HARBOR SPRINGS — There’s no backing down from a challenge this season for the Harbor Light Christian boys basketball team.
The schedule very much so reflects that attitude.
And the first challenge of the 2025-26 season got underway this week with a season-opener against Brimley, a 14-win district champion a year ago.
After a bit of a slow start, Harbor Light found its groove and took the lead in the third and never gave it back, finishing out a 50-36 victory.
The win for the Swordsmen comes ahead of a trip to Ellsworth, then back to back home matchups against Inland Lakes and Boyne City.
“I’d say it’s probably one of our hardest schedules that we’ve had,” Harbor Light coach Jason Roussin said. “Last year we beefed it up and I think this year we continued with that. We just really wanted to challenge the kids and I think we did that with our schedule.”
It’s a schedule that also includes the likes of Pickford, Cedarville, St. Ignace, Harbor Springs, Gaylord St. Mary and a pair against Traverse City Christian.
“We’ve got a little bit of a gauntlet here to start,” added Roussin. “We lost a great leader in Vaughn (Henagan) shooter in Truett (Kruger) and Ben Hanes came off the bench, but we wanted the challenge.”
Against Brimley, Will Paulus led with 18 points and seven assists, Landon Jakeway had 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, Daniel Urman had 10 points, three steals and two assists and Travis Rose had six rebounds.
The Swordsmen (1-0) will head to Ellsworth (1-1) next on Wednesday, Dec. 11.
East Jordan 71, Bellaire 33
BELLAIRE — The East Jordan boys basketball team tipped off the Tim Smith era this week with a lopsided victory, winning 71-33 over Bellaire.
Ellis Malpass led the way with 15 points, Brady Wilson scored 14 and Max Beal had 13 points.
East Jordan (1-0) travels to Central Lake on Friday, Dec. 5.
Charlevoix 50, Ellsworth 45
CHARLEVOIX — Charlevoix’s boys started the season off with an emotional night and the return of senior star Joe Gaffney to the court against Ellsworth at home.
The emotional night came with a dramatic comeback victory for the Rayders, as they came back from down 20-9 at half to earn a 50-45 victory.
Gaffney hit a pair of second half 3-pointers to ignite the comeback, while Carter Greenacre finished with 11 points and nine rebounds for Charlevoix, Talan Jacobs had 12 points and four assists and Jason McNamara had nine.
Coming back from a 16-turnover first half came behind getting back to the basics in the eyes of Charlevoix coach Anthony Troshak.
“When we settled down and moved the ball we got good looks,” Troshak said. “But what really got us going was defense and rebounding. I thought Ian Moran did a solid job on defense and providing leadership. Talan and Peter Yanchulis brought great energy.”
For Ellsworth, Evincio LaCount led with 23 points.
Charlevoix gets back to the court on Friday, Dec. 5 in a Benzie Central tourney against North Muskegon.
Bear Lake 67, Harbor Springs 46
BEAR LAKE — Harbor Springs’ boys dropped their first game of the 2025-26 season earlier this week against Bear Lake on the road.
The Rams (0-1) get a chance at redemption when the open at home on Friday, Dec. 5 against Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian.
HOCKEY
Petoskey 3, Bay Reps 2
TRAVERSE CITY — A good season for the Petoskey hockey team took a turn toward a great start, as the Northmen moved to 5-1 after a 3-2 win over the Bay Reps (Traverse City St. Francis).
Coming off wins over Jackson Northwest, Dexter and Cheboygan, the Northmen got to show off some resiliency to open December play, coming back from a 2-0 deficit entering the final period.
Charter Schlappi got the Northmen started on an unassisted score, then Anderson Ward scored and Chase LaFaive added the game-winner.
Petoskey will host the Toys for Tots Showcase up next at the Petoskey Ice Arena on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 5 and 6.
Petoskey (5-1) meets Port Huron at 7:30 p.m., Friday, then Rochester Hills Stoney Creek at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey hockey gets best win yet, Harbor Light and EJ open on wins
Reporting by Drew Kochanny, The Petoskey News-Review / The Petoskey News-Review
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