Kirtland Sweeps Basketball Doubleheader from ACC

February 4, 2026 – Park Arena

The Alpena Community College Lumberjacks faced a challenging evening at Park Arena on Tuesday, dropping both ends of a doubleheader to visiting Kirtland Community College.

The Lumberjack women's team struggled to find offensive rhythm in a 65-40 loss to Kirtland, falling to 4-14 overall and 0-8 in conference play.

Saige Flaugher provided a bright spot for Alpena, leading all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting, including four three-pointers. Defensively she also held Kirtland's Jena Wambold without a shot from the floor. Wambold had scored 14 in the Firebirds 77-49 win over ACC earlier in the season.

Brooke Portice added 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds in a strong effort on the glass. Sarah Wyglendowski contributed 10 rebounds as the Lumberjacks matched Kirtland on the boards 31-31.

However, Alpena struggled from the field, shooting just 28.6% overall and 35.7% from three-point range. The Lumberjacks were plagued by 34 turnovers, which Kirtland converted into numerous scoring opportunities.

Kirtland's balanced attack featured five players scoring in double figures, led by Kingsley Backstrom, Elliana Sexton, and Lucy Hall with 13, 13, and 12 points respectively. The visitors shot 38.2% from the field and dominated the turnover battle, recording 20 steals.

The game was competitive early, with Alpena trailing just 15-14 after the first quarter, but Kirtland pulled away with a 21-9 second quarter to take a 36-23 halftime lead and never looked back.

The nightcap saw the Lumberjack men's team fall 69-61 to Kirtland, dropping to 1-17 overall and 0-8 in conference play.

Alpena jumped out to a strong start, leading 35-27 at halftime behind sharp shooting and aggressive defense. Derian Williams paced the Lumberjacks with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while Kobe Johnson added 11 points on three three-pointers.

However, Kirtland stormed back in the second half, outscoring Alpena 42-26 to secure the victory. The Firebirds were led by Jayvion Sims with 19 points.

Kavon Patterson, despite scoring only eight points, was a defensive catalyst with three steals. The bench production from Gary Reed (5 points, 3 assists, 3 steals) and Oluwatobi Ogunyode (7 points) wasn't enough to overcome Kirtland's second-half surge.

While disappointing, both outcomes were a huge improvement over the games earlier in the season at Kirtland as the women improved by 3 points (losing by 28 then 25) while the men improved by a whopping 15 (losing by 23 then 8). Both Lumberjack teams will look to regroup as they continue conference play with the home finale on Wednesday, Feb. 11 hosting Bay College.