ALPENA
No new preps stories posted
> Additional preps stories from Alpena
CHEBOYGAN
> Football: Cheboygan lifts to raise money
> Additional preps stories from Cheboygan
GAYLORD
> Girls soccer: Multitude of seniors has Gaylord thinking big
> Additional preps stories from Gaylord
CADILLAC
> Softball: Reed City sweeps Evart
> Additional prep stories from Cadillac
LUDINGTON
No new preps stories posted
> Additional prep stories from Ludington
PETOSKEY
> Girls soccer:
Petoskey falls to Haslett in opener
> Additional stories from Petoskey
> Softball:
Peters tosses perfect game for East Jordan
> Additional preps stories from Traverse City
ESCANABA
>
Softball: Season begins for five area teams this weekend
> Additional preps stories from Escanaba
No
new preps stories posted
> Additional preps stories from Iron Mountain
HOUGHTON
No new preps stories posted
>
Additional preps stories from Houghton
No new preps stories posted
> Additional preps stories from Marquette
SAULT
STE. MARIE
No new preps stories posted
BATTLE CREEK
> Boys basketball: All-City team
> Additional preps stories from
Battle Creek
COLDWATER
> Softball: Quincy doubles up Hillsdale
> Additional preps stories from Coldwater
GRAND
HAVEN
> Girls soccer: Western Michigan Christian convinced Spring Lake is for real
> Additional stories from
Grand Haven
> Girls basketball: Wyoming Park’s Goree to commit to play for Michigan
> Additional
preps stories from Grand Rapids
> Athletics: Roundup - Hamilton girls tennis beats Comstock Park
>
Additional preps stories from Holland
> Baseball: Saranac splits with Freedom Christian
> Additional
preps stories from Ionia
> Boys basketball: Journey just beginning for Kalamazoo Central’s Devin
Oliver
> Additional: preps stories from Kalamazoo
> Girls basketball: Area Dream Team announced
>
Additional preps stories from Midland
MT. PLEASANT
> Softball: Sacred Heart swept in Ohio
> Additional preps stories
from Mt. Pleasant
> Additional preps stories from Muskegon
ST. JOSEPH
>
Softball: St. Joseph splits with Edwardsburg
> Additional preps stories from St. Joseph
STURGIS
Flint Powers Catholic looks to beat Detroit
The Yellowjackets' schedule this season included the top four teams in the final Associated Press Class A rankings, the No. 1 team in Class C, as well as tough out-of-state competition.
Nobody can accuse Country Day of ducking tough competition.
Well, maybe Flint Powers Catholic can.
Powers (22-3) was conspicuously absent from Country Day's schedule this season. The Chargers wanted to keep the rivalry going after playing the Yellowjackets in the last four regular seasons, but Country Day declined.
The second-ranked Chargers suspected that it was because they made the better adjustments following regular-season losses the last two seasons, winning the rematches in the state Class B quarterfinals.
Country Day coach Kurt Keener confirmed those suspicions.
"Powers is very well-coached," he said. "I think they took what they learned in those first games and made improvements. ... We didn't feel a regular-season game served us in any way. It would be more advantageous to them, so we decided not to play. We would probably see them in the tournament."
And so, it's on, the first and only meeting between the top
two teams in Class B in the state quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday at
Photo:
Country Day's Ray McCallum
is guarded by Patrick Lucas-Perry (left) and graduated Shane Moreland in last year's state quarterfinal.
He said such teams have “a little luck” combined with “kids that play hard every day who are not afraid.”
Any of Holland Christian’s starting five could be singled out as one who fulfills those qualities.
But two of them — point guard Simon VanLangevelde and shooting guard Brett Konyndyk — are the heart-and-soul of this year’s team.
They will lead Holland Christian’s pursuit of a Class B state championship.
At 7 tonight, the Maroons (20-4) will play
“We’ve been blessed to have two point guards, two very good point guards, this season,” Holland Christian coach Mike Phelps said.
VanLangevelde and Konyndyk are like interchangeable parts on a machine.
Kalamazoo Central's Angelo Griffis sheds weight, gains confidence
The 6-foot-3 Griffis swiped at the basketball and knocked it off the Rams' 6-7 all-state candidate, out of bounds.
Griffis wasn't done badgering Darling, though.
Nodding his head up and down with a big smile on his face, playing off the roaring crowd at the Maroon Giants' gym, Griffis had a few words for his dejected opponent.
"That's Los - Los likes to talk smack," K-Central's Devin Oliver said of his fellow senior. "That's all he does is talk smack. You see him in the game, after every bucket he's got something to say."
Griffis certainly has had a big say in the Maroon Giants' run through the Class A state tournament. With 6-3 senior Dyland Hughes nursing an ankle injury and his 15.5 points per game missing, Griffis filled the void in the starting lineup.
He averaged only about seven points in the regular season, but produced 16 in each of two regional contests, including a 4-for-4 shooting show from 3-point land in a 69-46 thrashing of Holt.
Griffis and third-ranked K-Central (24-1) will try to keep it rolling when they take on Grand Haven (21-4) in Tuesday's 7 p.m. state quarterfinals at Lansing Eastern's Don Johnson Fieldhouse.
Photo:
Kalamazoo Central's Angelo Griffis, left, grabs a rebound in front of Holt's Cole Darling during the Maroon Giants'
Class A regional championship victory last week.
Huron to face big challenge in diminutive Saginaw
AnnArbor.com -- Huron to face big challenge in diminutive Saginaw Arthur Hill guard Maurice Jones
When a team is disappointed by its play during a 25-point regional championship victory, things are going pretty well.
But
Last Wednesday’s 63-38 win over
Samaha felt his team finally lost some focus in that regional title game.
“We had played really well in districts and in regionals,” he said. “We get some time to practice now and get ourselves re-focused. We have a tough task ahead of us. We won’t have any problems getting re-focused for Arthur Hill.”
Grand Haven
Grand Haven takes on Kalamazoo
But when you consider that Grand Haven finally got the
"I am worried about a letdown," said Grand Haven coach
Steve Hewitt, talking about his team's Class A quarterfinal game against Kalamazoo Central at 7 p.m. Wednesday at
"It was so big for us to get past
Haven (21-4) will need to be at its best against No. 3-ranked Kalamazoo Central (24-1), which finished runner-up in the state last year and is considered by many as the favorite to win it all this season.
The Maroon Giants
have won 17 straight games against some of the state's top programs, including
"This is going to be the best team we've played," Hewitt said. "They are so athletic and so skilled. They try to turn you over and then score off of it. We really need to take care of the basketball."
Photo:
Grand
Haven 6-9 senior center Nate VanArendonk, who gained YouTube fame after shattering the backboard with a dunk in Wednesday's regional
final win over
Mr. Basketball: Pershing’s Keith Appling
He was 1-for-2.
Detroit Denby ended Pershing’s season last week, but Monday the senior was named Mr. Basketball, outdistancing a strong field. The award, given to the state’s best senior, is named after longtime former sports writer Hal Schram. It is given by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan in conjunction with the Detroit Free Press.
Appling ran away with the voting, receiving 2,037 points to 1,145 for Trey Zeigler of Mt. Pleasant. Birmingham Detroit Country Day’s Ray McCallum Jr. finished with 934, Saginaw Arthur Hill’s Maurice Jones 868, Kalamazoo Central’s Devin Oliver 470 and Melvindale AB&T’s Michael Talley 360.
Appling put an early stranglehold on the award during last year’s Class A state championship game when he scored a championship-game record 49 points against Kalamazoo Central at the Breslin Center, a place he’ll call home for his collegiate career.
“I was a little
surprised,” Appling said of winning the award. “I thought it would be between Ray and Trey and I would be in it. A couple of my
“This award is another step in life. I just have to go to college now and keep on doing what I’ve been doing in high school. I think the state final last year made a difference because the record was held for a number of years. I think that played a big part of me winning this. I wanted another state title, but I’ve had to move on.”
Arthur Hill's Tyler Dwyer finds success after transferring from Heritage
The senior used to play at Heritage, which lost to the Lumberjacks Friday for the Class A district title and the chance to play at regionals this week at Bay City Central.
“I knew it was going to be tough to go back and play there,” said Dwyer, who led the Lumberjacks’ inside game with 12 points and 10 rebounds against Heritage. “They called me a traitor and all of that. I expected it.”
Dwyer transferred to Arthur Hill after his family moved from
“I grew up watching Jason Richardson and Dar Tucker play,” Dwyer said. “I’ve always watched Arthur Hill.
“It was a lot different when I got over here because of the expectations. It’s a lot of hard work.”
Hard work fits the status for Dwyer, a 6-foot, 3-inch power forward who averages 7.5 points a game and has collected at least eight rebounds in half of the Lumberjacks’ 22 games.
Photo:
Saginaw Arthur Hill's Tyler Dwyer, left, drives the ball as Detroit Country Day's Kenny Knight defends during their basketball
game at
marine City
Cardinals eager for game
Mooney plays All Saints tonight
in 'D' quarterfinals
But before the Cardinals
hit their stride, they faced the type of adversity that could have derailed the team.
"There was a point over the Christmas
break where we played probably our worst game of the year at our own tournament against Almont," McAndrews said. "The kids had started
to get a little overconfident.
"At that point, we decided we needed to get to work. We knew we had players who could score.
But we weren't going to go anywhere without hanging our hat on our defense."
Entering today's Class D quarterfinal against
Bay City All Saints at 7 p.m. at Waterford Mott, the Cardinals (20-5) once again will lean on their defense.
All Saints
(17-7) presents a unique challenge with two 6-foot-6 players.
"We're going to do the same things that we have stressed all year," senior forward Joe Broderick said. "We will play good, tough defense, dive for loose balls.
> Girls basketball: All county team
> Girls basketball: Lenawee Christian’s
Long is county coach of year
> Girls basketball: Balance prevalent on county teams
> Additional preps stories from Adrian
> Additional preps stories from Ann Arbor
BAD AXE
> Track
and field: Bad Axe sweeps quad meet
> Additional preps stories from Bad Axe
> Boys basketball: County
dream team
> Additional preps stories from Bay City
METRO
> Girls basketball: All Metro team
>
Boys basketball: Michael Talley III earns own legacy at Melvindale AB&T
> Additional preps stories from Detroit
> Athletics: Roundup -- Woodhaven edges Melvindale in baseball
> Additional preps stories from Detroit
>
Softball: Bryon sweeps Dryden
> Additional preps stories from Flint
HOWELL
Livingston County Daily Press & Argus
> Bowling:
Howell’s Robson is county’s top bowler
> Additional preps stories from Howell
> Baseball:
Michigan Center sweeps Springport
> Additional preps stories from Jackson
> Boys swimming:
St. Johns senior excels in strokes he rarely swims
> Additional preps stories from Lansing
> Softball:
Macomb Christian wants a few good players to fill roster
> Additional stories from Macomb County
>
Baseball: Area still has plenty of talent
> Additional stories from Monroe
> Girls soccer: Oxford,
Waterford Kettering play to 2-2 tie
> Additional preps stories from Oakland County
>
Baseball: Coach has high hopes of Sandusky
> Additional preps stories from Port Huron
> Softball: Merrill
opens season with sweep
> Additional preps stories from Saginaw
Michigan’s top robotics teams battled at Eastern Michigan University Thursday through Saturday, April 1-3, for the right to advance to the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship April 15-17 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
The three-team alliance of the “Las Guerrillas” from Bloomfield Hills International Academy (Team 469), the “Bionic Barons” from Bloomfield Hills Andover and Bloomfield Hills Lahser (Team 2834), and the “NC Gears” from the Newaygo County Regional Educational Service Agency (Team1918) won the Michigan FIRST Robotics Championship.
Robotics teams
throughout the
Over the past month, teams competed at districts at
Sixty-five of the 140 teams from throughout the state qualified to bring their robots to
Top-seeded teams picked two other teams as partners to form an “alliance” to do battle in a game of “Breakaway.” Think of the game as a futurist game of soccer played with some very advanced robots.
Two alliances of three teams each compete on a 27' x 54' field with bumps attempting to earn points by putting soccer balls in their goals. Each goal earns one point. The playing field also has obstacles -- steep bumps about a foot tall that divide the field into three zones. There's also a tower in the middle of each bump with a tunnel through it. Robots must be able either to scale the bump or pass through the tunnel.
The competition begins with a 15-second autonomous mode in which the robots are pre-programmed to carry out their tasks. After that, they are radio operated by student “drivers.” In the final 20 seconds of the competition, robots can earn two bonus points for suspending themselves from one of the two towers, and three bonus points by suspending themselves from other robots on the same team that are hanging from the towers.
Earlier this year, Kickoff, FIRST teams were shown the “Breakaway” playing field and received a kit of parts made up of motors, batteries, a control system, a computer, and a mix of automation components – but no instructions. Working with mentors, students have six weeks to design, build, program, and test their robots to meet the season’s engineering challenge. Once these young inventors create a robot, their teams participate in competitions that measure the effectiveness of each robot, the power of collaboration, and the determination of students.
The field was narrowed to 12 teams of four alliances for the semifinals. All matches are best two out of three games.
In the first semifinal, the top-seeded alliance of “Las Guerrillas” (Team 469), the “Bionic Barons” (Team 2834), and the “NC Gears” (Team 1918) eliminated the fifth-seeded team of the “More Martians” from Goodrich (Team 70), “The Foley Freeze” from Madison Heights Bishop Foley (Team 910), and “The Oxford RoboCats” from Oxford (Team 2137). The top seeds won 12-10, 20-0 to advance to the final.
In the other semifinal, the second-seeded alliance of “The HOT Team” from Huron Valley Schools (Team 67), the “ThunderChickens” from Utica Community Schools (Team 217), and “The Syntax Errors” from Waterford Mott (Team 2612) beat the third-seeded alliance of the “Killer Bees” from Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (Team 33), “The Monsters” from Walled Lake Schools (Team 308), and “The Fighting Pi” from the Macomb Academy of Arts and Sciences (Team 1718). The second seeds edged the third seeds 15-13 and 10-8 to move on.
The final was incredibly close. The top-seeded the top-seeded alliance of Team 469, Team 2834, and Team 1918 took the red side of the field. The second-seeded alliance of Team 67, Team 217, and Team 2612 played from the blue side of the field.
The two teams needed four games to decide the winner. The first game was an 18-18 tie. Red won the second game 15-13, but Blue earned a 13-8 win in the third game to force a fourth game. With the score tied 12-12 with time running out, Red scored twice to gain the 14-12 victory and the state title.
The most prestigious awards of the day, the Regional Chairman’s Award, went to “Team RUSH” from
The Engineering Inspiration Award was awarded to “WO-BOT” from
The Rookie All-Star Awards went to the “Red Arrows” from Lowell (Team 3234) and “Friday” from Grand Rapids Forest Hills Schools.
Winners of the three
above awards also earn spots in the
