TRAVERSE CITY -- Traverse City West held Zeeland West to 10 first half points Friday night in a season-opening 60-27 girls basketball win at the Titan Tipoff Tournament.
"We played very good team defense and Mallory Litwiller played exceptional defense," Titans coach Patti Tibaldi said.
The Titans opened a 34-10 lead at the break.
Loren Wagner controlled the interior, scoring 19 points and pulling down nine rebounds.
Emily Ellison, who missed last season with an ACL injury, added 12 points and Jessica Harding nine. In all, 10 Titans scored in the contest.
West won the JV game 41-27 as Nickay Garvin netted 14 points.
In the opening game, Traverse City Central suffered a 64-49 loss to Grand Haven.
The Trojans (0-1) had 21 points from Katie Knudsen while Molly Walker had five rebounds.
"They're a good team, give them all the credit in the world," TC Central coach Aric Woughter said. "We've got work to do."
The Trojans were within a handful of points at halftime, but quickly dropped to double digits in the third quarter.
Sarah Schultz had 11 points for Grand Haven while Alex Merzx added 10.
TC Central will look to rebound today against Zeeland West at 1:30 p.m. West will play Grand Haven at 3 p.m.
"We've got to come back with the same kind of effort," Woughter said. "We've just got to execute a little better. We fought hard all the way."
Grand Haven claimed the JV game 45-27 as Abby Cole scored 12 points. Olivia DeBartoli led Central with 14. Kelsey Coggins and Taylor Olson led the defensive effort. In the freshmen game, Grand Haven won 42-27 despite eight points from Claire Young.
TC West's freshmen team picked up a 43-38 win over the Dux as Jill Turnquist had 18 points and Aleah Hunt added six.
St. Francis 51
Frankfort 42
Lyndsay LaCourse tossed in 16 points as St. Francis beat Frankfort 51-42 in the Lake Michigan-Northwest Challenge.
Keller Greiner added eight points for the 1-1 Gladiators, who committed just six turnovers.
Sara Loney and Tami Banktson led the Panthers with 12 points apiece.
St. Francis won the JV game 59-32 as McKaely Ludka netted 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Kaitlyn Hegelin chipped in 12 points and five steals and Jessica Schaub 11 points.
Kalkaska 81
Benzie Central 38
Freshman Kelli Guy led a balanced attack with 29 points, five assists and four steals as Kalkaska defeated Benzie Central 81-38.
Chelsea Matley added 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals for the 2-0 Blazers. Sophomore Jamie Myas and Sophy Menestrina chipped in 10 points apiece. Exchange student Mariska Bruggenthijs contributed eight points and 11 rebounds. Karen Fales had nine steals.
Taylor Nugent tossed in nine points and Sara Thurkettle eight for the 1-1 Huskies.
Suttons Bay 45
Harbor Springs 35
Olivia Raftshol and Emily Send powered Suttons Bay to a 43-35 victory over Harbor Springs.
Raftshol had 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks for the 1-1 Norse while Send added 14 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and one block.
The game was tied 26-all after three quarters.
Samantha Stark contributed nine points, five rebounds and five assists in the win.
Kristin Albert scored eight points for the Rams.
Elk Rapids 52
Leland 39
Elk Rapids came back from a 24-19 halftime deficit to beat Leland 52-39 in the Lake Michigan/Northwest Conference Challenge.
The Elks (2-0) had 17 points, five steals and six rebounds from Olivia Morrison while Makayla Sanford had 13 points.
Elizabeth McKee led Leland with 13 points.
Elk Rapids came back with a 19-8 run in the third quarter by slowing the game down and making better decisions. The Elks also shot 12-for-13 from the free-throw line in the win.
Kingsley 43
Charlevoix 40
Kingsley made its free throws down the stretch and held on for a 43-40 win over Charlevoix in the Lake Michigan/Northwest Conference Challenge.
The Rayders (1-2) led 12-10 after the first quarter before the Stags took a 23-22 lead into second half.
Sam Zubalik had 16 points for Kingsley while AnnaMarie Sanchez and Hannah Bach each had six points.
Lynzie Gotshall had 14 points and five rebounds for Charlevoix while Jenna Way and Madison Way each had eight points.
East Jordan 52
Mesick 41
East Jordan picked up its first win of the season with a 52-41 victory over Mesick in the Lake Michigan/Northwest Conference Challenge.
The Red Devils (1-1) had 18 points from Maribeth Poindexter while Shaina Peters added 16.
Erica Hamilton had 16 points for Mesick.
East Jordan took a 21-15 lead into the break and extended it to 34-24 going into the fourth quarter.
TC Christian 52
Baldwin 14
Traverse City Christian moved to 2-0 on the season with a lopsided 52-14 win over Baldwin.
The Sabres had 14 points, four assists and five steals from Mary Raetz, Alisha Bultsma had 10 points and three steals, Jenna Finney had eight points and 12 assists, Katie VanVreede had eight points and 18 rebounds while Nicole Shnoski had eight points, six rebounds and five steals.
TC Christian will play the TC Bulldogs on Monday.
TC Bulldogs 66
Skeels Academy 21
The Traverse City Bulldogs finished their fourth game in as many nights and came away with a 66-21 win over Skeels Academy for the title at the Alba Tipoff Tourney.
The Bulldogs (5-1) have the weekend off before playing at TC Christian on Monday.
Ellisha Crosby was named tournament MVP after scoring 41 points with 14 rebounds, eight steals and six assists. Rachel Crosby had 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while Sarah Morrison earned all-tournament honors with nine points.
Traverse City was short-handed and brought up two girls from JV to give them six players for the night.
Mancelona 50
Boyne Falls 45
Mancelona opened its season with a 50-45 non-conference win over Boyne Falls.
Kayla Adkins netted 17 points and Cheyenne McCorry 14 for Mancelona.
Kristen Matelski led Boyne Falls with 14.
Central Lake 57
Ellsworth 38
Jasmine Hines had 34 points, 18 rebounds, six blocks and three steals as Central Lake upended Ellsworth 57-38.
Heidi Hicks added 10 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals for the 2-0 Trojans. Jillian Hines pulled down nine rebounds.
Jayln Ingalls topped Ellsworth with 16 points.
Gaylord St. Mary 51
Pickford 43
Gaylord St. Mary took a 25-12 lead into the half and held on for a 51-43 non-conference win over Pickford.
The Snowbirds moved to 2-0 on the season before starting Ski Valley play at Central Lake on Wednesday.
Jessi Oehlers had 12 points while Carly Jacob scored all 10 of her points in the fourth quarter. Lauren Reppuhn had 10 points, Grace Westerman had five assists while Mariah Beyer had six rebounds.
Lake City 50
Forest Area 37
Caelan Murray tossed in 18 points as Lake City topped Forest Area 50-37.
Marissa Ingersoll led Forest Area with 22.
Hockey
TC West 8
Petoskey 0
Traverse City West opened the Big North Conference season with an 8-0 win at Petoskey.
The Titans (2-1, 1-0 BNC) finished the shutout midway through the third period when Shane Totten sored his third goal of the night off assists from Nate Allgaier and Frank Gilbert.
Mitchell Snyder had two goals, Allgaier added one while Luke Gerding and Zack Franklin all scored.
Alex Grizzel had three assists, Gilbert, Allgaier and Jake Longstreet each had two, Steven Smiley, Snyder and Gabe Hisem added one.
Nate Wilson and Dylan Snyder split time in net to earn the shutout. Wilson made four saves while Snyder had seven.
TC West will be in action again on Wednesday against TC Central.
bowling
Area teams in action today at Gaylord
Area bowling teams will start the season today with a tournament in Gaylord.
Teams from two conferences, the Great Northwest and the Northern Conference, will square off starting at 11 a.m. at the Gaylord Bowling Center in the inaugural Northern Michigan High School Bowling Championships.
Teams will compete in a qualifying round of three Baker games and one regular game. Top scoring teams will then move into a head-to-head finals bracket comprised of a single Baker game.
Five bowlers from each conference will also square off in a conference versus conference showdown with the winning teams taking trophies back to their home bowling center.
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