Tuscola County Sports

I had a discussion lately with some area folks about the toughest gymnasium to play a basketball game. The area is full of great venues past and present, so please share your thoughts here. I have two, one from personal experience and another from having the pleasure to announce high school basketball on the radio. First, the gymnasium in Sebewaing has to be a very intimidating place for opponents to enter. The bleachers are tall, so the crowd seems to be right on top of you. The banners for championships are aplenty, and the place is always packed and loud. Very tough for an opponent. Secondly, from my own experience, Vassar was the toughest place for me to play when I was in high school. Vassar is an older gym with the student section of bleachers right behind one of the baskets. When the place is packed it is almost impossible, to have a coherent thought on that side of the court as an opponent of the Vulcans. Great place! Past or present, I am looking for your thoughts. I know ther

In boy's action tonight, Kingston lost to CPS 48-47. Jordan Pennington had a game-high 28 points and 14 rebounds. Raydar Williams had 11 points as well for the Cardinals. The loss drops Kingston to 9-9 overall and 9-7 in the NCTL-South. Owendale-Gagetown failed in their attempt to give Kinde-North Huron their first loss of the season as they fell 77-67 to the Warriors. Brent Reil scored a game-high 23 points for the Bulldogs as Nick Zaleski contributed 12 points. The loss drops Owendale-Gagetown to 9-6 overall and 8-6 in the NCTL-North. Caseville defeated Akron-Fairgrove 61-55. Josh Repkie led the Vikings with 17 points, while Austin Rodriguez had 14 and Trevor Winnie had 12. The loss dops the Vikings record to 1-15 overall and 1-14 in the NCTL-North. On the girl's court, Arenac-Eastern defeated Akron-Fairgrove 62-23. Cass City held a five point half-time lead, but could not hold on as USA beat Cass City 46-36. Dani Gremel led the Patriots with 16 points, while Jillian

In a match-up of the two best teams in the GTC-West, USA defeated #10 Reese 53-49. The win pulls USA into a tie with Reese for first place. Each team has a 9-1 record in the conference. Brittany Gruehn scored 14 points in the victory, while Jillian Williamson scored 13. Jade Ackerman had a game-high 20 points for the Lady Rockets, while Sarah Spiekerman had nine points and 10 rebounds. Vassar used Kayla Verbeek's double-double to defeat Cass City 42-28. Verbeek ended with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Aleigh Kappen led the Red Hawks with a game-high 14 points. The win improves the Vulcans record 11-7 overall and 5-5 in the GTC-West. Cass City falls to 5-12 and 2-8 in league play. Deckerville beat Mayville 60-53. In boy's action, Peck defeated Akron-Fairgrove 52-31. Trevor Winnie led the Vikings with eight points. The loss drops Akron-Fairgrove to 1-13 overall and 1-12 in the NCTL-North. Bad Axe beat Mayville 58-35. Josh Franks led the Wildcats with eight points. Dryden

USA beat Essexville-Garber 91-57. Jake Holland led the charge with 23 points, while Brandon Bitzer scored 14. The win improves USA's record to 13-2. Reese lost a Greater Thumb cross-over game to Brown City by a score of 65-61. Josh Pickell scored 24 points in defeat. The Rockets drop to 11-4 with the defeat.

Number ten Reese beat Pinconning 81-53. Jade Ackerman led the way with 17 points for the Rockets. Amber Gotham and Kalee Karwat each scored 12. The Rockets improve to 15-2 overall. USA lost to Essexville-Garber 61-46. Jillian Williamson scored 19 points for the Patriots. The loss drops USA to 13-4. Vassar used 20 points from Kayla Verbeek to defeat Kingston 48-18. The Vulcans improve to 10-7 on the year, while the Cardinals fall to 10-8. The Cardinals of Millington lost to the Cardinals of Michigan Lutheran Seminary 57-37. Jamie Frahm paced Millington with 16 points, while Kayla Doshier scored 12. Millington falls to 8-9 on the season. Caro beat Otisville-Lakeville 50-34. Lydia Koehler led the Tigers with 16 points. Amanda Ellis contributed 14. Caro improves to 4-14. Akron-Fairgrove failed to get their first win of the season as they lost to Owendale-Gagetown 56-42. The Bulldogs improve to 3-14 on the season. In boy's action, Millington lost the Michigan Lutheran Semina

In the Mix 92.1 game of the week, Brandon Bitzer scored a game-high 24 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, to give USA the 53-41 win over Bay City All Saints. Bitzer's 24 give him 59 points in his last two games. The win pushes USA's record to 12-2 overall and 7-1 in the GTC-West. The 7-1 mark is good enough for first place all by themselves. Laker High defeated Cass City 47-40. Chris Summersett led the Red Hawks with 20 points, while Austin Babich had 16. The loss drops Cass City to 7-8 overall and 2-6 in the GTC-West. Reese won a non-conference game versus Saginaw Nouvel 64-57. Mike Herbolsheimer led the way with 20 points. Morgan Walter (15) and Josh Pickell (13) contributed in the win as well. Reese has an 11-3 overall record. Bay City Western defeated Millington 55-42. Tyler Reinert led the Cardinals with 23 points and six rebounds. The loss drops Millington's record to 3-12. Luc Bonner's three point basket won the game for North Branch. The Bron

Owendale-Gagetown beat Memphis in overtime 60-58. Brent Reil led the Bulldogs with 30 points, while Ryan Francis had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Kingston beat Caseville 83-51. Jordan Pennington led the way with 29 points and 10 rebounds. In his first game back from injury the Cardinal's Raydar Williams scored 12 points. The Ubly girls beat Mayville 67-47. Rachel Pyles scored 18 points for the Lady Wildcats, while Chelsea LaBair had eight points and 20 rebounds. Laker High beat Cass City 48-32. Vassar defeated Bad Axe 37-32. Kayla Verbeek led the way with 15 points and 17 rebounds, while Amberly Hauger had 11 points and nine rebounds. Reese lost the number five ranked Saginaw Nouvel 55-39. Jade Ackerman led the Rockets with 13 points.

Kayla Doshier's 26 points give her 1,035 in her varsity career, enough to become Millington's all-time leading scorer. Doshier went 16-19 from the free throw line in her team's 51-47 victory over Bay City Western. Rachel Lawe also added 10 points for the Cardinals. On the boy's court, Brandon Bitzer scored a season-high 34 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter, to help USA defeat Vassar 61-58. Zach Germain led Vassar with 22 points. Bay City All Saints beat Cass City 59-48. Chris Summersett led the Red Hawks with 16 points, while Ausin Babich had 13. Reese beat Bad Axe 77-35. Josh Pickell led the Rockets with 23 points. Brown City beat Mayville. The Wildcats were led by William Henderson's 19 points, and Josh Franks 10 points. Deckerville beat Marlette 43-40. Mike Armstrong led the Red Raiders with 14. In the Mix 92.1 game of the week tomorrow, USA will be hosting Bay City All Saints in a rematch from January 16. Both teams sit on top of the GTC-West, with BCAS

A busy night in girl's action. We will start with the Tri-Valley. North Branch bounced back from a 27 point defeat last week, to beat Essexville-Garber 47-44. Kayla Snoblen and Margan Vauter eached scored nine points apiece for the Broncos. North Branch is now 6-10 overall and 3-6 in conference play. Frankenmuth lost it's grip on first place by losing to Birch Run 37-31. The loss moves the Eagles into a tie for first place on top of the TVC-East with the Panthers at 7-1. Frankenmuth is 9-6 overall. Millington hung to to defeat Caro 45-42. Kayla Doshier scored 13 points for the Cardinals, while Rachel Lawe added 10. Amanda Ellis scored a game-high 17 points for the Tigers, while Lydia Koehler added 11. The win improves Millington to 7-8 overall and 5-4 in league play. Caro now has a 3-13 record and are 2-7 in the league. In Greater Thumb play, number ten Reese beat Bad Axe 62-43. Jade Ackerman had 13 points, six rebounds, and five steals for the Rockets. Amber Gotham had 10 poin

The Kingston boys lost to Memphis 56-50. The Cardinal's Jordan Pennington had a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds. Owendale-Gagetown defeated Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy (SASA) 67-53. Brent Reil led the way for the Bulldogs with 22 points. The Lady Bulldogs lost to SASA 51-36.

In the Mix 92.1 game of the week, Mike Keith scored 15 points off the bench to lead North Branch past Caro 62-44. Luc Bonner scored 14, including 12 in the second half, while Deane Baker added 10 for the Broncos. Andrew LaPointe led the Tigers with 10 points. Birch Run defeated Millington 52-25. The Cardinals were led by sophomore Cameron Wilson's 13 points. Reese beat Vassar 47-35 in GTC-West play. Josh Pickell led the Rockets with 11 points. Troy Hecht scored 12 in the defeat. USA used a 22-9 third quarter to pull away from Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port and win the GTC-West showdown 60-46. The win keeps the Patriots tied with Bay City All Saints for first place. Brandon Bitzer scored 17 points for USA. Ryan Zimmer added 15, while Scott Fletcher scored 11 points. Cass City defeated Deckerville 70-37. A decisive 29-8 second quarter put the game away for the Red Hawks. Chris Summersett led the charge with 20 points, while Justin Ketterer (17) and Austin Babich (12) also contribut

In girl's action, Jillian Williams matched her season-high of 28 points as her USA Patriots defeated Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port 63-45. Dani Gremel and Estey Ruppal each scored 12 points in the victory. USA's win improves their record to 11-3 overall and 6-1 in the GTC-West. Number nine Reese beat Vassar 49-29. The Rockets were led by Amber Gotham's 16 points, and Jade Ackerman's 10. Kayla Verbeek led Vassar with nine points. The win improves Reese's record to 13-1 overall and a perfect 8-0 in the GTC-West. The loss drops Vassar to 8-6 and 3-4 in league play. In GTC-East play, Sandusky defeated Mayville 40-37. The loss drops Mayville to 5-10 overall and 2-5 in league play. Cass City defeated Deckerville 62-54. Cass City improves it's record to 4-9. In boy's action, Kingston beat Owendale-Gagetown 62-49. Jordan Pennington led the Cardinals with 17 points. Jake Germain (15), Taylor Nicol (14), and Brent Van Horn (10) also contributed to the win for the Car

In boy's action, Vassar defeated Mayville 62-29. Troy Hecht scored 19 points for the Vulcans. USA beat Cass City 38-35. Brandon Bitzer scored 14 points for the Patriots, while Chris Summersett led the Red Hawks with 13. Reese beat Bay City All Saints 48-38. In girl's action, Garber defeated North Branch 62-39. Kayla Snoblen scored 10 points in the defeat.

In boy's Tri-Valley crossover action, Millington lost to Michigan Lutheran Seminary. The Cardinal's Tyler Reinert scored 18 points in the loss. The loss drops Millington's record to 3-9. Caro beat the Vandals of Merrill 72-60. R.J. Fritz led the way for the Tigers with a 26 point-12 rebound performance. Jared Vinson contributed with 18 points and seven assists, while Andrew LaPointe scored 15. The Tiger's record now stands at 7-6. North Branch defeated St. Louis 64-35. Justin Calvert paced the Broncos with 10 points. The win improves North Branch's record to 5-6. Frankenmuth beat St. Charles 63-58. The Eagle's Tyler Gray scored a career-best 31 points in the win. The win improves Frankenmuth's record to 5-6. In girl's action, Vassar defeated Mayville 45-36. The Lady Vulcans were led by Kayla Verbeek's 15 points and eight rebounds. Amberly Hauger added 11 points. The Wildcats were led by Chelsea Roehl's 11 points. The win improves Vas

In boy's action, the Bulldogs of Owendale-Gagetown hit a school record 17 three-point field goals on their way to a 99-52 victory over Caseville. The Bulldogs were led by Eric Montreuil's game-high 29 points, including seven three-point field goals. Brent Reil (23), Devin Prich (17), Ryan Francis (14), and Derek Bucholtz (10) all contributed in the victory. The win improves Owendale-Gagetown's record to 7-3 overall and 7-3 in the NCTL-North. Kingston defeated Dryden 59-47. The Cardinals were led by Jordan Pennington's 18 points and 12 rebounds. Joe Strauel contributed with 10 points and four assists, while Taylor Nicol scored 11. Kingston improves it's record to 7-7 overall and 7-5 in the NCTL-South. In girl's action, Arenac-Eastern beat Owendale-Gagetown 46-21. The Bulldogs were led by Amanda Faist's 13 points. The loss drops Owendale-Gagetown to 1-11 overall and 1-10 in the NCTL-North. Frankenmuth lost to Saginaw Valley Lutheran 68-53. Jenny McCai

Caro head varsity football coach Al Boydston was among 14 varsity football coaches selected as the 2009 inductees for the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will be held on March 28, 2009, at the University of Michigan's Indoor Track building. UM head football coach Rich Rodriguez will be the guest speaker. To be inducted, coaches must either accumulate 100 career wins of coach for a minimum of 20 years in high school football. Other inductees for 2009 include: Rod Baker, Riverview; Russ Barnes, Decatur; Bob Buckel, Flushing; John Butler, Battle Creek Lakeview; Jack Coon, Cheboygan; Jermone Goosen, Ovid-Elsie; Richard Harris, Harrison; David Janusiewicz, Muskegon-Orchard View; Robert Kalbfleisch, Warren Cousino; Robert Kelly, Allen Park; Al Romano, Adrian; Terry Wilczek, Midland; and Tom Wender, Iron Mountain. Boydston has coached at Caro for more than 30 years. Before the 2008 season, Boydston had built a 101-73 record at Caro