PLAINWELL — Three Rivers opened their postseason run with a thrilling victory in the MHSAA Division 2 district semifinals.
The Wildcats moved on to the district finals with a 43-42 win over Dowagiac Wednesday night. No stats were available as of press time.
With the win, they’ll take on fellow Wolverine Conference foe Plainwell in the district finals Friday, March 6 at 7 p.m. at Plainwell High School. The winner will face the winner of Grand Rapids South Christian and Holland Christian in the regional semifinals in Otsego Monday, March 9.
Three Rivers ended the regular season with back-to-back overtime wins against Niles. On Wednesday, Feb. 25, the ‘Cats won 57-55 in one overtime at home, while on Friday, Feb. 27, they won on the road in double overtime, 71-68.
In the Feb. 25 game, Dani Glass led with 20 points, Neiraja Reyes added 11 points, and Natalie McGahan had 10 points. In the Feb. 27 game, Glass tied the school record for points in a game with 42, with 32 of them coming after halftime. Reyes added nine points.
Three Rivers finished the regular season with a record of 10-11 with a 7-7 record in the Wolverine Conference.
Sturgis on to district finals; Cary ends regular season with career-high 30 in win
BATTLE CREEK — The Sturgis girls will play for a district championship tonight, following their 45-40 win over Battle Creek Lakeview Wednesday night.
According to late details, it was a close contest the entire game. Sydney Bir led the winners with 14 points, followed by Kinder Smith, who finished with 11. Cora Phillips added eight in the win, while Angela Cary contributed six points. She was followed by Kenzie Eicher with four, and Addison Eicher, who finished with two points.
The Lady Trojans will face Coldwater tonight in the district finals, and will try to avenge their loss (44-36) to the Cardinals back on February 16th. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at Battle Creek Central High School.
Prior to their district appearance, Senior Angela Cary saved her best for the last home game of the regular season, scoring a career-high 30 points in Sturgis’ 71-38 dominant win over Paw Paw last week. Sydney Bir added 12, followed by Addison Eicher and Kinder Smith, who both scored eight points each. Tessa Hatt finished with five, while Madelyn Oswald added four points in the victory.
Cary said that “This was definitely my career high, and I was happy to be able to do it the last time us seniors played on this court…we left it all out there tonight, and played really hard as a team.”
Sturgis led 31-10 at the half, and continued to out-score the Lady Red Wolves the rest of the way.
Trojans coach Andy Phillips said that “Belief is a big thing with this group and we’ve been working hard. We have a really scrappy team and our defense needs to continue to be our mainstay.” He also added that “It was a good team. Our seniors went out on their last home game in style, and we had good contributions from all five of them.”
Sturgis, finished the regular season at 18-3, and was the top seed heading into district action.
White Pigeon on to district championship[; Chiefs end regular season with win over Bronson
WHITE PIGEON — It will be the Lady Chiefs moving on to the district championship game, as they defeated Colon on Wednesday night, 37-31. White Pigeon grabbed a 7-3 lead after the first quarter, and both teams scored 12 in the second period, which gave the winners the 19-15 lead at the break.
The Magi cut into that lead in the third stanza, out-scoring the Chiefs 9-8, leaving the score at 27-24 entering the final eight minutes. White Pigeon would go on to score 10 points in that final frame, while the Lady Magi answered with seven, which was not enough to catch the Chiefs,
Sydney McClure scored 16 points to lead the winners, while Sadie McClure added 13. Rachel Byler finished with five points, and Kadance Smith had three to round out the offense for White Pigeon. McDaniel grabbed 10 missed shots and McClure finished with five boards and three assists in the victory, while McDaniel added a pair of blocks and steals.
Colon was led by Raegan Thaxton with 12 points and 10 rebounds, Lily Preston had eight points and nine boards, while Madi Kulpinski finished with six points. Aliyah Edwards added three, and Ruby Bower put in two points.
Magi coach Beth Preston commented, “The girls played hard and battled, but unfortunately couldn’t get the shots to fall or take advantage when they were in foul trouble. Give credit to White Pigeon, they hit some big shots and free throws when it mattered.”
With the win, the Chiefs will take on Mendon in the District 118 championship game tonight in White Pigeon. The Lady Hornets reached the finals with their 42-17 win over Howardsville Christian on Wednesday, 42-17. The tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Lady Chiefs tuned up for district action by clamping down on defense and stopping Bronson last week, 29-16. The Vikings were held to six points or less in four quarters. Leading 25-4 at halftime, White Pigeon was never challenged the rest of the way.
Sadie McDaniel tossed in 11 points for the Chiefs, followed by Kadance Smith, who scored 10. Sydney McClure added six points, while Ava Sowards-Haack and Rachel Byler had two points each. Smith led the team with nine rebounds, McDaniel added seven, followed by Byler, who grabbed four missed shots. McDaniel handed out three assists, and Smith picked off two steals in the win.
White Pigeon ended the regular season 14-4 in league action, and finished with an overall record of 15-7.
Colon ends regular season with win over Litchfield
COLON — Colon gained some momentum heading into this week’s district play, picking up a decisive 61-23 win over visiting Litchfield last Thursday. Raegan Thaxton led three Lady Magi in double-figures with 17 points. She also grabbed 11 rebounds to complete her double-double. Lily Preston added 15, followed by Madi Kulpinski, who scored 14 points.
Braelyn Thaxton finished with seven points, seven assists and five steals, Piper Groff put four points in the book, while Jaci Borgert and Belle Noga both added two to the offense. Borgert also picked off five steals in the win.
Colon coach Beth Preston commented that “This was a great win heading into tournament play. The girls turned up the defense and used the press to get some layups in transition, and I liked the way we were moving the ball.”
Centreville upended by Schoolcraft in district semis
UNION CITY — Centreville’s girls’ basketball team bowed out of the MHSAA Division 3 district tournament with a 36-22 loss against Schoolcraft Wednesday night.
No stats were reported as of press time.
Schoolcraft will move on to face district host Union City Friday night at 7 p.m. for the district title. The winner will take on the winner of Kalamazoo Christian and Lawton in the regional semifinals Monday, March 9.
In their last game of the regular season, Centreville raced past Comstock at home 58-13. Emerson Hackett had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead the Bulldogs, Drew Alexander had 11 points, Lena Reed had nine points, Leah Roberts had eight points, Mary Stears and Ellie Reed had six points each, and Berkley Shingledecker chipped in with two points.
With the win, Centreville finished as co-champions of the Southwest 10 Conference with Cassopolis, finishing with an 18-4 record and 16-2 record in conference action.
Constantine bows out in first round of districts
UNION CITY — In the first round of district action Monday, Constantine’s girls’ basketball season came to an end with a 33-25 loss at the hands of Bronson.
No stats were reported for the game.
Vicksburg wins district opener, loses to Plainwell in semis
PLAINWELL — Vicksburg’s girls’ basketball team notched a win to open up district play Monday, defeating Paw Paw 52-49. However, in Wednesday’s district semifinal, the Bulldogs lost big to host Plainwell, 37-10 to be eliminated from the district tournament.
No stats were reported for either game.
Marcellus upended by Howardsville in first round
WHITE PIGEON — In the first round of the MHSAA Division 4 girls’ basketball district tournament, Marcellus took one on the chin against Howardsville Christian, 56-44.
No stats were reported for the game.
