A strong season for Sanford Meridian ended at 21-4 with a 53-30 loss to Grand Rapids Covenant Christian in the Class C state quarterfinal round.
Meridian won the Jack Pine Conference with a 13-1 record.
Four senior starters graduated from last season.
“I thought we’d be very good because our sixth man was a junior, we started a sophomore and our JV was 19-1,” coach Mitch Bohn said. “So we felt we’d be good.”
Lucas Lueder was averaging 15 points per game as the team’s leading scorer. Gabe Brady was averaging 10 points a game.
“After those two, it’s pretty even, pretty spread out,” Bohn said.
Fulton gets hot in playoff
Fulton had a strong post season run that went to the regional finals. The Pirates were 9-11 to end the regular season. But it was a special playoff run. They won over Ashley, Vestaburg and Fowler (59-53) in the districts. Fulton beat Bay City All-Saints 65-22 in the regional semifinals but lost to Flint International Academy in the finals 74-62.
“We did a decent job on the boards, but had four turnovers in the first half that put us in a hole,” Fulton coach Todd Walden said of the regional final. “I don’t think it was decided until a minute was left. We couldn’t get over the hump. We were excited to get a big win over Fowler in the district finals. It’s seven district titles in the last nine years.”