Fulton Middleton boys basketball enjoy big season

By GREG CHRAPEK
After having its string of district titles snapped last year, the Fulton basketball team bounced back in a big way. It not only reclaimed a district title, but it also advanced to the Class D regional finals before its season came to an end.
The Pirates turned in a 21-3 record this year, and with plenty of talented players due back next year, the future looks bright.
“As a whole, you can’t be too disappointed about 21-3,” coach Todd Walden said. “We finished a game out of first behind Pewamo-Westphalia in our league and split with Pewamo-Westphalia this year. We are still a pretty young team, and all in all, it was a pretty good year for us.”
Fulton won its fourth district title in the last five years.
“The kids were disappointed we didn’t win the district last year,” Walden said. “That was a big goal for us this year, and when we won it, that was a big weight off our shoulders. It was a good year, and we were playing our best basketball at the end of the year.”
The year would have included a regional title if not for an incredible buzzer-beating shot by Sacred Heart Academy in the regional championship game. The shot was highlighted on ESPN’s Sportscenter that night. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime shot, but we had some missed opportunities,” Walden said. “We were up by five with three minutes left, but we missed some free throws and missed some assignments that put us in a bad position at the end of the game.”
The Pirates were led by sophomore Colton Antes, who averaged 13 points per game, and senior Dalton Trefil and junior Gregg Jones, who both averaged 12.5 points per game. Senior Nathan Davis added 7.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while junior Talon Hyde and sophomore Jake Litwiller both added six points and six rebounds per game.
Trefil earned honorable-mention all-state honors this year. Trefil and Antes also earned first-team all-conference honors. Davis and Jones both earned second-team all-conference honors, while Hyde was honorable-mention all-conference.
With players like Antes, Jones, Hyde, and Litwiller returning, the future is bright for the Pirates. 
“Obviously, we are going to miss the seniors,” Walden said. “We do have a great group of young men coming back. We have four key guys coming back and a lot of offense coming back. Our junior varsity team also went 16-4 or 15-5 this year. We have 10 kids coming back from this year’s team, so we are excited about next year. Some of the guys have already started playing spring AAU basketball.”
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MHSAA baseball softball finals moving to Michigan State

By BUTCH HARMON

After years of playing both the baseball and softball state finals at Bailey Park in Battle Creek, the Michigan High School Athletic Association has moved them to a new stage, as they will now be played at Michigan State University.

A vote by the Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) at its annual meeting authorized the move of the baseball and softball finals to Michigan State University beginning this spring. The move ends 24 years of softball and baseball finals being held in Battle Creek.

“We are pleased to have had the opportunity to play our Finals at Bailey Park for the last 24 seasons, and grateful to the athletic directors, additional staff and volunteers who annually helped make our events an impressive showcase,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said in a press release. “We’ve reached a time now when many of our college facilities have been upgraded, and we have many more options to consider for our Finals than we did decades ago. We believe Michigan State University offers us the best situation and an opportunity to continue playing our Finals for both sports at adjacent venues.”

The baseball finals will be played at McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field, while the softball finals will be played at Peter F. Seccia Stadium at Old College Field.

“We’ve been getting a lot of feedback from the baseball and softball coaches association about looking for other venues for the baseball and softball finals,” said MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl. “Battle Creek has served us very well for a long, long time, and there are some great people in Battle Creek.

“At Michigan State, you’ve got identical, brand-new, side-by-side baseball/softball facilities centrally located. They are million-dollar college facilities. We are playing the finals at the best venue possible. We considered all the other options and ultimately decided to move to Michigan State University.”

With the move to Michigan State, the MHSAA is also going to change the way the finals take place. Instead of cramming all eight final games and 16 semifinal games into a two-day window, the finals will be spread over three days as a way to showcase the event. The semifinals will take place on Thursday and Friday, similar to the basketball semifinals, with two divisions playing on Thursday and the other divisions playing on Friday. All four championship games will take place on Saturday and give baseball or softball fans the ability to view all the games at one location.

“We are going to a three-day tournament, and by having one game at a time, we are able to showcase each game,” Uyl said. “We will have all four of our championship games on Saturday.”

Michigan State’s facilities will also be able to deal with rain delays better than the facilities in Battle Creek. With only one softball and baseball field being used, a tarp can be immediately used to cover the field, unlike in Battle Creek, where there were two baseball diamonds and four softball diamonds.

Parking will also be plentiful, as the lots at The Breslin Center and Spartan Stadium are only a few minutes walk to the baseball and softball fields.

 

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Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart girls basketball player earn all-state honors

 

Two girls from Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart’s basketball squad recently received all-state honors to the Associated Press Class D All-State girls basketball team. Sacred Heart recently won the Class D state title. Sara Hansen, a 5-7 senior was on the first team. Averi Gamble was on the honorable mention list.

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Mount Pleasant advances to the state semifinals

 

Mount Pleasant’s boys basketball team will be playing in the Class A state semifinals later this week. The Oilers secured their spot in the final four with a 69-39 win over Howell in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Mount Pleasant was up 16-6 after the first quarter, 38-19 at halftime and 54-28 after the third quarter. Jaleel Hogan had 21 points, Aaron Leasher 15 points and T.J. Johnson had 12 points to lead Mount Pleasant.

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Wayland falls in quarterfinals

 

Wayland’s basketball season came to an end Tuesday in the Class B state quarterfinals with a 62-53 loss to Midland. Wayland trailed 9-5 after the first quarter and 29-16 at halftime. Wayland was outscored 37-33 in the second half. Lacey James had 16 points and six rebounds while very Hudson had 16 points while Dilon Aten put in 13 points for Wayland.

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Goodrich falls in quarterfinals

 

Goodrich’s season ended with a 39-28 loss to Detroit Douglass in the Class B quarterfinals on Tuesday at Marysville. Goodrich was up 12-9 after the first quarter but trailed 20-18 at halftime and was outscored 19-10 in the second half. Grant Smith scored nine points and Jaylin Fordham had seven for Goodrich.

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Flint Beecher falls to Pewamo-Westphalia

 

The season is over for Flint Beecher following a 42-41 loss to Pewamo-Westphalia on Tuesday night in Class C quarterfinal boys basketball action. It was tied 11-11 after the first quarter and Beecher led 26-18 at halftime and found itself in a 28-28 tie after the third quarter. P-W had a 14-13 advantage in the final quarter. Amariontez Ivory scored 11 points for Flint Beecher and Tommy Johnson added 10 points and Sammie Tons had nine points for Beecher.

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Pewamwo-Westphalia wins quarterfinal game

Pewamo-Westphalia rallied in the fourth quarter for a 42-41 come-from-behind victory against Flint Beecher in Class C quarterfinal boys basketball action Tuesday night. It was tied 11-11 after the first quarter and Beecher led 26-18 at halftime and found itself in a 28-28 tie after the third quarter. P-W had a 14-13 advantage in the final quarter.

 

Nick Spitzley scored 18 points while Lane Simon had 11 points and Adam Wesley had seven points for P-W.

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Frankfort edges Sacred Heart’s season

Frankfort ended Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart’s season with a 47-44 victory Tuesday night in Class D quarterfinal action at Cadillac. Sacred Heart was down 15-8 after the first quarter, 23-20 at halftime and 30-28 after the third quarter.

 

David Loney had 22 points for Frankfort while Brandon Schaub had 16 points and Connor Bradley had nine.

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Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart falls in quarterfinals

Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart’s boys basketball season ended with a 47-44 loss to Frankfort Tuesday night in Class D quarterfinal action at Cadillac. Sacred Heart was down 15-8 after the first quarter, 23-20 at halftime and 30-28 after the third quarter. 

 

Brooks Hyble led the Irish with 19 points while Kevin Gamble added 12 points and Ben Goenner had 10. Only four Irish players scored in the game.

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