2/10/2016 basketball Edit

Kelser, Walled Lake Central hold off Lakeland

Walled Lake Central guard Walter Kelser shoots a free throw against Lakeland Tuesday night.

Joe Bernhardt

Intern

WHITE LAKE, Mich.- Walled Lake Central (12-2, 8-1 KLAA North) senior guard Walter Kelser was not going to let Lakeland (11-4, 5-4 KLAA North) end the Vikings winning streak Tuesday night. Kelser scored 18 points to extend Central’s winning streak to six games.

After a sloppy first quarter from both teams, Kelser was able to take over in the second quarter scoring 12 points before halftime.

“He can really do that whenever he wants, I think sometimes he also tries to get other teammates involved,” Walled Lake Central head coach Chuck Spolsky said. “He knows when he needs to make plays, when it’s time. We are just glad he is on our side.”

Not everything went well for Kelser Tuesday night. On the last play of the game Kelser came down on his ankle and was carried off of the court. Kelser was seen on crutches after the game with a sprained ankle.

“We will make sure he’s healthy and ready to go, we still have a long way to go before the state playoffs,” Spolsky added. “I’m really confident with the other players we have on the court.”

Central also got some scoring production from senior forward Anton Lucaj. He finished the game with 15 points. Lucaj scored six straight points in the first quarter to give the Vikings an early 6-0 lead.

Lakeland didn’t go down without a fight. Lakeland took the lead 42-39 with 3:59 left after sophomore guard Sean Cullen completed a three-point play. Central took the lead back with under a minute to play in the game and was able to hold on.

“We knew coming in it was going to be a tough game,” Spolsky said “They are well coached, we preached to them before the game that this was going to be a tough 32 minutes.”

Cullen finished the game with 12 points hitting some timely 3-pointers as well. Lakeland sophomore forward Kyle Soderberg also added 12 points and senior forward Martin Sinishtaj finished with nine points.

“I’m proud of my team, we found a way to win,” Spolsky said. “I’m just proud of the way we came through at the end.”

Central will head home to play Walled Lake Northern (5-9, 3-5 KLAA North), Friday Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m.

Lakeland will head to Walled Lake Western (10-4,6-2 KLAA North), Friday Feb. 12 at 7:00 p.m. Lakeland lost a close game to Western earlier this season 31-20.