It was Meridian over Farwell 66-22 in district boys semifinal action on Wednesday.¯
Meridian led 59-17 at halftime.
Dane Plitcha had 16 points and Nick Metzger had nine points for Meridian. Cam Haiser had nine points and nine rebounds.
“Cam and Dane played really well for us tonight,” Meridian coach Mitch Bohn. “They shot the three ball well, defended and rebounded.”
Meridian’s record is 14-6.
The season ended for Ovid-Elsie on Wednesday with a 55-37 loss to Frankenmuth in regional girls basketball action. Frankenmuth led 36-16 at halftime.
Ava Bates had 10 points for Ovid-Elsie while Evalyn Cole had nine points and Caitlyn Walter had eight points.
“A great season comes to an end,” O-E coach Ryan Cunningham said. “I couldn’t be more proud of this team. 21-2 and two championships. Tonight we just got beat by a better team but we battled the whole game. Sometimes you just gotta tip your cap to the better team and tonight that was Frankenmuth.
“Our kids have nothing to hang their heads about. We’ll miss our seniors for sure but we have a lot of young talent and we’ll be back.”
Since walking off the mats at the conclusion of last year’s Division 3
team semifinals loss to Whitehall, the Alma wrestling team has been on a mission.
That mission has always been to reach the Division 3 state
championship match. Alma appeared poised to achieve that mission last year before the loss
of three key starters due to testing positive for the Covid-19 virus prior to the semifinal match. Down three starters, the Panthers dropped a tight 37-29 decision.
This year, with 10 seniors leading the way, Alma is determined not to let anything keep them from their goal of wrestling in the final Division 3 match of the season.
“We can do some damage,” said Alma coach Randy Miniard. “The kids are primed and ready to go. Last year with the Covid we left the finals feeling like something was missing.
We knew that we should’ve been wrestling in the state final match.” Fueled by that disappointment, the Panthers have been wrestling like a team on a mission this season.
Alma is ranked third in the state and has faced some of the top teams in the state during the regular season in preparation of another run at the state title.
Alma overcame a big hurdle in the regional tournament it hosted when it defeated 10th-ranked Portland 51-20 in the regional title match in front of a packed and frenzied crowd in Alma.
“We came out and wrestled hard,” Miniard said. “The gym was packed and there was an electrifying atmosphere all night. The people were going crazy. Our two freshmen, Buddy Leonard and Fabian Facundo got us off to a strong start and we went from there.”
For Alma the regional title was the fifth in a row for a team that has developed into the premier wrestling program in mid-Michigan.
“Five in a row feels good,” Miniard said. “We have 10 seniors on the team and that makes it easy as a coach. They know our staff and how we do things. They are a bunch of gamers. This is my best team experience-wise just because of the 10 seniors. It’s a long way from when
I started here when we had just eight guys come out for my first team and I had to walk the halls finding bodies to fill out a lineup.”
The 10 seniors leading the way for Alma this year include Caden Adams, Josiah Baltierra, Landon Bethka, Breden Everdeen, Adam Garcia, Jaden Morrow, Isaiah Mullins, Jacob Munger, Jordan Pannill and Harrison Seeley.
Alma defeated Birch Run on Friday in varsity girls basketball action.
Gracie Mellinger scored 15 points and had six rebounds for Alma. Jordan Cleveland had 12 points and five rebounds. Zoe Jackson had 10 points and eight boards.
Bullock Creek defeated Ithaca’s girls basketball team 41-38 on Friday. It was 18-5 at halftime. Ithaca didn’t score in the first quarter but had 20 points in the fourth.
Delaney Seaman had 20 points for Ithaca. L. Borsenik had 16 for Bullock Creek.
In wrestling action this week: it was Alma 77, Ovid Elsie minus 1 and Alma 66 Clare 12.
Final score Hartland 56, Saginaw Heritage 51
Dec. 6
location of event: Hartland High School
sport : Boys Basketball
Heritage Details: Sophomore Tyler Ode led the team with 13 pts and 10 reb. Sophomores Braylon Isom and Joss Bradley chipped in with 13pt and 10 pts respectively.
Next event: @ Traverse City West on 12/14/21
ashley coach joe shaw:
All Saints 50
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