CHARLOTTE - The Panther boys basketball team saw their season end with a 76-39 loss to Wyoming Godwin Heights on Monday night. The Panthers surrendered 29 points in the first quarter, falling behind 29-7, and could not recover from there. The Wolverines led 47-16 at the halftime break. After the third quarter, the score was up to 68-26. The Panthers were able to outscored the Wolverines 14-6 in the final frame, to make the final score 76-39. Junior Dylan Carl led the team with 19 points to go along with 15 boards. Seniors Slade Martin and Zach Hanson played their final games in Panther uniforms on Monday, but the team will return all five starters, and 9/11 letter-winners. Alma concluded their season with an 18-5 record.
STANTON - The Alma boys basketball team took down Stanton Central Montcalm 62-54 to win their second district championship in three years on Friday. The Panthers struggled with nerves early, but a late run in the first quarter made the game 20-10 at the end of one. The second quarter was played even, and the score was 30-20 at the break. The teams played a balanced third quarter as the lead remained at ten, 43-33. The Hornets made one run to cut the game to a two possession game, with under two minutes to play, but Alma would regain control to win 62-54. The Panthers were led by junior Dylan Carl and sophomore Konner Vedrode who scored 14 a piece. The Panthers will move on to the next round where they will compete with #2 ranked Wyoming Godwin Heights.
STANTON - The Alma boys basketball team took down Lakeview on Wednesday by a score of 66-46. The Panthers (17-4) and Wildcats (16-5) came into the game, that many saw as a toss-up, with identical records. The game started as a back and forth affair between the teams through the early parts of the first quarter. Late in the quarter, the Panthers made a run to extend their lead to 22-9 after five straight points by senior Slade Martin. Lakeview would answer back to outscore the Panthers 20-9 in the rest of the half, to cut Alma's lead to two, at 31-29 at halftime. The Panther defense would be the story of the second half. Alma allowed just 17 points in the second half. Lakeview's top two leading scorers combined for just two points in the second half. Martin led the Panthers with a career-high 16 points. Sophomore Konner Vedrode added 15 points and played great defense. Alma will take on Central Montcalm on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
The Panther boys basketball team is ready to start the next part of their season tonight as they take on Lakeview for a 6:00 p.m. tip-off with the Wildcats. The boys come into the game with a 16-4 record, after going 12-2 and winning the TVC Central Division. Alma is anchored by 6-10 junior center Dylan Carl. Carl comes into the district competition averaging 15.7 points per game, as well as 11.8 rebounds per game. The Panther offense is not one dimensional, as sophomore Konner Vedrode creates a two headed attack for the team. Vedrode is averaging 16.3 points per contest. The offense doesn't stop there, though, as sophomore Ryan Cornejo, junior Than Wood and junior Justin Doyle chip in 10.1, 8.8 and 7.5 points per game respectively. The first round matchup will bring another potent offense as the Wildcats boast three players averaging double-digits. Caleb Ruvalcaba comes into the game averaging 17 points a night, while Nate Shurlow averages 15 per game, and John Torres chips in 12. The Wildcats come into the game with an identical 16-4 record. The winner will play on Friday at 7 p.m. against the winner of the Central Montcalm/Shepherd game. Central Montcalm is the heavy favorite to come out of the other side of the bracket. The Hornets are led by one of the areas best, in Lane Ledford. Ledford has scored 217 points in just nine games this season, and comes into the tournament averaging 24.1 points per game. The Panthers, however, will keep their focus on Lakeview, as tip off is in less than 12 hours.
BELDING - The Alma Panther girls basketball team saw the end to their run in the district championship against Belding on Friday night. For a majority of the first half the Panthers controlled the tempo of the game, and at the end of the first quarter they found themselves down just one, 6-5. Alma (12-10) found themselves with a 9-8 lead at the 5:32 mark in the second quarter. Belding was able to regain its footing though, and answer with an 8-1 run to close out the half with a 16-10 advantage. The Redskins (18-5) would continue to stretch the run out, as they would get their lead to 41-18 at one point in the third quarter. The Panthers eventually would fall 52-25. Sophomore Kenzie Seeley had 16 in a losing effort. The night would mark the final game for senior Kendall Vedrode. Vedrode was a three year varsity letter winner, and has the school's single-game three pointer record.
The duo of senior wrestlers has led the Panthers all year long in team events, and individually in tournaments. This weekend the pair stepped onto the mat for the final time, as they competed at the Palace of Auburn Hills for the MHSAA Individual State Tournament. Castillo finished seventh on the weekend, while Hubbard took third. It was the first time placing at states for either. Hubbard started the weekend with a dominant 13-6 victory over Kolten Lauer. In the second round Hubbard cruised past Eric Litke of Clare, 8-4, to put him into the semifinals. There, he would hit a road block, as he fell 7-0. In the consolation bracket semis Hubbard won 3-2 to earn a spot in the third place match. In the third place match, Hubbard took down Sloan from Chesaning 6-1 in a rematch of earlier TVC action. Castillo took a very different route, as he fell in a whole early with a 3-2 loss in the first round. Castillo had to win to continue wrestling. In the first matchup in the consolation bracket he won 9-5. Castillo then won a narrow 2-1 decision to advance to Saturday in the competition. There he would fall, but he would still get a chance to wrestle for seventh place. In the seventh place match, Castillo went in to overtime tied 2-2, and in the extra period he got the take down to win 4-2. This caps a historic career for the pair, as they finished 2nd and 3rd on the all time wins list at Alma High School. Hubbard has the career take downs record at the school as well. Both are exploring options to wrestle in college next season.
MIDLAND - Thursday night was a typical trap game for the Alma Panthers boys basketball team, as they came off an emotional win last Friday, and were playing the last-placed team in the TVC. It didn't phase the Panthers, though. Alma (16-4, 12-2 TVC Central) jumped out to a fast start, imposing their up-tempo game right from the tip. The Lancers (6-14, 2-12) had no answers for the Panthers, as they tallied 44 points in the first half. At the break the guests led 44-15. The team then came out on a 12-0 run in then second half to lead 56-15. From that point forward, it was running clock and the Panthers coasted to a 69-40 victory. Junior Dylan Carl led the way with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists. Junior Than Wood added three triples, while three Panthers (juniors Darren Olejniczak, and Preston Shirely, and sophomore Ryan Cornejo) added in eight points a piece. Alma will now ready for a district matchup with Lakeview next Wednesday.
The Alma girls basketball team won on Wednesday night to advance to the district final for the third year in a row, after they took down Shepherd 32-29. After falling behind 4-0 quickly in the first, the Panthers ended the quarter on a 10-2 run. Alma (12-9) then outscored the Blue Jays 9-6 in the second quarter and held a 19-12 lead at the half. The Panthers struggled coming out of the half offensively, and allowed the Blue Jays back into the game. After three quarters it was only a 21-18 lead. The Panther lead was just two, at 25-23, with two minutes to go. Alma got a stop and a score to push the lead out to four, and then after another stop, sophomore Tayla Guerrero hit a huge three to push the lead to seven. With the score 30-23, that would prove to be enough as the Panthers sealed the game with a pair of free throws to make the final score 32-29. Alma was led by sophomore Kenzie Seeley who had eight, while Guerrero added in six. The Panthers will take on host Belding on Friday in a rematch of last year's district championship game.
ALMA - The Alma girls basketball team will head to Belding this week as they attempt to defend their district championship from 2014 when they defeated Belding 63-53. The girls will take on rival Shepherd on Wednesday night, and then would advance to play again Friday against the winner of Belding and Central Montcalm with a win.
The Panthers are 11-9 on the season, and come into the district tournament with a better record than the district champion team a year ago. Sophomore Kenzie Seeley is leading the way for the team, averaging 13.9 points per game on the year, while senior Kendall Vedrode adds 10 a game. The Alma defense has carried their team for the last five games, as they've only allowed 28.4 points per game in the stretch. Alma's first matchup in the district will be Shepherd, who they split with in their two TVC matchups this season. Shepherd has been led by a pair of seniors in Abbie Moeggenborg and Katie Crawford. Moeggenborg and Crawford are averaging 12.2 and 7.3 points per game respectively. Belding is the favorite to come out of the other side of the bracket. The Redskins are 16-5 on the season, and are led by Hallee Breimayer and Katie Wood. Breimayer and Wood are averaging 11.3 and 11.1 points per game on the season. Monica Baylis is averaging 7.3 a night for the Redskins. The Panthers will keep their focus on the Blue Jays, though, as they will ready for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off against Shepherd at Belding on Wednesday. Freshman Kemmie Shunk led the Panthers as she won the regional tournament on Saturday to advance to states. Junior Susan Schultz finished eighth place on the day. Shunk's 1065 was the highest score on the weekend at the regional, while Shultz rolled a 957.
The team competition was held the day before, and the team struggled early. They made the correction, and recovered to finish just two places shy of qualifying for team states. Shultz and Shunk will ready themselves for the state competition next weekend at Airport Lanes. |