Joe Gales scored a game-high 17 points for Mendon.
(Photo by Wes Morgan)
Friday’s final St. Joseph Valley League game against Bronson was merely a formality for the Mendon boys basketball team, but the Hornets preferred a smudge-free league championship.
In front of an amped up Senior Night crowd that had just watched the Lady Hornets finish 6-0 in conference play, coach Dave Swanwick’s squad followed suit with a 64-39 victory for an undefeated SJV run.
After starting the season 1-2, Mendon has now won 13 straight games — the longest streak in school history. The Hornets won 11 consecutive games back in the 1969-70 season.
Through the first 16 minutes, Bronson made things difficult for the host team, capitalizing on some sloppy Mendon play in the last minute of the half to make it a 32-25 contest.
Zach Darmofal looks to score Friday.
Mendon quickly broke the Vikings’ spirit with a 21-6 third quarter.
Joe Gales finished the night with 17 points and six rebounds and Zach Darmofal scored 14 for Mendon, which improved to 14-2 overall. Marcus Craft pitched in seven points to go with a pair of steals and six assists.
“I’m completely excited for the guys,” Swanwick said. “It’s the last SJV title they’re going to give out. We went 6-0 in the league and that was our goal — to win the league. They’ve worked hard. These are kids that have put in a lot of time out of season to make their basketball skills better and this is just one step to where we want to get to. We have other games we want to win this year.”
Video interview with Craft and Darmofal
Jordan Medich posted six points, with Parker Cupp, Erik Batten (seven rebounds) and Zach Higgins each registering four. Robert Riley, Logan Slaughter and Kyle Wiswell chipped in two points apiece.
Darmofal also had four assists, Slaughter finished with three steals and three boards, and Wiswell added three rebounds for Mendon, which made 26 of 49 (53.1 percent) of its field goal attempts.
The Hornets shot 66.7 (8-for-12) from the foul line and held all but one Bronson player, Sean Kenny, to single digits. Kenny tossed in 12 points.
A strikingly different second half, Swanwick said, was a result of a shift in Mendon’s defensive intensity.
“That’s what we talked about at halftime,” he said. “We knew we had some more skilled athletes basketball wise. Given the defense of teams we’re going to play down the road, we’ve got to bring that intensity for 32 minutes, not just 16, not just eight. … I thought they did a fantastic job of refocusing and going back out and playing on the defensive end. That’s where we’ve won 13 in a row now.”
Mendon seems to be getting stronger as the regular season draws to a close, having gone 5-0 in January with a 13.4-point average margin of victory and 8-0 in February, winning by 29.8 points per contest.
That’s good considering the home stretch is a challenging one. The Hornets play at Bridgman Monday and finish the year at home against Kalamazoo Home School and at Cassopolis.
Check back soon for video interviews with Gales, Darmofal and Cupp.