Huron Daily Tribune Sports Blog

Paul P. here

Harbor Beach took both ends of the Pioneer Sugar Holiday Tournament Friday night.
For the girls, the Pirates pulled off a 52-33 victory over Cros-Lex while the boys earned a 56-37 decision over CPS.
The girls led 27-16 at the half and saw their lead cut to 29-22 early in the third quarter before going on a 14-1 run to take command of the game.
Coach Marilee Schock was very happy with the defensive effort — and hopes to take momentum from the tournament win into next week's GTE showdown with Sandusky.
A pair of sophomores led Harbor Beach in scoring as Heidi Grekowicz had 14 points while Bri Woycehoski added 13 points.

On the boys side, Harbor Beach looked sluggish after its battled with Peck on Thursday. The Pirates trailed 14-10 after the first quarter and 16-10 early in the second before rallying. They finished the second quarter on an 18-2 run. During that stretch, Alex Talaski lit the nets for three straight triples. Talaski ended with 14 points to lead the way. Coach Ron Wruble was pleased with the effort, but he said there's a lot of work to be done before his team plays Sandusky next Friday.

Here are some photos from the games:

Paul P. here

The Harbor Beach boys and girls will be playing for some holiday hardware on Friday night as they both advanced to the championship of the Pioneer Sugar Holiday Tournament.

The girls made it look easy as they defeated Peck, 50-18. Harbor Beach led 15-0 after the first quarter and 28-5 by halftime. Although the score was lopsided, coach Marilee Schock said her team must work on its rebounding. Kaylee Lochrie led the Pirates with 14 points while Alicia Seltz added 10.

Harbor Beach will face Cros-Lex at 5:30 on Friday in Harbor Beach for the championship. The Pioneers defeated International Academy, 61-20, in the other semifinal.

On the boys side, Harbor Beach got everything it could handle from Peck. Harbor Beach survived for a hard-fought 54-52 decision. The Pirates were playing without Travis Schock, who injured his knee in last week's win over Deckerville. Schock is not expected to play until next week against Sandusky.

Harbor Beach started off well as it led 24-16 after the first quarter, but Peck closed within 34-33 by halftime. In the fourth, Peck took a four-point lead early, but Harbor Beach rallied for an 8-0 run to hold on for the win.

Tom Sorenson again came up big for the Pirates as he had 21 points, including 6-of-6 from the line. Alex Talaski added 11 points while Jason Volmering had 10.

Harbor Beach will take on CPS at 7 p.m. on Friday in Harbor Beach. The Tigers defeated Cros-Lex, 37-34, to advance to the championship.

In other games from Thursday night:
BOYS
THURSDAY’S RESULTS
Bad Axe 68, North Huron 58
Saginaw Nouvel 91, BCAS 63
Pioneer Sugar Tournament (at Peck)
CPS 37, Cros-Lex 34
Harbor Beach 54, Peck 52
Yale Tournament (at Yale)
Ubly 66, Kingston 45
Yale 67, Caro 61
Harry Moore Classic (at North Branch)
Brown City 50, Capac 40
North Branch 54, Marlette 49
Holiday Hoops Invitational (at MSU)
Reese 60, Lansing Catholic Central 54

SOME BOXES
BAD AXE 68, NORTH HURON 58
Bad Axe 16-14-22-16--68
North Huron 16-14-21-07--58

BAD AXE SCORERS: J. Brown 3 0-3 15, C. Paganini 6 4-4 19, S. Hewens 1 0-0 2, C. Smith 0 0-2 0, E. Glaza 5 1-1 11, T. Rader 1 1-2 3, B. Iskow 8 2-3 18
TOTALS: 24 (4) 8-15 68

NORTH HURON SCORERS: K. Dhyse 0 1-2 1, J. Ventline 0 0-0 3, J. Cook 1 0-0 2, J. Iseler 4 0-0 8, B. Neumayer 0 2-6 2, A. Irvine 2 2-5 9, S. Clancy 3 2-5 26, M. Schmidt 3 1-2 7
TOTALS: 13 (8) 8-20 58

THREE-POINTERS: Bad Axe – J. Brown 3, C. Paganini 1; North Huron – S. Clancy 6, J. Ventline 1, A. Irvine 1

UBLY 66, KINGSTON 45
Ubly 15-29-12-10--66
Kingston 13-07-07-18--45

UBLY SCORERS: M. Cleary 3 0-0 6, G. Pichla 2 0-0 7, Je. Kubacki 0 0-0 9, J. Kaufman 10 0-0 20, J. Schroeder 1 0-0 2, K. Messing 2 1-2 5, Z. Tyll 3 3-5 9, Ja. Kubacki 1 1-1 3, S. Weber 2 1-2 5
TOTALS: 24 (4) 6-10 66

KINGSTON SCORERS: C. Hill 0 1-5 1, R. Williams 2 2-2 6, B. VanHorn 0 1-2 1, J. Germain 0 0-0 6, J. Shinabarger 1 3-4 5, J. Pennington 5 2-5 12, J. Spencer 2 3-5 10, E. Bootz 2 0-2 4
TOTALS: 12 (3) 12-27 45

THREE-POINTERS: Ubly – Je. Kubacki 3, G. Pichla 1; Kingston – J. Germain 2, J. Spencer 1

HARBOR BEACH 54, PECK 52
Harbor Beach 24-10-10-10--54
Peck 16-17-10-09--52

HARBOR BEACH SCORERS: A. Talaski 0 2-2 11, A. Susalla 3 0-0 6, B. Buchholz 3 0-2 6, T. Sorenson 6 6-6 21, J. Volmering 4 2-3 10
TOTALS: 16 (4) 10-13 54

PECK SCORERS: J. Germain 3 0-1 6, T. Zacharias 2 0-0 7, M. Mann 2 1-2 8, B. Burns 2 1-1 11, B. Carrier 5 0-2 10, Z. Overstreet 5 0-0 10
TOTALS: 19 (4) 2-6 52

THREE-POINTERS: Harbor Beach – A. Talaski 3, T. Sorenson 1; Peck – B. Burns 2, T. Zacharias 1, M. Mann 1

CPS 37, CROS-LEX 34
CPS 04-12-12-09--37
Cros-Lex 06-04-05-19--34

CPS SCORERS: J. Taylor 4 2-4 10, I. Magri 0 0-0 3, S. Walsh 1 1-3 3, J. Lusher 4 2-5 10, J. Behnke 3 0-1 6, T. Albrecht 0 3-4 3, E. Taylor 1 0-0 2
TOTALS: 13 (1) 8-17 37

CROS-LEX SCORERS: K. Esselink 1 0-0 5, D. Systermann 1 0-0 2, J. Beach 1 0-0 2, D. Sheridan 0 0-2 0, C. Barrett 0 0-0 6, T. Kasper 1 4-6 6, N. Laurka 1 0-0 2, B. Fraley 2 0-0 4, A. Mini 0 1-2 1, J. Munger 3 0-0 6
TOTALS: 10 (3) 5-10 34

THREE-POINTERS: CPS – I. Magri 1; Cros-Lex – C. Barrett 2, K. Esselink 1

GIRLS
THURSDAY’S RESULTS
Bad Axe 62, North Huron 37
Ubly 70, Richmond 37
Pioneer Sugar Tournament (at Peck)
Cros-Lex 61, International Academy 20
Harbor Beach 50, Peck 18


SOME BOXES
BAD AXE 62, NORTH HURON 37
Bad Axe 15-13-19-15--62
North Huron 04-16-07-10--37

BAD AXE SCORERS: J. Morneau 2 3-6 7, R. Maurer 0 1-2 1, K. Dubey 3 5-8 11, E. Wichert 1 2-6 4, S. Breault 1 0-0 2, A. Craig 2 2-4 6, L. Yaroch 1 2-4 4, N. Braun 0 2-2 2, T. Breault 7 1-2 15, C. Morrish 5 0-4 10
TOTALS: 22 (0) 18-38 62

NORTH HURON SCORERS: M. Heffner 2 2-4 9, H. Dobson 0 1-2 1, N. Church 2 0-0 4. A. Schramski 1 2-7 4, J. Pettit 3 2-2 8. D. Kettle 0 2-2 2, A. Eggert 1 0-0 2, K. Kanaski 2 0-0 5
TOTALS: 11 (2) 9-17 37

THREE-POINTERS: North Huron – M. Heffner 1, K. Kanaski 1

HARBOR BEACH 50, PECK 18
Harbor Beach 15-13-09-13--50
Peck 00-05-05-08--18

HARBOR BEACH SCORERS: A. Volmering 0 1-2 1, H. Grekowicz 0 0-0 9, A. Seltz 2 0-0 10, A. Cook 2 2-2 6, W. Cook 1 0-0 2, K. Hass 1 0-0 2, B. Woycehoski 1 0-2 2, B. Braun 1 0-0 2, L. Messing 1 0-0 2, K. Lochrie 6 2-2 14
TOTALS: 15 (5) 5-8 50

PECK SCORERS: S. Bedy 0 1-2 1, T. McCann 3 0-0 6, K. Schell 0 2-2 2, M. Dombrowski 1 0-0 2, K. O’Connor 1 0-2 2, N. Pries 1 1-2 3, S. Wilcox 1 0-0 2
TOTALS: 7 (0) 4-8 18

THREE-POINTERS: Harbor Beach – H. Grekowicz 3, A. Seltz 2

UBLY 70, RICHMOND 37
Ubly 17-15-23-14--70
Richmond 03-06-13-15--37

UBLY SCORERS: G. Briolat 0 1-2 1, S. Weber 3 3-3 9, T. Heleski 0 2-4 2, G. Pionk 1 0-0 11, K. Kubacki 4 4-4 15, A. Leipprandt 6 2-2 17, L. White 3 2-4 8, B. Weber 0 3-4 3, T. Gentner 2 0-2 4
TOTALS: 19 (5) 17-25 70

THREE-POINTERS: Ubly – G. Pionk 3, A. Leipprandt 1, K. Kubacki 1
JV: Ubly winner

Here are some photos from the Harbor Beach games.

Just a quick note to tell everyone Paul Adams will be covering the Pioneer Sugar Boys and Girls Basketball Tournament.
Tonight, the games are at Peck.
The finals Friday are at Harbor Beach.

Here is the area schedule for the upcoming week...

THURSDAY’S GAMES
North Huron at Bad Axe (B/G DH, 7:30 p.m.)
BCAS at Saginaw Nouvel
Pioneer Sugar Tournament (at Peck)
Cros-Lex vs. CPS, 4 p.m.
Peck vs. Harbor Beach, 7 p.m.
Yale Tournament (at Yale)
Kingston vs. Ubly, 6 p.m.
Yale vs. Caro, 8 p.m.
Harry Moore Classic (at North Branch)
Brown City vs. Capac, 6 p.m.
Marlette vs. North Branch, 7:30 p.m.
Holiday Hoops Invitational (at MSU)
Reese vs. Lansing Catholic Central, 12:30 p.m.

FRIDAY'S GAMES
Cass City at Deckerville
Pioneer Sugar Tournament (at H. Beach)
Consolation Game, 7 p.m. (at middle school)
Championship Game, 7 p.m. (at high school)
Harry Moore Classic (at North Branch)
Consolation Game, 6 p.m.
Championship Game, 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY’S GAMES
Yale Tournament
Consolation Game, 6 p.m.
Championship Game, 8 p.m.

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Bad Axe at Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart
Mayville at Millington
Caseville at Saginaw Arts

FRIDAY’S GAMES
Reese at EPBP
Cass City at USA
Mayville at Ubly
Harbor Beach at Sandusky (B/G DH, 8 p.m.)
Brown City at Deckerville
North Huron at A-Fairgrove
Port Hope at Owen-Gage
Dryden at CPS
Peck at Kingston
Memphis at Algonac

SATURDAY’S GAMES
North Huron at Owen-Gage, 6 p.m.


GIRLS
TONIGHT’S GAMES
North Huron at Bad Axe (B/G DH, 6 p.m.)
Richmond at Ubly (make-up, JV at 2 p.m.)
Pioneer Sugar Tournament (at Peck)
Cros-Lex vs. International Academy, 2:30 p.m.
Peck vs. Harbor Beach, 5:30 p.m.

FRIDAY’S GAMES
Pioneer Sugar Tournament (at H. Beach)
Consolation Game, 5:30 p.m. (at middle school)
Championship Game, 5:30 p.m. (at high school)

THURSDAY’S GAMES
Reese at EPBP
Cass City at USA
Mayville at Ubly
Brown City at Deckerville
Saginaw Nouvel at Marlette
A-Fairgrove at Caseville
Owen-Gage at North Huron
CPS at Kingston
Peck at Memphis

FRIDAY’S GAMES
Harbor Beach at Sandusky (B/G DH, 6:30 p.m.)
Dryden at Imlay City

SATURDAY’S GAMES
Caseville at Owen-Gage, 2 p.m.
Brown City at Capac

HOPE EVERYONE IS HAVING A GREAT HOLIDAY BREAK...

The Tribune Sports Blog College Football Contest is now closed.
Speedman13 is the last entry.
Good luck to all.
I will keep everyone posted on who's doing what throughout the next few weeks.

MB

Here are all the finals from Friday night action around the area.

USA 72, Bad Axe 55 (boys)
USA 68, Bad Axe 31 (girls)
Cass City 48, EPBP 41
Reese 60, BCAS 43
Brown City 62, Ubly 61
Kingston 64, Caseville 44
Peck 53, North Huron 50
CPS 60, Port Hope 11
Marlette 54, Sandusky 51
Harbor Beach def. Deckerville
Dryden at A-Fairgrove (ppd to January)


USA 72, BAD AXE 55
USA 22-20-20-10--72
Bad Axe 06-14-21-14--55

USA SCORERS: B. Bitzer 3 0-1 6, R. Zimmer 0 3-4 3, E. Kuhl 2 0-1 4, T. Cramer 1 1-2 9, K. Gettel 6 0-0 12, S. Fletcher 0 1-2 1, L. VanHoost 3 4-4 19, R. Willard 1 1-2 3, T. Holland 6 3-4 15
TOTALS: 22 (5) 13-20 72

BAD AXE SCORERS: D. Carr 1 0-0 2, C. Paganini 2 1-2 8, S. Hewens 1 1-2 6, C. Smith 0 0-1 0, M. Epperson 2 0-0 10, E. Glaza 1 0-0 5, A. Manenti 1 0-0 2, T. Rader 4 2-2 10, B. Iskow 5 0-0 10, J. Hanne 1 0-2 2
TOTALS: 18 (5) 4-9 55

THREE-POINTERS: USA – L. VanHoost 3, T. Cramer 2; Bad Axe – M. Epperson 2, C. Paganini 1, S. Hewens 1, E. Glaza 1

BROWN CITY 62, UBLY 61
Brown City 15-18-13-16--62
Ubly 26-08-14-13--61

BROWN CITY SCORERS: A. Burton 1 0-0 8, D. Ogboh 9 4-7 25, J. Muxlow 3 0-0 6, J. McPhail 7 0-0 23
TOTALS: 20 (6) 4-7 62

UBLY SCORERS: M. Cleary 1 2-4 7, B. Sorenson 1 0-0 2, G. Pichla 3 1-3 7, Je. Kubacki 1 0-0 11, J. Kaufman 5 0-0 16, Z. Tyll 2 0-0 4, Ja. Kubacki 1 0-0 2, S. Weber 4 4-5 12
TOTALS: 18 (6) 7-12 61

THREE-POINTERS: Brown City – J. McPhail 3, A. Burton 2, D. Ogboh 1; Ubly – Je. Kubacki 3, J. Kaufman 2, M. Cleary 1
JV: Ubly 55, Brown City 46

KINGSTON 64, CASEVILLE 44
Kingston 24-17-17-06--64
Caseville 06-13-10-15--44

KINGSTON SCORERS: J. Morell 0 0-1 0, C. Hill 1 3-4 5, J. Campbell 3 0-0 6, R. Williams 2 6-6 10, J. Crousore 2 0-0 4, B. VanHorn 1 1-2 3, J. Germain 1 0-0 8, J. Shinabarger 2 1-2 5, J. Pennington 5 5-9 15, J. Spencer 1 2-2 4, E. Boots 2 0-0 4
TOTALS: 20 (2) 18-26 64

CASEVILLE SCORERS: Ju. Sprague 0 0-0 6, M. Grenke 1 0-0 5, M. Goforth 2 0-1 4, S. Stormzand 1 0-0 5, J. Cleaver 2 0-0 4, T. Schafer 4 1-3 9, M. Vizard 1 0-2 2, Je. Sprague 3 3-5 9
TOTALS: 14 (4) 4-11 44

THREE-POINTERS: Kingston – J. Germain 2; Caseville – Ju. Sprague 2, M. Grenke 1, S. Stormzand 1

PECK 53, NORTH HURON 50
Peck 15-11-16-11--53
North Huron 09-12-19-10--50

PECK SCORERS: A. Kiley 1 2-2 4, J. Williams 1 0-0 2, J. Germain 1 1-8 3, T. Zachrias 0 4-8 10, M. Mann 4 1-2 9, B. Burns 2 0-2 7, B. Carrier 1 0-0 2, Z. Overstreet 7 2-2 16
TOTALS: 17 (3) 10-24 53

NORTH HURON SCORERS: K. Dhyse 2 2-2 6, J. Iseler 5 2-5 12, B. Neumayer 1 2-4 4, A. Irvine 3 0-3 9, S. Clancy 1 4-5 15, M. Schmidt 2 0-0 4
TOTALS: 14 (4) 10-19 50

THREE-POINTERS: Peck – T. Zachrias 2, B. Burns 1; North Huron – S. Clancy 3, A. Irvine 1

GIRLS
USA 68, BAD AXE 31
USA 14-19-16-19--68
Bad Axe 01-11-09-10--31

USA SCORERS: D. Gremel 4 9-11 20, B. Gruehn 6 3-4 15, M. Martinez 4 4-6 12, Ji. Williamson 2 1-1 5, K. McBrayer 1 11-12 13, E. Ruppal 0 2-2 2, K. Schaus 0 1-2 1
TOTALS: 17 (1) 31-38 68

BAD AXE SCORERS: J. Morneau 1 3-4 5, R. Maurer 0 3-6 3, E. Wichert 0 1-2 1, S. Breault 2 5-7 9, L. Yaroch 1 0-0 2, N. Braun 0 2-3 2, T. Breault 1 1-2 3, C. Morrish 2 2-3 6
TOTALS: 7 (0) 17-27 31

THREE-POINTERS: USA – D. Gremel 1
JV: USA winner

Photos from the USA-Bad Axe boys/girls doubleheader...


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Paul P. here

Cass City opened up its Greater Thumb West slate with a nice 48-41 victory over Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port here Friday night. Both teams struggled offensively, especially the Lakers, who after lighting it up from long range last week in a loss to Ubly, only connected on three triples.

The Red Hawks led, 22-18 at the half — and got a great effort from Austin Babich, who scored 16 points. Babich was held scoreless in the second half, though, as Chris Summersett picked up the slack with 16 points in the game. D'Andre Cook had 13 points for EPBP.

Although it wasn't flashy, it was still a good win for Cass City. The Red Hawks are young, but coach Aaron Fernald said he's been impressed with the level of improvement his players have shown so far. As for the Lakers, they MUST establish some sort of inside presence. If they don't, there are going to be more nights like this.

Mike Bogan will be back later with an update on the USA at Bad Axe boys/girls doubleheader. Word had it, the boys game didn't start until around 9 p.m. I do know the USA girls did come away with victory, though.

Here are some photos from Cass City's win over EPBP:

Just a quick note to tell everyone I will be covering the USA at Bad Axe boys/girls hoop doubleheader tonight.
I will be back in the office afterwards with a quick recap and some photos...
MB

This is a release we received this morning from the MHSAA...

AND DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR THE TRIBUNE SPORTS BLOG COLLEGE FOOTBALL BOWL CONTEST WHICH CAN BE FOUND ON AN EARLIER THREAD. DEADLINE IS APPROACHING...

Participation in girls high school cross country in the state of Michigan increased 15.18 percent
during the 2007 season compared to 2006, and it appears to be the major
beneficiary of sports seasons changes being implemented this school year
as a result of Federal court action. The increase in girls cross
country - 1,054 participants - more than offsets the losses in girls
volleyball and girls golf at Michigan High School Athletic Association
member senior high schools.

All three sports whose seasons were changed to the fall
experienced drops in participation. Girls volleyball was down 3.08
percent (658 participants), girls Lower Peninsula golf down 8.97 percent
(291 participants), and boys Lower Peninsula tennis was down 11.43
percent (931 participants). The MHSAA routinely collects participation
data from member schools to report to the National Federation of State
High School Associations.

The fourth fall sport for girls, Lower Peninsula swimming and
diving, increased 0.94 percent (60 participants) versus last school
year.

Among the other fall boys sports, football participation was up
2.45 percent (1,109 participants), boys cross country was up 5.05
percent (403 participants), and boys Lower Peninsula soccer increased
2.32 percent (338 participants). Overall participation for the fall for
boys and girls was up 0.89 percent (1,015) over last year.

These results are based reports from all 766 MHSAA member senior
high schools, comparing actual figures at the same schools between the
current school year and the 2006-07 school year.

The school's responses to the MHSAA also included this
information:
61 fewer schools made cuts in their girls volleyball programs
21 schools dropped freshman girls volleyball; and no programs
were added
4 schools added junior varsity girls volleyball; and none
dropped the program
5 fewer schools made cuts in their girls Lower Peninsula golf
programs
22 fewer schools made cuts in their boys Lower Peninsula
tennis programs.

This information indicates that not only is participation down in
these sports this year, but the number of students trying out for these
teams in these sports is down as well.

Paul P. here

I just got back from Flint Powers' 59-31 win over Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port.
For a half, it was quite a game as the Lakers trailed, 28-19 at the break. Powers led 19-9 after one quarter, but EPBP cut the deficit to 21-15 with 4:17 to play. It was as close as the Lakers would get the rest of the way, though.
In the third quarter, EPBP had no answer for Powers as it came out on a 7-0 run to build a comfortable lead. For the quarter, the Chargers, outscored the Lakers, 20-4.
Coach Todd Comment was very discouraged about the first two plus minutes of the second half. He felt like his team didn't match Powers' intensity and pulled his started for much of the second half.
Comment told me he's looking for more consistency from his players — and hopes it comes by Saturday, when the Lakers play Cass City to open the Greater Thumb West schedule.
Kassie Contos had 13 points to lead Powers and all scorers while Stephanie Maxwell paced EPBP with six points.

Other scores and highlights from the night.

Dryden 56, Caseville 45
Meaghan Fortsch had 18 points to lead the Eagles. Bethany Grates chipped in 13 points.

Port Hope 35, Peck 26
Kayla Gust had 12 point for the Bluestars while Kim Koglin added 11.

Memphis 46, North Huron 37
Megan Heffner had 11 points to pace the Warriors.

Here are some photos from the game:

Here's a list of hoop action next week.
If you're bored and in the mood for a road trip, head to the Breslin Center in Lansing on Thursday.
There will be 6 high school games in the Holiday Hoops Tournament.
Games start at 11 a.m. and run all the way to 8 p.m.
Reese plays in the second game at 12:30 p.m. vs. Lansing Catholic Central.
Frankenmuth also is in action at 2 p.m. against Leslie.
Other teams taking part in the event include perennial power Detroit Country Day, Lake Orion and Orchard Lake St. Mary's.
Cost is $12 for an all-day pass, a pretty good price for some pretty good basketball.
Reese AD Dave Derocher told me this afternoon his school is excited about taking part.

BOYS
THURSDAY DEC. 27 GAMES
North Huron at Bad Axe (B/G DH, 7:30 p.m.)
BCAS at Saginaw Nouvel
Pioneer Sugar Tournament (at Peck)
Cros-Lex vs. CPS, 4 p.m.
Peck vs. Harbor Beach, 7 p.m.
Yale Tournament (at Yale)
Kingston vs. Ubly, 6 p.m.
Yale vs. Caro, 8 p.m.
Harry Moore Classic (at North Branch)
Brown City vs. Capac, 6 p.m.
Marlette vs. North Branch, 7:30 p.m.
Holiday Hoops Invitational (at MSU)
Reese vs. Lansing Catholic Central, 12:30 p.m.

FRIDAY DEC. 28 GAMES
Cass City at Deckerville
Pioneer Sugar Tournament (at H. Beach)
Consolation Game, 7 p.m. (at middle school)
Championship Game, 7 p.m. (at high school)
Harry Moore Classic (at North Branch)
Consolation Game, 6 p.m.
Championship Game, 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY DEC. 29 GAMES
Yale Tournament
Consolation Game, 6 p.m.
Championship Game, 8 p.m.

GIRLS
THURSDAY DEC. 27 GAMES
North Huron at Bad Axe (B/G DH, 6 p.m.)
Richmond at Ubly (make-up, JV at 2 p.m.)
Pioneer Sugar Tournament (at Peck)
Cros-Lex vs. International Academy, 2:30 p.m.
Peck vs. Harbor Beach, 5:30 p.m.

FRIDAY DEC. 28 GAMES
Pioneer Sugar Tournament (at H. Beach)
Consolation Game, 5:30 p.m. (at middle school)
Championship Game, 5:30 p.m. (at high school)

In one of the better games you're going to see in mid-December, Reese rallied from a sluggish first half to capture a 68-64 win over Harbor Beach in a Greater Thumb Conference crossover contest on Wednesday night.
The Rockets rallied from a sloppy start, getting in foul trouble and shooting poorly early on. The Rockets trailed 36-30 at the half, but took a 46-45 edge to the final period.
Reese used a 7-2 spurt to open the fourth quarter to grab a six-point cushion. But the Pirates rallied with seven straight points of their own to grab a one-point lead with 5:05 left.
From there, though, the Rockets turned up the defensive pressure, got a nifty performance from Ty Graham late, and secured the win. Graham, who left the game for a few seconds in the fourth quarter with a twisted ankle, came back and scored 9 of his 15 points in the frame, including a couple of free throws late to seal the deal.
Graham and Brad Ivey each had 15 points for Reese while Josh Pickell had 13.
Harbor Beach's Tom Sorenson had 19 points while Jason Volmering added 12 and Alex Talaski 10.

Like I said earlier, this was one of the better games you're going to see played in December. It had March intensity. These two teams know this game was a good gauge on where they are at heading into league play.
And I would say they are both going to contend for league crowns.


We have one more final from Wednesday.
DECKERVILLE 62, BAD AXE 57
Cody Hoff had 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Eagles to a good win over Bad Axe.
Josh Fritch added 14 points Ethyan Kramer netted 12 for the winners...
For Bad Axe, Brad Iskow had 21 points, Chris Paganini 13 and Chris Smith 11.


REESE 68, HARBOR BEACH 64
Reese 13-17-16-22--68
Harbor Beach 18-18-09-19--64

REESE SCORERS: B. Ivey 7 1-1 15, D. Fiting 0 0-0 6, D. Reif 0 2-4 2, I. Zimmer 1 4-6 6, J. Pickell 3 1-2 13, M. Walter 3 0-0 6, T. Mantey 2 0-0 4, T. Graham 6 3-4 15, W. Tack 0 1-2 1
TOTALS: 22 (4) 12-19 68

HARBOR BEACH SCORERS: T. Schock 3 2-2 8, S. Ginther 0 0-0 3, A. Talaski 0 1-3 10, J. Murawske 0 0-0 6, A. Susalla 3 0-2 6, T. Sorenson 6 4-6 19, J. Volmering 6 0-0 12
TOTALS: 18 (7) 7-13 64

THREE-POINTERS: Reese - J. Pickell 2, D. Fiting 2; Harbor Beach - A. Talaski 3, J. Murawske 2, T. Sorenson 1, S. Ginther 1

DECKERVILLE 62, BAD AXE 57
Deckerville 12-20-11-19--62
Bad Axe 11-16-16-14--57

DECKERVILLE SCORERS: J. Fritch 1 0-0 14, D. Ruggles 1 1-2 3, E. Kramer 3 3-6 12, J. O’Mara 0 1-2 4, C. Hoff 6 2-6 14, S. Hornby 3 0-0 6, B. Stolicker 2 2-3 9
TOTALS: 16 (7) 9-19 62

BAD AXE SCORERS: C. Paganini 2 3-5 13, S. Hewens 1 0-0 8, C. Smith 1 6-7 11, E. Glaza 0 4-4 4, B. Iskow 8 5-9 21
TOTALS: 12 (5) 18-25 57

THREE-POINTERS: Deckerville – J. Fritch 4, E. Kramer 1, J. O’Mara 1, B. Stolicker 1; Bad Axe – C. Paganini 2, S. Hewens 2, C. Smith 1
JV: Bad Axe winner

NOTE: Be sure to play the Tribune Sports Blog College Football Bowl Contest. It's a few threads down...

Here are all the finals from Tuesday
BOYS
TUESDAY’S RESULTS
Sandusky 74, Owen-Gage 29
North Huron 63, Caseville 43
A-Fairgrove 54, Port Hope 37
Memphis 65, Kingston 31
Peck 54, Dryden 26

MEMPHIS 65, KINGSTON 31
Memphis 19-14-17-15--65
Kingston 10-06-01-14--31

MEMPHIS SCORERS: N. Gurley 1 0-0 2, L. Brown 1 1-2 6, A. Jock 1 1-2 3, T. Brown 0 3-4 3, B. Bischer 3 0-0 9, D. Kling 8 2-2 18, A. Franz 1 3-4 5, L. Davenport 1 0-0 2, B. Burrell 1 0-0 2, B. Abraham 4 3-4 11, T. Bailey 2 0-0 4
TOTALS: 23 (2) 13-18 65

KINGSTON SCORERS: C. Hill 1 0-0 2, J. Campbell 0 3-6 6, R. Williams 0 3-4 3, J. Crousore 0 2-2 2, J. Shinabarger 1 5-9 7, J. Pennington 1 0-0 2, J. Spencer 2 2-3 6, E. Bootz 1 1-2 3
TOTALS: 6 (1) 16-26 31

THREE-POINTERS: Memphis – L. Brown 1, B. Bischer 1; Kingston – J. Campbell 1

NORTH HURON 63, CASEVILLE 43
North Huron 11-14-22-16--63
Caseville 11-09-15-08--43

NORTH HURON SCORERS: K. Dhyse 4 3-8 11, J. Ventline 1 0-0 2, K. Jimpkoski 0 0-1 0, W. King 0 0-2 3, J. Cook 0 1-2 1, J. Iseler 2 1-7 5, B. Neumayer 3 3-6 9, A. Irvine 2 2-2 9, M. Nienaltowski 0 2-2 2, C. Schmidt 1 0-0 2, S. Clancy 2 7-9 11, S. Kirkpatrick 1 1-2 3, M. Schmidt 2 1-2 5
TOTALS: 18 (2) 21-43 63

CASEVILLE SCORERS: Ju. Sprague 1 0-0 5, M. Grenke 3 2-2 14, M. Goforth 3 4-10 10, J. Cleaver 1 1-2 3, T. Schafer 2 0-2 4, M. Vizzard 1 0-4 2, Je. Sprague 2 1-2 5
TOTALS: 13 (3) 8-22 43

THREE-POINTERS: North Huron – W. King 1, A. Irvine 1; Caseville – M. Grenke 2, Ju. Sprague 1

TONIGHT’S GAMES
My picks are bolded
Bad Axe at Deckerville
EPBP at Marlette
USA at Mayville
Cass City at Bangor John Glenn
Reese at Harbor Beach

• I am interested in seeing how Bad Axe does this evening. This is a very winnable game for the Hatchets. AND THEY NEED IT!
Also, I will be attending the Reese at Harbor Beach contest. I will have a recap and photos on the blog after the game...


GIRLS
TUESDAY’S RESULTS
Cass City 31, Bad Axe 30
Harbor Beach 53, EPBP 51
BCAS over USA by 7
Ubly 53, Deckerville 35
Marlette 39, Brown City 36
Sandusky 52, Mayville 33
Memphis 40, CPS 30

SANDUSKY 52, MAYVILLE 33
Sandusky 13-14-13-12--52
Mayville 10-06-12-05--33

SANDUSKY SCORERS: M. Chambers 3 2-5 8, L. Armstrong 0 3-4 3, M. Hale 2 0-0 4, C. VanConant 8 0-0 16, K. Ruggles 0 1-2 1, M. DeMott 1 10-11 18, A. Jacobs 1 0-1 2
TOTALS: 15 (2) 16-23 52

MAYVILLE SCORERS: T. Buhl 3 2-5 8, C. Roehl 1 0-0 5, A. Elenbaum 0 1-4 4, A. Richardson 0 1-2 1, B. Summersett 0 3-4 3, S. Barteld 1 0-0 2, R. Pyles 3 1-3 10
TOTALS: 8 (3) 8-18 33

THREE-POINTERS: Sandusky – M. DeMott 2; Mayville – C. Roehl 1, A. Elenbaum 1, R. Pyles 1
JV: Sandusky winner

CASS CITY 31, BAD AXE 30
Cass City 09-02-06-14--31
Bad Axe 06-08-08-08--30

CASS CITY SCORERS: J. .Richards 1 0-0 8, M. VanVliet 3 0-0 6, M. Zawilinski 0 1-2 1, C. Rabideau 1 0-0 5, M. Dooley 5 1-4 11
TOTALS: 10 (3) 2-6 31

BAD AXE SCORERS: J. Morneau 2 0-0 4, E. Wichert 2 0-0 4, A. Craig 3 0-0 6, N. Braun 1 0-0 2, T Breault 3 0-1 6, C. Morrish 4 0-0 8
TOTALS: 15 (0) 0-1 30

THREE-POINTERS: Cass City – J. Richards 2, C. Rabideau 1
JV: Bad Axe 38, Cass City 33

UBLY 53, DECKERVILLE 35
Ubly 18-06-16-13--53
Deckerville 04-07-10-14--35

UBLY SCORERS: G. Briolat 1 1-2 3, S. Weber 6 4-6 18, T. Heleski 1 0-0 2, G. Pionk 1 0-0 11, K. Kubacki 2 0-1 4, A. Leipprandt 4 1-2 9, L. White 3 0-0 6, B. Weber 0 0-2 0, T. Gentner 1 0-0 2
TOTALS: 19 (3) 6-13 53

DECKERVILLE SCORERS: D. Stolicker 0 2-2 2, A. Smith 1 0-0 2, K. Stutterheim 1 0-4 2, S. Oswald 0 1-2 1, N. McConnachie 1 2-4 4, R. Rich 0 0-0 3, A. Szymanski 6 5-7 17, A. Foster 0 2-2 2, J. Guza 1 0-0 2
TOTALS: 10 (1) 12-21 35

THREE-POINTERS: Ubly – G. Pionk 3; Deckerville – R. Rich 1
JV: Ubly winner

HARBOR BEACH 53, EPBP 51
Harbor Beach 17-08-14-14--53
EPBP 08-09-17-17--51

HARBOR BEACH SCORERS: H. Grekowicz 4 1-1 9, A. Seltz 0 0-0 6, A. Cook 3 0-3 6, J. Kirsch 1 0-0 2, B. Woycehoski 3 1-2 10, B. Braun 9 0-2 18, K. Lochrie 1 0-0 2
TOTALS: 21 (3) 2-8 53

EPBP SCORERS: C. Dubey 5 1-3 11, S. Pietruck 0 1-2 4, M. Jobes 0 0-0 9, S. Maxwell 1 0-0 2, J. Kohr 1 0-0 2, A. Hatfield 1 1-2 3, M. Schaper 3 0-0 6, K. Damm 5 1-4 14
TOTALS: 16 (5) 4-11 51

THREE-POINTERS: Harbor Beach – A. Seltz 2, B. Woycehoski 1; EPBP – M. Jobes 3, S. Pietruck 1, K. Damm 1


OK, so here is the skinny on the "clock malfunction" at the Bad Axe vs. Cass City game.
Cass City takes a 31-28 lead with 2:55 to play. Bad Axe comes down and runs a little bit of clock, and then misses a shot. All of a sudden, there's 47.3 seconds showing on the clock. There's a timeout, and Bad Axe people are hollering that the clock is wrong. The officials get together and go to the timetable where they are keeping the clock. They all think it's right. By this time, Bad Axe coach Bob Breault isn't exactly thrilled because his team needs all the time it can get to get back into the game. Five minutes later, they decide to put 1:10 showing on the clock. Now, that's a little bit better than 47.3 seconds, but there should have been more. It should have been probably closer to 2 minutes, or at least 1:45 or 1:50.
One of the officials — who I think is one of the best in the area — came to me during a timeout and asked me about it. I said I thought more time should have been put on, but the Cardinal Rule to all media people, be it the NY Times, the Detroit Free Press, the Tribune or the Snover Gazette, is NOT to get involved in the game.
He asked. I told him what I thought. That was it.
In the end, it might have cost the Hatchets the game.
Regardless, though, they didn't have to be in that position if they could have converted on a few possessions midway through the quarter. They could have been up 10. Instead, they kept the Red Hawks in the game.
And then Cass City took over.
Bad Axe just seems to be snakebitten.

As for the time thing, I guess I don't blame the officials. They aren't really paying attention to the time until the final minute or so. That's what the time keeper is supposed to do. There was an error, no doubt. The officials did the best they could, but they had no way of knowing...

Anyway, I'd be interested in hearing from other people who were at the game. What's your take?


THURSDAY’S GAMES
Harbor Beach at Deckerville
Flint Powers at EPBP
BCAS at Reese
Ubly at Brown City
Sandusky at Marlette
Dryden at Caseville
Memphis at North Huron
Kingston at Owen-Gage
Peck at Port Hope
CPS at A-Fairgrove

NOTE: Paul Adams will be covering the Flint Powers at EPBP contest Thursday.

Here is what we have as of 11 p.m. More Wednesday on all the games...
BOYS
Memphis 65, Kingston 31
Devin Kling had 18 points for the Yellowjackets while Ben Abraham added 11.
Kingston had Jake Shinabarger with 7 points

A-Fairgrove 54, Port Hope 37
Adam Foster had 21 points for the Vikings while Brandon Smith added 14 and Josh Repkie 11.
Port Hope had Brandon Smith with 17 (yes, two Brandon Smiths).


North Huron 63, Caseville 43
Kurt Dhyse and Sean Clancy each had 11 points for the Warriors.
Matt Grenke had 14 and Mike Goforth 10 for the Eagles.
ADAMS SAYS: It took a while, but North Huron’s depth finally showed through Tuesday night in 63-43 victory over Caseville.
The Warriors were reeling after their loss to Kingston on Friday night — and it looked like it carried over to the first half when the score was tied at 11 after the first quarter.
North Huron eventually built a 25-20 halftime edge.
In the second half, the Warriors opened on a 12-2 run to finally grab a comfortable lead.
Caseville stuck around, though, as it trailed 47-35 heading into the fourth, but it never put together a run needed to get back into the game.
Give credit to the Eagles, though. They’re a scrappy bunch. And at 2-3, they’ve already matched last year’s win total.
It was not the prettiest game to watch as the teams combined to make only 29-of-65 free throws (.446).
With the North Central Thumb League North looking to be an open race, look for these team to be in the mix, along with Owendale-Gagetown, as the season unfolds.

Sandusky 74, Owen-Gage 29
Sam Stevens had 14 and Derek Neumayer 13 for the Redskins.
Brandon Dubs had 20 of Owen-Gage's 29 points.


GIRLS
Cass City 31, Bad Axe 30
The teams had combined for just one win coming into the game, but that didn't mean it wasn't going to be exciting. The Red Hawks erased a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to earn the win. Jennica Richards hit a two and a three to put Cass City ahead by 3 with around 3 minutes to play.
Then came the problems with the clock, which seemed to run during a timeout or something because I looked up once and there was about 2:55 on it. The next time I looked it said 47 seconds. The officials got together and put 1:10 back on, but that wasn't nearly enough.
In the end, it might have cost the Hatchets. More on this tomorrow.
For Cass City, Maddie Dooley had 11 points while Richards had 8 points.
Bad Axe had Connor Morrish with 8 points while Ashley Craig and Taylor Breault added 6 points.

Marlette 39, Brown City 36
Jenna Lange had 16 for the Red Raiders.
Kristen Greene had 17 for Brown City.

Sandusky 52, Mayville 33
Marissa DeMott had 18 and Cassy VanConant 16 for the Redskins.
Rachel Pyles had 10 for Mayville.

PHOTOS TO FOLLOW...

OK, the Tribune Sports Blog College Football Bowl Contest — finally — is up and running.
This is a winner take all contest. The winner has 2 options: A $35 gift certificate to any Huron County restaurant which offers cerificates. Or, they can get $25 cash... It's the winner's choice...

We are going to do this just like we did this fall's football contest. Games are on a points system. There will be 16 games. The BCS title game will be the tiebreaker, with each entrant picking the total points for the tiebreak. If there is still a tie, we will have a random drawing.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL. Questions can be emailed to me at mbogan@hearstnp.com.
Deadline to enter is 6 p.m. Dec. 26, that's 90 minutes before kick off of the Motor City Bowl...

Here are the games
1 Pointers
Insight Bowl - Indiana (7-5) vs. Oklahoma State (6-6), Dec. 31
Outback Bowl - Wisconsin (9-3) vs. Tennessee (9-4), Jan. 1
Armed Forces Bowl - California (6-6) vs. Air Force (9-3), Dec. 31
Alamo Bowl - Penn State (8-4) vs. Texas A&M (7-5), Dec. 29

2 Pointers
Cotton Bowl - Missouri (9-3) vs. Arkansas (8-4), Jan. 1
International Bowl - Rutgers (7-5) vs. Ball State (7-5), Jan. 5
GMAC Bowl - Tulsa (9-4) vs. Bowling Green (8-4), Jan. 6
Gator Bowl - Virginia (9-3) vs. Texas Tech (8-4), Jan. 1

3 Pointers
Rose Bowl – Illinois (9-3) vs. USC (10-2), Jan. 1
Orange Bowl - Kansas (11-1) vs. Virginia Tech (11-2), Jan. 3
Sugar Bowl - Hawaii (12-0) vs. Georgia (10-2), Jan. 1
Motor City Bowl - Central Michigan (8-5) vs. Purdue (7-5), Dec. 26

5 Pointers
Capital One Bowl - Michigan (8-4) vs. Florida (9-3), Jan. 1
Fiesta Bowl - West Virginia (10-2) vs. Oklahoma (11-2), Jan. 2
Champ Sports Bowl - Boston College (10-3) vs. Michigan State (7-5), Dec. 28
BCS Title Game - Ohio State (11-1) vs. LSU (11-2), Jan. 7

Again, good luck to all.

An MHSAA Commentary
Communications Director John Johnson
Steroid Counter Culture

The sports headlines were filled last week with the results of the Mitchell Report, which told a story of a steroid use culture which existed in Major League Baseball. But perhaps the more important story on steroid use was told a couple of days earlier on a much smaller media scale, one that gives hope for a brighter future for high school athletes – and for that matter, all sports -- playing drug free.

An annual University of Michigan study of high school students -- Monitoring The Future – was released last week and showed a 50 percent decrease in the use of anabolic steroids since 2000. Only 1.4 percent of 12th grade-students and not exclusively student-athletes are using such substances. And that while their numbers are also going down, the use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and other recreational drugs still involve 20 to 40 times as many seniors in high school as do steroids, represent a far greater threat, and are far more deserving of our attention and resources.

One of the reasons cited for the decreased use was the negative pall cast on professional athletes caught or suspected of using steroids to improve their performances. Such negative role models, coupled with education programs for young people like ATLAS and ATHENA, have developed a counter-culture – an opposition to drug use in our schools. Administrators and athletes know that steroid use is cheating in its worst form. More is also known about the harmful side effects of steroid use in young people than we knew just 10 years ago.

The facts are that educational athletics has taken a huge lead against steroid use, and has done so without going to the grand expense and personal privacy invasion of teenagers that comes with drug testing. Professional sports, where less than one percent of the young people who play youth and school sports eventually land, is a high-stakes business with the resources to become engaged in sophisticated testing -- and yet some substances can still go undetected.

Educational athletics is a higher-stakes business of a different type -- educating tomorrow's community leaders. A business where testing in science, social studies and other course work is more important than testing for steroids. Education efforts in school sports are a more responsible use of the tight dollars our schools have, have proven to be more effective in reducing the use of steroids and other controlled substances, and in producing other short and long-term positive outcomes for young people.

Any thoughts???