The Raiders scored the final five points of the quarter and went into the half down 29-18. Lakota was never able to mount enough of a rally in a back-and-forth affair where the Panthers answered every Raider rally with a basket of their own to kill the momentum. Will and Wikel led all scorers with 15 points apiece. "When they're playing well, they really make us go. We just play better," Hammond said. "They made some huge shots. I thought they did a good job of attacking and not settling (for jump shots)." But there were plenty of heroes on this night. Hammond is not afraid to take some of his best players out for a break because he has a great deal of confidence in his role players. "I (also) thought we got a great performance from Trace Smith, and Elijah Conway played good defense," said Hammond. "The kids are willing to sacrifice, and it paid dividends in the second half." The second half was more competitive, but SMCC outscored Lakota 32-24 in the final two quarters. Raider forward King Beard, who stands 6-foot-6 and had a dunk in the fourth quarter, was held to 13 points. "We just wanted to limit Beard," Wikel said. "We ran the 2-3 zone and limited him and got out on their shooters." Lakota coach Adam Gnepper acknowledged SMCC's defensive prowess. "They're a really, really good team, and they played good defense. We turned it over too much," Gnepper said. "We fought and clawed to get back into (the game) — we had some mini runs, but couldn't sustain it and get enough stops." The tournament draw is one week from Sunday, and the Panthers are still in the hunt for a league championship. SMCC still plays Northwood and Tiffin Calvert on the road before coming home to host Gibsonburg and Woodmore to finish out the regular season. "The league title is something we want," Wikel said. "We're just taking it one game at a time, take each game as it comes." LAKOTA (10-8, 7-4) Avery Shilling 3 2-6 8, Kash Beard 2 0-0 4, Jack Widman 2 0-0 6, King Beard 5 3-3 13, Josh Dibble 1 1-2 3, Connor Claburn 1 0-0 2, Ruger Kelbley 2 1-2 6. TOTALS 16 7-13 42 SMCC (15-3, 9-2) Bryan Gibson 0 2-2 2, Cayden Wikel 6 0-0 15, Blake Finneran 1 0-0 2, Sam Lawrence 2 0-0 4, Leo Will 5 3-4 15, Trace Smith 2 0-0 4, Elijah Conway 2 0-0 4, Cullen Dillard 2 3-3 7, Gabe Burch 2 3-6 8. TOTALS 22 11-15 61 Lakota 8 10 9 15 — 42 SMCC 17 12 14 18 — 61 Three-point goals: Lakota 3 (Widman 2, Kelbley); SMCC 6 (Wikel 3, Will 2, Burch)