OTSEGO — Three Rivers’ boys’ basketball team ended their 2025 slate of games with a palindromic 64-46 loss to Otsego Thursday, Dec. 18.
Gabe Young led the Wildcats with 15 points on the evening, while Zander Barth had nine points and Mason Awe added seven points.
With the loss, Three Rivers falls to 1-6 and 0-4 in Wolverine Conference play.
Sturgis losing streak extends to five
STURGIS — Sturgis lost their fifth straight game last week, falling to Edwardsburg by the final score of 39-32.
Lukis Bir led the offense with 17 points, followed by Gavin Lewis, who added 12. Wyatt Miller was the only other Trojan to get into the scoring column, finishing with three points.
According to the Sturgis coaching staff “We kept the game close, but just couldn’t make a comeback.”
Next up for the Trojans (1-5) is the Chuck Turner Holiday Classic, which will be held at Battle Creek Central tomorrow. Those results will be published in next week’s edition.
Mendon squeaks by St. Phil to remain undefeated
BATTLE CREEK — Mendon stayed undefeated, but just barely, as the Hornets were pushed to the brink in a 70-69 win over host Battle Creek St. Philip last Friday night.
“Unreal the amount of resolve these kids have. It was truly a story of two halves. Once these boys put their noses to the grindstone, they are tough to beat,” coach Matt Gorham said.
Owen and Ryder Gorham fueled the Mendon win, as Owen dropped 28 points, grabbed six boards, six steals, and dished out four assists. Ryder booked 21 points, pulled down seven rebounds, notched six assists and picked off three steals.
Also adding to the Hornet effort was Carter Huston, who finished with 11 points, four rebounds and a steal, while Dante Goto finished with six points, nine rebounds, five blocked shots and a steal. Tristan Wood came up with two points and five rebounds, and Ky Truckey had a pair of points and assists, one rebound and a steal.
Gorham also added “Credit to St. Phil, as they played their tails off. Very proud of each one of my guys.”
Mendon, now 6-0, 4-0 in league play, will host the Mendon Holiday Tournament beginning December 29th. The Hornets will face Marcellus on opening night.
White Pigeon wins sloppy game over Hartford
WHITE PIGEON — In a game that was marred by 51 combined turnovers, White Pigeon was able to pull off a 10-points win over visiting Hartford last Friday night, 53-43.
The Huskies had a slim 12-11 lead after one, but the Chiefs were able to come back and grab a 24-23 edge by halftime, with their first lead of the game (15-14) coming on a Ty Strawser bucket at the 6:21 mark of the second quarter. Numerous miscues prevented both teams from stringing together any hint of taking command of the game.
The Chiefs and Huskies scored eight points each in the third, with the back-and-forth trend continuing. Freshman Riley Horner hit a key basket with 20 seconds left in the third stanza, giving the winners a four-point lead, but a free throw by Kameron Kuehnle and a buzzer-beating two from Mason Mireles sliced the lead to a single point, 32-31, entering the final eight minutes of the game.
Both teams once again were swapping buckets throughout the final period, when Strawser connected on a three-point bomb, giving White Pigeon a 41-37 lead with three minutes to go. Zach Royce and Strawser dropped in some clutch free throws in the waning moments with those opportunities benefitting in part on a technical foul called against a Hartford assistant coach. Eight free tosses upped the lead to 10, 53-43, which is how the game would end.
“Tonight was a good win for our young team,” Chiefs coach Shawn Strawser said. “This group still needs to learn how to win basketball games, but we played really well down the stretch and closed them out tonight.”
Strawser paced the White Pigeon offense with 28 points, including 12 in the final quarter. He also dished out five assists and had two steals. The Chiefs also had a big game from Horner, as he came off the bench to add 10 points and eight rebounds. Royce finished with nine, while Jase Roach booked four points, and Dace Kochel contributed two in the winning effort.
Strawser also stated that “Tight games like this are going to make us better in the long run, and that’s a huge positive for the future. I’m really happy with the way this team has battled the first six games of the season….we had a lot of positives tonight, and we’re getting better each week.”
Colon wins wire-to-wire over Climax-Scotts
COLON — Colon hosted Climax-Scotts last week, and led from start to finish in a 60-46 win. The Magi scored in double-figures in all but the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
Brennan Morrell canned four three-pointers among his game-high 21 points, while Quincy Blair finished with 18. Dalton Williams added 10 points for Colon, followed by Jeremiah West with nine. Rounding out the scoring for the winners was Dylan Smith, who booked two points. The Magi managed only three points in the final quarter, yet came away with the 14-point victory.
Blair yanked down 11 missed shots, while Morrell finished with five boards. West led the winning effort with five assists, followed by Blair with four. Williams had five steals and Blair had three.
Colon has won four in a row since a season opening loss in overtime to Mendon. Next up for the Magi will be a trip to Will Carleton Academy on Jan. 3.
Bobcats bury Broncos
BELLEVUE — Burr Oak hit the road to Bellevue last Friday, and returned home after hammering the Broncos, 79-37.
Coen Miller and Braxton Boyles combined for 55 points for the Bobcats, with Miller netting 29 and Boyles putting 26 in the book. Boyles also pulled down 14 rebounds and had seven blocked shots. Kayden Cole scored six points, grabbed three rebounds and also dished out 12 assists for Burr Oak. In addition, he picked off a whopping total of 18 steals. Kaynen Ledyard and Colton West both added six points, with West also having seven rebounds. Percey Johnson finished with four points, while Brayden Miller added two points to the book.
The win evens the Bobcats at 2-2 overall and 1-1 in SCAA play. They’ll see their next action on Tuesday, Dec. 30, travelling to Benton Harbor to face the Countryside Academy Cougars. The game is scheduled for a rare 11 a.m. tip.
Falcons fall to 0-6
KALAMAZOO — The Falcons saw their record fall to 0-6 on the season, as they dropped a 63-39 tilt to host Kalamazoo Christian last week.
Constantine was led by Braden Bienz, who scored 10. Riddick Terry added nine and Carson Jacobs finished with six points.
Next up for the Falcons is a trip to White Pigeon on Jan. 2nd, when they’ll face the Chiefs. Game time is 7 p.m.
Other local scores
Friday, Dec. 19
Cassopolis 57, Centreville 39
Lawrence 64, Marcellus 43
Schoolcraft 57, Parchment 54
Plainwell 44, Vicksburg 38
