Boy’s Basketball: Jennings torches Chemics

by Cory Butzin

It may have been cold Thursday night.

But someone forgot to tell Spencer Jennings.

Jennings was on fire all night, pouring in 30 points to lead Midland Dow as they were able to stave off a Chemics’ comeback and beat Midland 68-57 at H.H. Dow High School.

The win snaps Dow’s two-game losing steak and improves their record to 10-3. Thursday’s victory was the Chargers’ first against Midland in seven tries.

But on this night it seemed as though Dow was destined to get the best of Midland, as Jennings came out blazing and turned in perhaps the game of his career.

“We usually play as well as he plays,” said Dow coach Dave MacDonald. “He’s certainly the key to our team. If he plays well, we usually have success.”

Jennings hit a couple early shots to help the Chargers jump out to a 10-2 lead. Dow capitalized on several Midland turnovers and Jennings scored 12 first quarter points to build a 23-12 lead.

“I’ve been struggling shooting lately,” Jennings said. “It felt really good tonight to come out and get a couple easy buckets… and I got in a good rhythm from the start.”

The tempo of the game slowed down a little in the second, and the Chemics tried to take advantage but they couldn’t seem to make a run and went into the half trailing 37-28.

Midland may have not been able to make a run in the second quarter, but they made up for it in the third.

Midway through the quarter, Kyle Wakeman and Evan Sanders hit back-to-back 3-pointers to bring the score within three. Later, a Chris O’Brien steal would wind up in the hands of Wakeman for an easy layup that made it 41-40 with 3:25 left in the third. The Chemics trailed 48-45 going into the fourth.

The Chemics would pull within one again with an O’Brien jumper, but that was a close as they would get. Every time the Chemics made it close, the Chargers answered with a couple buckets of their own.

“I was proud we came back,” said Midland coach Eric Krause. “But we lost a little mental focus, and our weakness in half-court execution still came back to haunt us.”

Midway through the final quarter, the Chemics’ chances for a comeback took a serious blow when a foul on Jennings put Dow in the bonus. Jennings hit both free throws, and the Chargers were able to convert from the line the rest of the way and hold on for the win.

“Our free throws were huge,” MacDonald said. “We shot a lot and we made a high percentage.”

Also contributing offensively for Dow was Austin Robinson and Zach Riepma, who finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Wakeman led Midland with 21 points and four steals, while Blair Turner had 11 points off the bench.

Dow returns to action Tuesday when they travel to Heritage to take on the Hawks. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Meanwhile Midland’s record falls to 7-5. They look to get back on track Tuesday when they travel to Bay City Western to take on the Warriors. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

For more photos from Thursday’s game click on “Photo slideshow” in the top right corner of this article.

Photos by Cory Butzin & Jason Wolverton