Big Rapids Crossroads girls improved their record to 17-1 overall and 14-0 in the WMD League with a 56-23 win over Walkerville on Tuesday.
Crossroads had quarter leads of 17-8, 33-12, 44-18 and outscored Walkerville 12-5 in the final quarter.
The Portland High School bowling teams competed at the M66 Bowl in Battle Creek Friday, and Saturday, for regional finals, and finished sixth.
Saturday was the individual event with six bowlers for both the girls and boys teams to participate. For the boys 96 bowlers tried to qualify, only 10 move on to states. Sophomore Marcus Zinn scored 1,180 placing third. Junior Trenton Schiably scored 1,116 to qualify seventh and move on to states. Senior Karl Newman scored 1,057 placing 17th and senior Patrick Chaffee scored 1,030 placing 27th.
For the girls, junior Lily Whitford qualified with an 1,009 placing eighth (making it into state finals for the second year in a row). Senior Abby Hartwick scored an 876 placing 27th. Junior Ashley Prater scored 860 and placed 32nd.
Whitford, Zinn and Schiably will be bowling for the state championships on Saturday at Airport Lanes in Jackson.
By BUTCH HARMON
Thanks to a starting lineup with plenty of talent and experience, the Haslett girls basketball team has enjoyed one of its finest seasons in recent years.
After opening the season with a loss against Eaton Rapids, the Vikings ran the table in the regular season.
Depth, experience, and balance have been the keys to the season. “You always have to have good players,” coach Robert Currier said. “We have a very nice, well-rounded team. We have a bunch of kids who are pretty talented and have a lot of experience in the program. We have five girls on the team who were good enough as freshmen to play on the varsity. They all have that experience now, and they have gotten bigger and stronger. Their basketball skills have also improved due to hard work. They just don’t come to practice, they work year round on their games.”
That hard work has resulted in a team that is loaded with skilled players who can all score. The players in the starting lineup average between 8.5 and 14.5 points per game. During the season, the Vikings have had six different players lead the team in scoring in one game or another.
“The best thing about us is that we are truly a team,” Currier said. “Our motto this year that we put on our warmup shirts is `the team, the team, the team’. Everybody buys into it. The girls are most proud of how many assists we have at the end of every game.”
While Haslett is a veteran team in terms of experience, it has only one senior in the starting lineup, so the best may be yet to come.
Sarah Trosko is the lone senior in the starting lineup. A wing, Trosko has been a four-year varsity player. Junior Makenna Ott, a three-year varsity player, also plays a wing. Junior Adrianna Stolicker, an excellent outside shooter, is also a three-year varsity player and plays the two-guard position. Junior Kenzie DeCook handles the point guard duties. DeCook started on the varsity as a freshman before suffering a knee injury last year and missing the season. Sophomore Karson Tripp is a 6’0″ center who played on the varsity last year and who rounds out the starting lineup this year.
The Vikings also have a pair of seniors who come off the bench. Alison Rich was a starter last year who brings great experience. Senior Maria Kronner (6’1½”), who has a volleyball scholarship to Ferris State University, provides good size and experience off the bench and has led the team in scoring some games this season.
Those players have enabled the Vikings to enjoy a successful regular season.
“We won our first outright conference title in 10-plus years,” Currier said. “That was a big deal for us. We have not been undefeated in the league in a long time.”
Another highlight of the season was a 70-60 win against Goodrich. “We lost to Goodrich, the eventual state champion last year, in the regional last year,” Currier said. “They have only lost two games in three years, so beating them was a big deal. That was a good confidence builder for us.”
Currier has been assisted in the coaching department by Dave Miller.
“Dave Miller has done a great job for us,” Currier said. “He works well with the kids and is a big help.”
Team chemistry is also a big part of the team’s success. “Our team chemistry has been excellent,” Currier said. “We are so fortunate to have 10 kids on the team that are wonderful students, and it is a joy to coach this group. They like each other, and they are happy playing with each other.”
Breckenridge lost to Carrollton 86-71 in Friday boys basketball. It was 20-20 after the first quarter but Carrollton trailed 40-36 at halftime. Carrollton had a 30-19 scoring advantage in the third quarter and had a 22-21 advantage in the final quarter. Keagan Giles had 26 points for Breckenridge. Pheo St. John had 11 points.
Carrollton defeated Breckenridge 86-71 in Friday action. It was 20-20 after the first quarter but Carrollton trailed 40-36 at halftime. Carrollton had a 30-19 scoring advantage in the third quarter and had a 22-21 advantage in the final quarter. Andre Dunnaway scored 31 points while Henry Speight had 15 and Tommie Henderson scored 14 points for Carrollton.
Breckenridge (6-11, 4-8) lost to Ithaca 63-43 on Tuesday. Keegan Giles had 10 points while Jordan Lumsden had 10 points. Ithaca was up 12-8 after the first quarter, 29-25 at halftime and 40-35 after the third quarter.
By BUTCH HARMON
While a number of Michigan high schools have had periods when they dominated wrestling, few schools can boast the overall winning consistency of Holt.
In the 48 years that wrestling has been a varsity sport at Holt, the Rams have posted a winning season each and every one.
Current head coach Rocky Shaft has been involved in many of those winning seasons. He just completed his 34th season as head coach and, like the previous 33 seasons, it was another success. The Rams turned in a 26-5 record in dual meets. They also won the conference championship and a district title before falling to Hartland in the team regional.
“It was a good year,” Shaft said. “We had our ups and downs here and there, but the kids learned from those, and it was a good year. We had a good group of kids.”
The Rams had a number of highlights during the season. They began the season by travelling to North Canton, Ohio, to take part in a 33-team tournament, where they finished fourth against some of the top wrestling programs in the state of Ohio.
Holt also won its own tournament in January that included state-ranked teams Davison, Detroit Catholic Central, Bedford, and Princeton City from Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Rams also featured outstanding individual wrestlers like Benny Gomez at 112 pounds. Gomez, a 2013 state champion, took a 47-1 record into this year’s state individual finals. Martin Rodriguez also had a good year. Wrestling at 125 pounds, Rodriguez took a 41-1 record into the state finals, where he is wrestled in the 119-pound weight class.
“Benny and Martin have had great years, but we had a lot of good wrestlers this year,” Shaft said. “We had a lot of good role players and kids doing fine jobs all through the lineup. We also had a good group of younger kids step up this year.”
Wrestlers stepping up each year has been a key to Holt’s success over the years under Shaft.
“We’ve won state three times, and we finished second in the state once,” Shaft said. “We’ve never had a losing season, and the tradition of winning has been here a long time. No senior class ever wants to be the first class to have a losing season at Holt.”
An important factor in Holt’s winning seasons is the feeder program. “A big reason for our success is the Holt Wrestling Club,” Shaft said. “The kids get on the mat and receive solid instruction. You can’t ask for more than that.”
Shaft also likes his wrestlers to be involved in more than just one sport. “I’m old school in that I like the kids to do more than just one sport,” Shaft said. “Some of my best wrestlers played multiple sports. Playing different sports just helps kids overall.”
Shaft himself was a multiple-sport athlete at Holt High School. While he was an accomplished wrestler who made it to the state meet, he also played football and baseball during his playing days.
Holt wrestlers also take pride in the tradition of the program and do whatever it takes to keep the string of winning seasons going.
“The kids learn in the lower levels what it takes to be successful,” Shaft said. “They know what it takes to win, and it starts when the kids get in the program. Everyone is expected to pull their weight and step up to the plate, even a kid who may not have a winning record. They will not roll over and get pinned. If they lose by one point, they will do what it takes to get a one-point win next time.”
Ithaca’s boys basketball team improved to 13-4 overall and 7-4 in the TVC with a 63-43 win over Breckenridge on Tuesday. Logan Hessbrook score 20 points and Josh Hafner had 18 points for Ithaca. Ithaca was up 12-8 after the first quarter, 29-25 at halftime and 40-35 after the third quarter.
Hudson’s string of five straight state titles came to an end Saturday with a 33-22 loss to New Lothrop in Division 4 title match at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena. New Lothrop ended the season at 31-1 and Hudson ended at 35-5.
It’s New Lothrop’s first state title since 2004. The team was runners-up in 2007.
Hudson won three of the first four matches for a 12-3 lead. Jake Morgan won 5-0 over David Robertson at 285. Tyler Roberts pinned Brandon Kline in 20 seconds at 112 and Isaac Dusseau beat Cole Hersh 3-1 at 119. Connor Krupp got a win at 103 for New Lothrop over Zachary Lopinski 10-4.
New Lothrop’s Dalton Birchmeier beat Roddy Hamdan 5-1 at 125. Hudson’s Mason Lopinski got a win 8-6 over Gabe Bennett at 130. Steven Garza of New Lothrop had a 10-2 win at 135 over Michael Prock. Hudson took the next two matches for a 22-10 lead. It was J.D. Waters beating Erik Birchmeier 11-1 at 140 and Cole Weaver decisioning Aaron Bauman 4-1 at 145.
New Lothrop won the final five matches to get the win. Josh Wendling at 152 decisioned Kyle Johnson 13-5, Tylor Krupp at 160 pinned Clayton Brockway in 54 seconds, Caleb Symons at 171 decisioned Brian Sumber 10-0, Cody Symons pinned Tyler Grames in 2:21 at 180 and Owen Wilson decisioned Mitch Ely 5-1 at 215.
Dundee has won the Division 3 team wrestling state title for the second straight season. Dundee beat Richmond 34-24 in the title match Saturday at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena. Dundee ended the season at 25-1 and Richmond at 23-5.
Richmond won three matches for a 9-0 lead. Adam Boyd decisioned Russell Edge 4-0 at 285 pounds, Connor Behem beat Drew Mandell 5-3 at 103 and Aaron Kilburn edged Kenny Reinhart 5-4.
Dundee took the next two with Zach Levins getting a 26-11 tech fall. Brandon O’Connor won for Dundee at 125 pounds with an 18-2 technical fall over Xavier Nuckles 18-2.
Richmond won the next two. It was Nick Burg at 130 over Sean Sterling 9-5 and Austin Vannatter at 135 over Brad Scholl 5-1.
Dundee won at 140 and 145. Doug Rojem decisioned Jake VanScoter 9-3 and Sean Marogen pinned Alex Muzljakovich in 53 seconds at 145.
The next three matches went to Dundee to wrap up the victory. Ryan Heiserman at 160 pinned Austin Pawlak in 3:05, Tye Thomson at 171 decisioned Austin Peltier 9-2 and Teddy Warren at 189 pinned Anthony Hinojoa in 3:37. Brady LaFore of Richmond got a pin at 215 over Brady LaFore in 36 seconds to end the match.
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