Tuscola County Sports

Kingston trips on way to finals. The Cardinals season was ended last night, when they lost to Parkway Christian in the State Quarterfinals, 60-55. After 24 straight wins, the only loss of the season for the Cards is the one game thay they will all remember for the rest of their lives. I wasn't there (I was in the office putting the paper together) but I listened to the game on the radio and I spoke to Jon, who called the game on 92.1. The general consensus about the game appears to be this...Parkway was too quick for the Cards and Kingston committed around 22-24 turnovers in the game, which is uncharacteristic for the Cardinals. But, with that being said, Kingston's stats were built against the slower players they faced in the NCTL, so we really had no idea what their ballhandlers were capable of doing until last night. Truth be told, the Cardinals went up against their first quality opponent of the year last night, a team that was probably similar in talent to the Cards, and...

Kingston wins Regional title. Yes, it's true...I don't know everything. After I boldly predicted that Kingston would not make it out of the Regionals, the Cardinals went and proved me wrong last Thursday with a 57-53 win over Fowler. The Cardinals and coach Mike Rea made a point and came away with the school's first Regional title since 1998, so congratulations to every kid on the team and to all the Kingston fans who kept their cool and resisted the temptation to punch me in the face. Now for the problems.... On my way out and in the following few days, I spoke to numerous people who were either there or listened to the game on the radio and one common concern was present in everyone's comments: that Kingston is now 24-0 and they have still not played their best game. Is it good that they have ran through this many games without peaking? It could be, since they do have to win at three more games to win the State title, and the fact that they have not peaked could wo...

Time to man up . Tonight is the night when we see what the Kingston boys basketball team is made of. The Cardinals play Fowler tonight at 7 pm at Saginaw Heritage for the Class D Regional title. Apparently Fowler has been known as the "Cardinal Killer" for the last few years, but by the looks of their record, it would appear that the Fowler team is not as strong as they have been over the last few years. That doesn't mean that the Cards will not have their work cut out for them--any team still alive at this point is obviously a quality team. Kingston is going to have to play their best game of the season to get this one done. They need to play a lot better than they did the other night when they barely broke a sweat in eliminating Owen-Gage from the playoffs. From the sounds of his post game comments, coach Mike Rea was not pleased with his teams shooting performance in the game against the Bulldogs. They shot poorly from the free throw line, but they ran out to a 20-...

Yes it's been a while since I wrote anything on here, but we've been busy at work with all the winter sports in the playoffs and other things. Here's some thoughts on what's happening. It must be the water. We had the All-Thumb meeting yesterday and the basketball team voting was interesting. It has nice balance and it goes to press on March 28. There are some surprises, at least I think so. I think our player of the year choice is a little confusing, but with no clear cut choice for POTY, I guess it was anyone's award to get. The problem was, that once the vote got to me, the POTY who was chosen already had secured four of the six votes that were present, so nominating a player at that point seemed like a waste of time. Speaking of awards. We released the TCA all-area dream teams this week, and we have gotten nothing but flack from area coaches. We put them together a little early because I have organized a dream team picture at Caro high school for both ...

Here we are...another week down and we inch closer to the end of the winter sports season. I for one am looking forward to it. It's the most wonderful time of the year . Pitchers and catchers reported for the Tigers last Thursday and I believe that the rest of the supporting cast join them tomorrow. It doesn't seem like that long ago that the Tigers were generating buzz by making the World Series last fall, but since it has been extremely cold since then, all the days kind of blend in together, so a week really only feels like a day or two when its cold (if that makes any sense). But with the Tigers reporting to Lakeland, it just means that spring is right around the corner and with it, warmer temperatures and bright blue skies and the return of the sun. It also means that softball is almost here. Kingston--paper champions . I don't care what anyone says...Kingston's basketball team will not make it out of the regionals. They waste their whole season playing what b...

Why would they do that? Another story to file under the heading "What the hell were they thinking..." Apparently last Friday night, three Akron-Fairgrove varsity basketball players and one junior varsity player were caught drinking an unspecified alcoholic substance in the back of the school bus while the team was traveling to Kingston for a game. That's right...they were drinking on the bus...while going to a basketball game. Reports that surfaced today stated that the players snuck the alcohol onto the bus in Gatorade bottles, and then began to pass the substance around while the team was on the road. The team bus driver is the town sherriff, and I don't know yet if he smelled the booze or if someone else turned the young men in, but they were busted, given a breathalyzer when the bus stopped in Kingston, and then all hell broke loose. Nine playes from the varsity squad were held out of the game. Two players from the JV were brought up so the team would not have to...

Who's #1. The race for supremacy in the GTW continues to be the best story in the area. After Friday night, there area three teams with two league losses (USA 5-2, Reese 4-2, Lakers 3-2), one team with three losses (Cass City 4-3) and one with four (Bad Axe 2-4). BCAS is the only team in the league that I would say is, as of right now, officially out of the race for the title. Things should get start to clear up next week. On Tuesday, Cass City plays at USA and Reese is at Lakers; Friday night Reese is at Cass City and BCAS is at Bad Axe. This is the only suspenseful conference race in the area involving more than two teams. Brown City is slowly pulling away in the GTE; the Green Devils are 13-1, 7-0 in conference play. The closest team is Harbor Beach, two games back at 5-2 in the league. The NCTL North is close, with North Huron just one game back of Owen-Gage. (I won't even mention the South). And in the TVE, Bridgeport all but has that wrapped up. So the GTW, and the three...

I know, I know, I need to try to write more. My goal was everyday, but I was sick for the last week. Between working way too many hours at work, I'm also foolishly taking nine credits this semester at UM-Flint, all in a vain effort to try and finish my Master's Degree by May, so my time has been a little tight. Redford blows up . I went to the North Branch-Frankenmuth game tonight, and it was a great game. Bred Redford had the hot hand, as the junior guard dropped in 48 points, yet saw the Broncos pull out a 91-82 victory. Redford scored 20 in the first half, 28 in the second; he was 17-of-18 from the free throw line and nailed seven three-pointers for the Eagles, but when the game was on the line, Redford was on the bench. With 47 seconds left, and with North Branch's Zac Heuter made the first half of a one-and-one, making the score 84-80 in favor of the Broncos. On the miss, Redford was going for the rebound and he ended up rolling his ankle on Heuter's foot. Re...

What was that? My esteemed colleague at the Advertiser apparently spent the entire week I was in Florida bed-ridden, as sick as a dog with flu-like symptoms. Because he's such a nice guy, who believes whole-heartedly in sharing all experiences with his co-workers, he appears to have left whatever sickness he had on his desk, assuring that I would not miss out on the experience once I returned from the sunshine state. I spent all weekend in a drugged-out, Nyquil enduced state, feeling too drowsy to even raise my head in disgust, too exhausted to curse the name 'Jon Sicotte' to the heavens. That's ok...come Super Bowl Sunday, I will have my revenge. Brinkman resigns. ..According to Saturday's TCA, USA girls basketball coach Josh Brinkman has resigned his post and his teaching position at the middle school amid allegations that he videotaped female students undressing without their knoweldge at his house. This is for the best. USA will undoubetly be very thorough in...

Back from Florida... I spent the last week at my brothers in Florida, and the weather was great!! Everyday was near 80 with a slight breeze. My plane landed in Flint last night around six and the landing was a total nightmare. I spent last night trying to catch up on the goings on around the area from the last week and I feel like I'm almost there. Something stinks in Sebewaing... I was surprised to hear the news about USA varsity girls basketball coach Josh Brinkman, who, according to the TCA, is under investigation facing allegations that he videotaped female students, including members of the USA girls varsity basketball team, as they changed clothes in his home on Sunday, January 14. According to reports, the girls discovered the video camera, took the video and gave it to police. I don't want to jump to conclusions, because as of right now, Brinkman has not been charged with anything, but there must be something to this story, because the story would not have been leake...

Now that the smoke has cleared, the dust has settled, and the noxious odor of gas has dissipated...it's time to talk some sports. THE CLASH... We should have updated the TCA website but we forgot...oh well. Caro made it a game for a while last night, but Cass City methodically put the Tigers away, winning the M-81 Clash last night by a score of 66-58. Caro was ahead 17-10 in the first, but the Tigers just couldn't keep Andrew Martin down. The lanky senior scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half and picked up the MVP award along the way. The Red Hawks have some talent, but I can't help but wonder if their record up to this point(6-1) has been built on beating bad teams... The good news for coach Fernald is that, Martin missed the first month of the year, and he looks like he is healthy, so the start gave others on the Cass City roster a chance to play ball. We'll see this Friday when the Hawks play host to USA...should be a good one. The Kings of the Palace... We w...

Seems I've struck a chord with some comments I made regarding the Akron-Fairgrove basketball team. Let me clarify... I was not trying to be negative about the Vikings. I was merely relaying some info about the team that I had heard. I guess I should have used a different term than 'rumor'...that was my mistake. It is not a rumor that Westover is having a difficult time keeping his kids interested...it's a fact. Westover told Jon Sicotte that he feels like his kids don't care anymore, and how could they when get annihilated by Kingston 71-9. That's embarrasing! Injuries and team sickness aside, none of that would have mattered against Kingston. The Vikes still would have lost by a ton. I'm surprised that anyone who would read the entry viewed it as negative...that was not my intention. It was a call to arms...a quest to find out what exactly the Vikings are fighting for. I mean, if they're not playing for pride, then what are they playing for? I fin...

Today marks the beginning of my 33rd year living on this planet. It's been an interesting ride so far; there were a few speed bumps along the way that I drove over way too fast while arriving at this point, but overall, it's been a pretty smooth trip getting to where I am. Here's hoping this year is just as good as the last. The second quarter begins . Tonight, the new year of high school basketball gets back on track with a slew of interesting area games. Jon will be calling North Branch at Caro on 92.1 FM. (I'm taking the night off.) Other TVE matchups are Millington at Birch Run, Vassar at Frankenmuth and Garber-Bridgeport. I can't wait to see the final score on the Kingston-Ak-Fairgrove game. This one will not be pretty. I get the feeling that the Vikings have quit on their coach. Rumor has it that coach Westover can't even get these kids to attend practice on a regular basis. How much losing can someone handle before you just throw in the towel? It has to b...

Kingston wins Ubly tournament : Kingston's Brandon Jones was named tournament MVP as he and the Cardinals defeated the host Bearcats 51-32 last Friday night to win the second annual holiday tournament. Mike Rea's kids looked good in both games they played, but it's a shame that we will not get to see them at their peak. The NCTL is a weak conference and Kingston is too good at every sport to languish among the smaller schools. A-F and Owen-Gage are no where near as talented as Kingston in anything, and the fact that Kingston gets to feed on these smaller schools can not be good for Kingston come playoff time. They need to be challenged more like they were last Friday night in Ubly. The Bearcats are by no means a great team. They have a couple of pretty good players in Jeremy Kubacki and Grant Pichla, but the 'Cats are only 3-3 through the first quarter of the season. Yet, Ubly pulled within eight of the Cards in the second half, cutting the lead at one point to 32-2...

'Muth fires past NB : I went to the Frankenmuth-North Branch game last Friday night (I had to present the All-Thumb trophies to Bone and the North Branch football team.) A few impressions: first, Brad Redford is all he's cracked up to be! Redford got off to a fast start, hitting for 11 points in the first quarter, and he finished the game with 24 as his Eagles beat the Broncos, 66-58. NB's coach Jim Marshall had a great game plan: use his best athletes, namely Bone and Brandin Friske, to cover Redford one-on-one, and for the most part, the plan worked. Frankenmuth coach Tim Crawford told me after the game that he thought that NB had the best athletes he's seen all year, and that includes Bridgeport. By the 7:42 mark of the first quarter, Bone had already been whistled for two fouls, which freed up Redford a little, and the junior guard responded by hitting three from behind the arc in the first, and the Eagles opened a 17-5 lead after the first. Marshall told me after t...

Vikings stink it up: What happened? A-F played really good in their first two games. They defeated Areanac-Eastern last Tuesday, behind Mike Allen's 21 points, and they played close to Peck last Friday night. Allen scored 25 points on Friday, including 16 in the fourth. Allen was so good that we named him TCA Athlete of the Week for the first week of the boys basketball season. So, last night, with Port Hope making the long trip to the Fairgrove, I decided to make the trip there as well, almost positive that I was going there to cover an easy Viking victory. So what happened? A-F scored three lousy points in the second quarter, Port Hope scored 15, and the Blue Stars poured it on in the second half, putting a serious 60-41 whooping on the Vikes. I thought I was going there to see an up and coming talented team; what I saw was a team that would have a difficult time defeating most other schools JV teams. Port Hope ran a box-on-one on Allen, and A-F had no other option to score. Por...

It's been awhile since I wrote anything in here...I have been super busy at work, with the All-Thumb football teams coming out this past week and the girls basketball arriving in area papers this Wednesday. The girls team is pretty solid. We also put out the boys basketball preview this past week--I will try to post a picture of the cover sometime this week. I came up with the concept design, took the picture that we feature on the cover, and then got everyone at the paper working on the layout. I like it--I think it turned out great, and I am really proud of the work we did on the preview. That being said, here are a few impressions from the first week of the young season. Brad Redford is the man. The junior guard from Frankenmuth had quite a first week. Even though his team lost twice (albeit to a really good Flint SWA team on Tuesday followed up by a close loss to a really good Bridgeport team), Redford shot the lights out! Against SWA, Redford poured in 37 points! The ...

MSU hires another lamb - Michigan State announced the hiring of Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Mark Dantonio as the next sacrifice in the rotating carousel that is the top spot in Spartan world. This sounds too familiar...a conference USA coach who talks a good game, says he's got all the right tools to turn this program around, blah, blah, blah. He's only been a head coach for I believe three years at the University of Cincinnati, a school not exactly known as a football powerhouse, where in three years his record is just a few games above .500. Dantonio's resume looks impressive, but why does the university want to reach out to a member of the Spartan family (Dantonio was an assistant under Saban back in the early 90's)? Schools who reach to their past are those who are steeped in tradition, ala UM, Notre Dame, Ohio St., etc. MSU glory days are back in the around the time of the beginnings of the Cold War. Not since the rise and fall of the hippie culture have ...

Girl's Basketball - Cass City proved me wrong in a big way! The other day I said that Frankenmuth would win the District Title, and for the first half of the game, it looked as though I would be right. Frankenmuth's tenacious defense propelled them to an early 17-7 lead, and the Eagles cruised to an easy 19-11 halftime advantage. It looked as though the Eagle 'D' was going to dominate the game and end up being the difference in Frankenmuth's Title chase. That was before Emily Schinnerer started to play the way that she is capable if playing. Cass City's leading scorer dropped in 11 in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to one (27-26) at the end of the third. The Hawks' Sarah Meeker had a big fourth quarter. The senior center was a monster on the boards the whole game (16 rebs. for the game) and she poured in nine in the final quarter, and the Hawks stole the trophy from the Eagles grasp. Cass City's offense proved to be the difference in the g...

Girls Hoops Preview: After the first two rounds, the Tuscola County area still has four teams left competing for three District Titles. Vassar, USA, Millington, North Branch, and Kingston were all eliminated in the first round, while Reese, Mayville, and Akron-Fairgrove received first round byes before being sent home in the second. Caro won Monday night before losing tonight to finish their season. So the guru is back to take a closer look at Friday night's games, since I'm still home and unable to get to deer camp. Too many teams left to skip out. CLASS B, D-58: I said on Monday that the Final would feature a Frankenmuth-Cass City matchup, and I ended up hitting this one out of the park. Cass City (13-8) had a first round bye before getting a little revenge by eliminating Caro tonight, 38-25. Caro upset Cass City, 37-36, last Thursday night after the Red Hawks were leading by 10 at halftime. Frankenmuth (15-6) had a big lead Monday night over North Branch before s...