MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP – The North Muskegon boys basketball team is obviously pretty hungry.

Since dropping a home contest early in the season to conference opponent Mason County Central, the Norsemen have rattled off four straight victories.

And those victories have not been close. North Muskegon won those four matchups by an average margin of 32 points.

“We think we let one slip away early in this season,” said North Muskegon Chuck Rypstra, whose team improved to 5-1 overall on the season. “Now we’re trying to get back, keep pushing. You’ve got to beat everyone that’s put in front of you.”

The Norse certainly did that on Wednesday in a 59-29 victory over Orchard View in the opening game of the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame Classic at Reeths-Puffer High School.

The win provided a measure of revenge for North Muskegon’s 61-53 loss to the Cardinals in last year’s matchup at the Hall of Fame Classic.

This year the game was never close after the first few minutes, with the Norse leading 14-6 after one quarter, 36-16 at halftime and 43-27 after three quarters.

“We got the lead early and settled some nerves,” said North Muskegon standout Troy McManus, who scored a game-high 20 points. “It helped because this is one we had circled at the beginning of the year, and one we’ve been thinking about since last year.”

Sam Gallo had 15 points and 10 rebounds for North Muskegon while Lamarkis Graham chipped in seven points and James Young added six.

Now that they have a full lineup, the Norse are bound to keep getting better. Early in the season they were competing without several key players like Gallo and Ben Meyers, but now those two are back and contributing.

“It takes pressure off of everybody (to have teammates healthy), because if you only have one or two scorers it feels like you have to play good to have a shot,” McManus said. “Anyone can get hot. It’s nice to be able to dish if off, but also to be able to score.”

With a healthy lineup and an impressive winning streak, the Norse will be turning their attention to the West Michigan Conference Rivers Division championship race. They are currently 2-1 in division play, but believe they can play with any of their foes, including undefeated Hart.

North Muskegon will host Hart on Jan. 6

“Hart is undefeated, and they’ve beat everyone in the conference,” Coach Rypstra said. “But they haven’t played us yet.”

BJ Sewell led Orchard View with 11 points. The Cardinals are now 2-4 on the season.