Running to a new beat: A new coach and new philosophy in Jonesville

With their football program teetering on upper echelon status in the Big Eight and drawing closer to another state playoff berth, Jonesville athletic director Kathy Bondsteel looked to a former Hudson Tiger to transform her Comets from boys to young men.

Joshua Lindeman is a self-professed blue-collar kind of guy who loves to bang heads and throw people on the turf (he was a fullback and linebacker after all).

He can hardly contain himself when talking about the challenge that lie ahead at the county's second largest school.

At the first-ever Jonesville football camp for 9th- to 12th-graders, which began Monday, Lindeman has been quick off the line of scrimmage in getting his players to realize that being outstanding, disciplined individuals will go a long way when striving for tangible success. Lindeman said Bondsteel brought him in to develop leadership and create a lasting Friday night tradition and he has been hard at work ever since he was hired in early May.

"When I got hired here I was expected to do some things and one of them was to clean up the leadership and things of that nature," he said. "As a high school player I was a blue-collar player from a blue-collar family who just hit a lot of guys and enjoyed it. That's kind of the intensity and determination I want out of the players in this program. It's going to be our goal to be the toughest team on the field every Friday night."

Soon after taking the job, Lindeman unveiled his first lesson on how football can equate to life. Instead of just taking a vote and picking captains for the 2009 season, he implemented an entire interview process.

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Trading colors for opportunity: Hillsdale JV volleyball coach takes varsity gig at Jonesville

A Hornet for more than a decade, Debbie Proctor-Bigelow is now officially a major piece of a cross-town rivals' volleyball program.

Trading in her blue and gold for black and orange and the opportunity to coach at a higher level, the former Hillsdale JV volleyball coach was approved by the Jonesville School Board as the newest Comets' varsity head coach Monday.

"I'm really excited and have wanted to be a head coach for a varsity program for a while now," Proctor-Bigelow said. "I found out about the position through word of mouth, and I knew (athletic director) Kathy (Bondsteel) well, and everything just worked out."

Bigelow has coached in the Hillsdale district at every level from middle school to JV for the last 13 years and that is something that caught Bondsteel's attention during the interview process.

"I want Jonesville volleyball to be a program. Not that it hasn't been in some ways before now, but we think it can be done better," said Bondsteel, who interviewed five or six candidates for the position. "Debbie has worked with all ages and all sorts of programs over the years and she has also had some administrative experience with AAU teams."

We want the varsity program to be working with staff all the way down at the elementary level, so when the girls get to middle school and high school we're not still teaching the basics, we're working on their higher development. We think Debbie is a great fit for what we want to do."

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A few more scraps to nibble on

CHARGERS ALUMNI FOOTBALL GAME BEING ORGANIZED
Not only will former Hills­dale College football players gather for an all-class reunion this Homecoming on Oct. 9-­10, but they will also have a chance to demonstrate what skills they may have left.
The first ever alumni flag football game will be played on Oct. 10 at 11 a.m. on the turf at Muddy Waters Stadium.
Those who are interested in participating can register at www.chargerblue.com.
The Chargers host GLIAC powerhouse Grand Valley State at 2 p.m. that day.

LOCAL DIVERS PLACE HIGH AT STATES
Local divers from Victory Athletics took second place out of six teams at the first Future Champions state meet at Western Michigan University's Gable Natato­rium June 27-28. Five divers from levels two to six represented Victory Athletics.
Sisters Kylee (9 years old) and Samantha Vear (7) com­peted against each other in Level 4 with Samantha sneaking winning with a 104.0 and Kylee placing a close second with a 103.
Maya Vanbuskirk (9) and Adrianna Willes (10) were both level 2s who competed in Level 3 against six other divers. First place went to Bri Jones, from West Michi­gan Diving Association, with a 111.0 . Vanbuskirk placed fourth with a 94.0 and Willes took sixth with an 85.0 Issac Giggs (5) was un­challenged as the youngest diver at the state meet, scor­ing an 85.5 and bringing home the youngest state championship gold medal.
Head coach Nancy Vear stated that her divers worked hard and were young and well prepared.
"We had a great time at our first state meet and the kids enjoyed finishing up the season with titles and medals," she said. "The divers are so young, but they can’t wait to start training for the Junior Olympic program in the fall."

JONESVILLE FOOTBALL HOSTING GOLF SCRAMBLE
With a new varsity head football coach in place the Jonesville Comets football program is trying to gener­ate funds for extra training equipment among other things.
Their first effort will be the Jonesville Football Golf Scramble at 10 a.m. on July 11 at Mill Race Golf Club, 200 Adrian Road, Jonesville.
Dalous Kelley organized the event and athletic direc­tor Kathy Bondsteel said she expects a great community turnout with recently hired head coach Joshua Linde­man and most of the Comet players in attendance.
The cost to participate is $50 per person or $200 per team.
Prize money will be awarded to the top three fin­ishing teams as follows: $400 for first, $200 for sec­ond and $100 for third.
Bondsteel said the foot­ball program needs extra fi­nancial support as it attempts to climb to the next level of stability and success.
"Our program is stable right now, but this money can help provide extras such as more equipment and things like tackle dummies," she said. "There are some things our coaches would like to have to help train their players, but we haven't been able to buy."

SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT RAISES MONEY THROUGH GOLF OUTING
The Hillsdale County Sheriff 's Department is ex­hausting every avenue to raise money for it's educa­tional fund and athletics are not being left out.
A little over a week ago Hillsdale County’s high school seniors benefitted from the hard work of Sher­iff 's Office personnel who organized the first-ever Sheriff 's Office Golf Tourna­ment.
The tournament was held in an effort to raise scholar­ship support for Hillsdale County seniors interested in pursuing a college degree in criminal justice.
The tournament was co­ordinated by Deputy Todd Moore with the assistance of over a dozen of Sheriff Office volunteers who put in a full day of service at White Oaks Golf Course on Saturday, June 27.
Undersheriff Jeremiah Hodshire said a golf outing is one way to use corporate sponsors to help maintain the department's education fund despite the poor economy.
The event brought in more than $1,000 to be ap­plied toward scholarships.
The WCSR radio team took home first place hon­ors, leading the tournament all day long.
Each player at the scram­ble was a awarded a door prize, thanks to businesses and individuals throughout the county who generously donated them.
Some of the door prizes included gas cards, certifi­cates for free massages and tool sets, according to Hod­shire.
The event's corporate sponsor was Stewart Avia­tion from Osseo.
The department hopes to continue their fundraising with the ongoing sale of raf­fle tickets for a special event that will culminate at the Hillsdale County Fair in September.
The grand prize is a pair of roundtrip tickets on American Airlines. The sec­ond place prize is a set of Callaway X18R golf clubs that are being donated by Clor's Outpost and third prize is a pair of 14k gold .37 carat diamond earrings from Meyer's Diamond Cen­ter.
Tickets are $5 each and every penny of the proceeds will benefit the education fund.
Hodshire said people don't realize how much money it takes to educate the public through such simple things as brochures, bumper stickers and flyers, which is another use of the fund's money.
'The fair cost us about $2,100 last year. The pen­cils, stickers, bike safety ma­terials — those types of brochures,' he said.
Hodshire emphasized that the messages in that kind of material begins dialogue on important topics.

FORMER RAM CORTRIGHT EARNS ACADEMIC HONORS

[caption id="attachment_801" align="alignleft" width="95" caption="Kelsey Cortright"][/caption]

Kelsey Cortright, a graduate of North Adams Jerome High School, is one of 121 Albion College scholar-athletes who have been named to the Michigan Intercol­legiate Athletic Associ­ation’s (MIAA) Academic Honor Roll for the 2008-2009 year.Cortright, the daugh­ter of Rodney Cortright and Susan Cortright of Jonesville, is a mem­ber of the volleyball team at Albion. She played in one game this season for the 12-16 Britons.
An individual making the MIAA’s Academic Honor Roll must have earned a varsity letter in a sport and main­tained a 3.5 grade point average or better for the entire school year.

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Heart and head: Coach Dunn shows support for battle-tested former player

[caption id="attachment_741" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="Tom Dunn and former player Emily Hepker, who continues to battle lymphoma cancer, pose for a picture after Dunn shaved his head to show Hepker he cared as she goes through chemotherapy."][/caption]

Jonesville head girls basketball coach Tom Dunn shaved his head recently, but it wasn't for any of the conventional reasons.

His team didn't win a league title, he didn't lose a bet with his players and it certainly wasn't because he wanted to look stylish when he wears his muscle shirts at summer practices.

It was because he is a man of his word and he knew Emily Hepker was counting on him.

The 20-year-old played varsity basketball for Dunn for two years before graduating in 2007, but battling for limited playing time was easy compared to what she's contended with since March 12, 2007.

That's when she was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer.

Since then she has traveled to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minn., almost every month, with medical bills from a single month often exceeding median yearly household incomes of the area.

She has been the girl who always wears a smile on her face despite being extremely ill, she has been an inspiration to everyone she has encountered since receiving the shocking news that her life might never be normal again.

And earlier this spring, when Dunn found out Emily might have to begin chemotherapy treatments he knew he wanted to show his love and support in a very personal way.

Dunn said he promised Hepker's mother, Jesse, that if Emily ever lost her hair he would go down that road with her.

Dunn lost his brother to esophageal cancer and father to colon cancer so on some level he understood the pain the Hepker family was going through, although he says it is completely different because she is so young and had so much life left to live.

Emily started chemo at the beginning of April and during the second round of treatment she was faced with the reality of losing her locks.

To say the process was mentally and physically agonizing would be an understatement.

"She actually lost two-and-a-half pounds of hair in two days. And actually your hair is very painful when it falls out because it comes out from the root, it doesn't come out like you and I where you just shed a little," Jesse Hepker said.

Soon after, the word came down from doctors that it would just be better for Emily to shave her head to alleviate the intense pain, and not long after Dunn stuck to his vow.

The two then had a photo shoot at the Hepker family's studio to commemorate the occasion and also to feed what Jesse likes to call Emily's "photoholic" addiction.

"Her mom gave me the heads up here a few months ago that it was coming and then I got a phone call at 11:30 at night saying Emily had lost her hair so I shaved my head the next day. She was one of my players and a great kid and I just wanted to show her in my way that I support her," Dunn said. "Anything to help her through this whole ordeal because she's been pricked and poked and her body has been beat up and she just comes out smiling, she's just a role model for other people of all ages."

A role model that Dunn has grown close to over the years for a number of reasons.

Dunn said he remembers the summer before Emily was going to be a high school freshman, when he kind of sought her out to become part of the basketball program.

"The first time I saw here was over at a Hillsdale College Shootout, and she was in the stands watching her distant relative from Jonesville, and I told her to go home and get her shoes. She was a freshman, she was scared to death, but she came out and made two baskets in that game, it was great," he said. "I knew she was going to come to school here, so I thought heck, I had her go home and get her shoes and that's the first time I met her. She was a deer in the headlights definitely that day."

He said Emily is actually one of the girl's he "should've played more, but didn't" and he and Emily still joke about that to this day. Dunn also said Hepker was a key role player in the Comets' 2007 Big Eight championship run, forcing opponents into tough shots and coming up with important rebounds.

Mom agrees Emily should have maybe seen the court a little more, but she also emphasizes how incredibly important a role Dunn has played in her daughter's life.

"She has helped him coach some of the little kids team and middle school teams. She babysat for them and athletic wise she didn't really have a mentor and Tom took her under his wings," she said. "A person is only as good as their word and when Tom said he was going to shave her head if Emily lost her hair, I knew he would."

As much as Dunn cleaning off his noggin meant to the Hepkers, what Emily has taught the entire community is so much more valuable according to the head coach.

Dunn said Emily's journey has taught him to be thankful for his health and family every night he goes to bed and he also believes her struggle has brought out the best of Jonesville's character.

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Too tough to swallow: Comets' 3-run lead evaporates in final inning

[caption id="attachment_725" align="alignleft" width="450" caption="The Comets needed a few more insurance runs heading into the final inning Saturday."][/caption]

Just when the Jonesville softball team’s magic carpet ride was about to fly to new heights, the rug was pulled out from underneath them and a tough life lesson was served up.

The Comets blew a 3-0 seventh-inning lead and were just one out away from advancing to the regional finals, before Manchester stormed back and shocked Jonesville fans, players and coaches by scoring the game-winning run on an errant throw to first base.

After getting just one hit in the first six innings off Comet ace, senior Kelsey Aemisegger, the Flying Dutchmen came alive in a matter of minutes to put an end to a phenomenal few weeks that saw Jonesville go from an 11-18 team to a near-regional finals squad.

“I told them that unfortunately the lesson we learned was that you have to stay focused for seven full innings, that’s why we play seven innings,” Jonesville head coach Richard Alvarez said. “We lost our focus that last inning and they didn’t. They kept playing for seven innings and we didn’t.”

Alvarez said his girls were high on adrenaline heading to the final inning, but he was still cautiously nervous.

“I believe when you get a team that is that good you can’t let them stick around, you can’t let them think they have a chance,” he said. “I didn’t think three runs was enough and I was trying to motivate my girls to score more runs…but we let them believe they had a chance and they kept fighting and it worked for them.”

Manchester's comeback started with run-scoring doubles by Roxanne Rickert and Jordan Ridenour, but an Aemisegger strikeout left the Flying Dutchmen with two outs and fleeting hope.

That’s when Nicole Jackson hit a run-scoring single, and she scored the game-winning run not a minute later when the next batter hit a ground ball that was fielded well, but thrown past the first baseman.

An immediate silence engulfed the home team’s stands and Alvarez tried to find some purpose in the difficult defeat.

“We talked about using this as a building block. I (said) earlier that all year long we’ve been using these losses as building blocks for what’s coming down the road,” he said. “I talked in the dugout about those players returning — lets use this to take the next step. I’ve always believed that when you get in tournament play and playoffs it’s always a progression — you have to learn to win, then you have to learn to get in the playoffs, then you have to learn to play in the playoffs.”

Jonesville could not have asked for a better start to Saturday’s contest, as Brooke Nichols tripled, before scoring on a Kelly White single in the bottom of the first. The following inning, Jenna Kast got on base thanks to a dropped third strike and errant throw by the catcher, and she eventually scored on a wild pitch.

The Comets added an insurance run in the sixth when Megan Rowe singled, stole a pair of bases and scored on an error, but ultimately it wasn’t enough.

Aemisegger was still stellar in defeat, allowing just four hits and confusing Manchester players by effectively throwing pitches with three distinctively different speeds.

Alvarez called her his “horse down the stretch” and he said she would be difficult to replace next season.

“She’s a very dominant pitcher on the mound and she’s a very good team leader, so yeah it’s going to be tough to replace all four of my seniors. They know I look to them for that leadership, but we’ve got the program going where I’d like it to be and we’ve got younger players coming up and we want to reload, not rebuild.”

Clinton went on to win the regional title, with a 13-0 win over Manchester.

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Comets' magical run takes its show to regionals

[caption id="attachment_706" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The Jonesville Comets will need to get girls on base any way possible this weekend."][/caption]

In its first regionals appearance in school history, Richard Alvarez expects his Jonesville softball team to do more than just show up and enjoy the scenery.

Despite owning just a 14-18 record heading into a Clinton regional full of squads with 23 or more wins, Alvarez believes a precedent for surprising postseason success has been set in the area, and he’d like to continue the tradition.

“We talked about what happened in districts. Nobody gave us a shot at districts and look what happened. If it can happen at districts, it can happen anywhere at any level,” he said. “I also used Hillsdale’s (state championship) baseball team from two years as an example. They had a (sub-.500) record, so I told the girls once you get into the tournament anything can happen.”

Anything, such as an upset of district host Hanover-Horton (20-14), did happen just last week, but they will have to beat Manchester (23-14) in a 12:30 p.m. contest on Saturday to keep the feel-good story alive.

The Flying Dutchmen are a team that has no trouble piling up runs, evident by the 13 games in which they scored double-digit runs this season, and last weekend they demonstrated their explosiveness.

Manchester had 15 hits in a 14-0 beat-down of Grass Lake in the district championship game and it should be noted that during the Cascades Conference season, Manchester scored 15 runs against Napoleon, a team gave up a total of three runs to the rest of the conference.

With that in mind, Alvarez said it is essential that senior pitching ace Kelsey Aemisegger gets off to a good start.

“Kelsey is the kind of pitcher, where she has to have that good start, she has to believe that her team is going to play well behind her defensively,” he said. “If she gets the feeling like what’s the sense in pitching the ball if I don’t have a defense behind me, that’s when she falls apart and she tends to lose her focus and her confidence.”

Last weekend Aemisegger had a good start coupled with a great finish in the Comets’  semifinals victory over Hillsdale.

She struck out 14 Hornet batters and allowed just two hits in a 5-1 win.

Alvarez said he needs more of the same production and leadership from Aemisegger for his girls to have their best shot at advancing.

“Kelsey’s probably going to be our horse the rest of the way out. Our team knows that Kelsey is the horse on the team,” he said. “I’ve used that to try to get Kelsey’s mind in the right place — I tell her all the time that she is the senior and this is what she wants. I tell her however she responds the team responds, so I need her to step up and be a leader.”

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Jonesville's Stemen named Big 8 baseball MVP

All-Conference Big 8 baseball team


Jay Bearden (Jr.) Jonesville
Zach Brigham (So.) Concord
Sam Creel (Sr.) Reading
Ryan Dillon (Sr.) Reading
Brian Edwards (Sr.) Homer
Joe Hubbard (Jr.) Reading
Joe Kroa (Sr.) Jonesville
Nick Pease (Sr.) Homer
Shane Rider (Jr.) Quincy
Johnny Sigler (Jr.) Jonesville
Jake Smitley (Jr.) Athens
Brandon Stempien (Sr.) Quincy
Eric Stelter (Jr.) Quincy
Randy Taylor (Sr.) Union City

Honorable mention:
Athens: Ryan Chapman; Concord: Michael Kaplinski, Trevor Martin; Homer: Evan Camburn, Zach Collmenter; Jonesville: Casey Clow, Chase Jacks; Quincy: Bryan Craig, Jesse Flores; Reading: Chad Berger, Alex Eastwood, Trevor Shafer; Springport: Don Cousino, Jesse Raymond.

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Hornet Power: Hillsdale baseball wins third straight district title

[caption id="attachment_667" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="The Hillsdale Hornets baseball team celebrates its sixth district championship trophy since 2000."][/caption]

Multimedia: Post-game audio interview with Hornets head coach Chris Adams

Hillsdale Hornets head coach Chris Adams has a lot of expectations for his players, but when they meet his crite­ria some of their own expec­tations are then met — like being crowned district champs.


Using some 'small-ball' tactics to rev the engine up and then putting the pedal to the metal in later innings, Hillsdale beat Jonesville 14-1, then took down Concord 11­-1 Saturday, to win the pro­gram's third straight district title and sixth since the turn of the century.


“The game plan is simply to come out and play solid de­fense, hit the ball, get good pitching, go gap-to-gap, we’re going to move runners and run the bases aggressively… we’re going to do things the right way and we were able to do that today and that’s excit­ing," Adams said. “We have a lot of fun with this group of kids, they come to play and we’ve got a lot of baseball kids and some phenomenal ath­letes too. This is always a goal that goes unspoken, and it’s not even a goal, it’s an expec­tation, an expectation to com­pete for a district champi­onship.”


While the usual suspects, senior stars Mitchell Gabriele and Scott Lantis were their usual productive selves Satur­day, guys like Tyler Vande­berghe and Brad Jenkins came through in the clutch on more than one occasion.


Vandeberghe totaled four hits, four RBIs and four runs and drew three walks while getting on base seven out of a possible eight times.


Jenkins got on base seven of nine trips to the plate and scored five runs, drew two walks, was hit by pitches twice and had three hits in­cluding a double.


“Brad has really stepped it up the last week-and-a-half, and that’s something we re­ally needed from him. He’s kind of been languishing there down in the nine spot and we put him up to two be­cause he’s a good bunter, he had a good weekend at the Adrian Invitational last week, and things just worked out for us today," Adams said.


"And Vandeberghe has been stroking it all year, he was actually leading our team in hitting until this weekend when Lantis kind of ex­ploded. Tyler hit .225 last year and he’s at almost .400 this year, and his defense is much improved. What can you say? Good things happen to good kids and they work hard, they bust their tails in practice.”


As Adams put it though, every guy on the roster was responsible for the success, because they came into dis­tricts prepared thanks to the type of competition that takes place in practice.


In the heavily hyped cross­town showdown with Jonesville, the Comets fought valiantly, but ultimately Hor­nets pitcher Dillon Dirth (9-­0) shut them down in a key fifth-inning spot to stomp out a possible rally and invoke his own team even more.


Trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth Jonesville put run­ners on second and third with no outs, but Dirth struck out Jared Jordan, and was able to get John Sigler and Jay Bear­den to pop out and ground out to end the threat.


“A couple of bunts there hurt us, but that’s just how baseball goes. The momen­tum went their way and we couldn’t stop them," Jonesville head coach Dale Steward said. “That was a big play and turning point. If we could’ve got a couple of runs and at least made it tight…it’s a lot easier to bat when you’re ahead."

With the pressure on, the Comets went 1-2-3 with two strikeouts the following in­ning and the Hornets took control with a 10-run seventh inning shortly thereafter.


That inning included three walks and five hits, including an exclamation-point grand­slam from Hornet senior Scott Lantis to cap things off. Lantis was 3-for-3 with six RBIs, including two sacrifice flies in the semifinals rout.


To the surprise of many fans, he was not the starting pitcher though, as Adams went with Dirth, who didn't disappoint.


He got himself in several jams and the Comets made solid contact on him through­out the contest, but he ended up going the distance, giving up just one earned run and eight hits, while striking out six and walking three.


Ben Stemen took the loss for Jonesville, giving up 10 runs and 11 hits, while strik­ing out four, but Steward said he would start his senior again if he could do it all over.

It was a tough way to go out for a Jonesville team that went 21-6 in the regular sea­son and won an outright Big 8 championship, but Steward said he told his boys to keep their heads up and remember that next year only four starters will have graduated and "the cupboard will be far from empty."

“We’re still Big 8 champs, you can’t take that away from us…that’s pretty much what I told them," he said. "It was a good season, we went 22-7, good turnaround for Jonesville baseball and it’s a good way for the seniors to leave.”


Casey Clow had the Comets lone RBI, via a double in the first inning and Chase Jacks added two singles and walk in the loss.


The championship game was only 3-0 in favor of the Hornets, before a 6-run fifth inning did all but start the Yellow Jacket's bus for them.

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Hillsdale County district diamond preview

District 81-3
Location: Hanover-Horton
Saturday (starting at 10 a.m.)
Teams: Albion, Concord, Jonesville, Hillsdale

BASEBALL
Synopsis: The first-round showdown between Jonesville and Hillsdale is the game local baseball fans have been waiting all year to see. The Hornets are 21-9 overall and co-SMAA champs, while Jonesville is 22-6 and are the outright Big Eight champions. Both teams have strong pitching and the ability to put up a lot of runs, so it should be a contest fans remember for years to come. The winner will play the winner of the Albion-Concord contest. The Hornets beat Albion 17-2 and 13-3 less than a month ago and for being a pretty good sports school, this Wildcat team just doesn't have enough talented baseball players. Concord is an interesting case, as they are 12-14-2 overall, but are 8-2-1 over their last 11 games and scored 60 runs in their final 60 contests. Jonesville beat Concord twice this season, 6-1 and 12-1.
Editor's pick: This is one of two really hard districts to pick because I love what both Hillsdale County teams have brought to the table this season and I would be shocked if either the Comets or Hornets didn't bring home the district trophy. But, when push comes to shove I have to pick one of the two schools and all I keep thinking about is pitching ace Scott Lantis. The Hornet senior is no stranger to big games and more often than not he comes through as expected. He's had a few hiccups this season, but if he has a good first inning and finds his rhythm I don't think Ben Stemen or John Sigler can silence the Hornet bats enough for the Comets to end Hillsdale's season. Ultimately I see Hillsdale beating Concord in a close championship game to finish out a momentous afternoon.

SOFTBALL
Synopsis: The Comets and Hornets also meet on the softball diamond in round one, but the buildup for this contest is not quite as big. Jonesville did win the Addison Tournament recently and finished out the season 12-18, but Hillsdale has struggled to put together an entire consistent week of play all season. Concord and Albion haven't had years to remember either though. Albion has been at the bottom of the SMAA all year and Concord is 4-28 on the season, but surprisingly chalked up one of its wins at the expense of Jonesville.
Editor's pick: The best team on paper in this district was actually Hanover-Horton, but Jonesville upset the 20-13 Komets 3-2 Tuesday and now have a straight path to a trophy if all plays out as I expect. The Hornets have made strides under new coach Lottie LoPresto and Jenna Crawford is a solid top pitcher, but Jonesville has too many bats and senior pitcher Kelsey Aemisegger has thrown well the past few weeks. Unless the Comets shoot themselves in the foot with too many errors, which has happened a few times this season, I see them taking care of business. The Comets should win the championship game over either opposing squad, unless a major upset takes place.

District 118-4
Location: Camden-Frontier
Friday (starting at 1:30 p.m.)
Teams: Camden-Frontier, Reading, Pittsford

BASEBALL
Synopsis: With Will Carleton Academy dropping out Pittsford is a shoe-in for the championship game, but the lone semifinal contest should be a doozie. Under head coach Nate Gust the host Redskins have experienced a resurgence of sorts with an SCAA East title and 16-10 record. Kurtis Tyler is arguably one of the top pitchers in the county and Jake Jividens has some pop, and Brady Nusbaum can be counted on to get on base. The Rangers are one of the area's hottest teams, finishing in a tie for second place in the Big Eight after struggling out of the gate. Senior Ryan "Bulldog" Dillon has the leadership, a solid bat and great glove at the catcher's position and several Ranger pitchers have shown the ability to leave opposing hitters confused whenever they're accuracy is on. Pittsford is a 10-12 team that has beaten the teams they expected to, but seems to lack a dominant pitcher. On the flip side, they've had at least a half-dozen hitters come through in big spots throughout the season.
Editor's pick: This is the other toughy. Rick Bailey is a championship coach who has a red-hot team right now, but Tyler can be a dominant pitcher at times, and he has the home-field advantage. I'm going to say the only thing that holds the Redskins back Friday is the "big-game experience" that almost every Ranger player has. Reading also beat Quincy and Jonesville in the regular season, proof they can beat anyone. The "feel-good" story here would be for Gust's team to win the title, but I think Bailey is going to add another banner to his high school full of them by beating C-F first and then toppling Pittsford, in what could be a closer contest than some people think.

SOFTBALL
Synopsis: As in the baseball bracket, the Wildcats have a free-pass to the title game. That leaves another Reading, Camden-Frontier bout. The Rangers have been a middle-of-the-road Big Eight team that pulled some upsets along the way, and Kasie Owens can be tough to hit when she's on. The Redskins are the SCAA East champs, mainly behind the pitching of Megan Schwartzengraber and Morgan Warfield and leadership of catcher Kara Bryner. They stumbled a bit in the middle of the season, but recovered nicely, albeit against some of the weaker teams in the SCAA. Pittsford is an 8-20 team that struggles with errors at times, but seems to do well in low-scoring pitching duals when their defense is solid.
Editor's pick: I have no doubt in my mind that the Redskins pitching is just too good for the competition it will see. Even though the C-F bats went cold for a few weeks in early May I don't think it will matter. On their home field, with arguably one of the states best 1-2 pitching punches in Division 4 I think it's a no-brainer. Pittsford did actually beat C-F once earlier this year, but I think the Redskins learned from that surprising defeat.

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Comets earn outright Big Eight title

[caption id="attachment_604" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="The Jonesville Comets are outright Big Eight baseball champs in 2009."][/caption]

The Jonesville baseball team officially made the Big Eight regular season crown its own with an 11-1 mercy-rule win over Union City Tuesday.

The Comets scored runs in each of the first four innings, including six in the fourth to earn sole possession of the title.

Jonesville is now 12-1 in Big Eight play, with its lone loss coming to Reading.

Ben Stemen was the winning pitcher, striking out six and walking six in five innings. He also added three RBI.

Teammate Casey Clow did likewise, hitting a double and triple, while driving in three runs.

Joe Kroa added two RBI and John Sigler had two hits.

The Comets are 18-5 overall.

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Comets wrap up Big Eight baseball crown

[caption id="attachment_590" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Jonesville senior Ben Stemen was the game one winner on the mound for the Comets. Photo courtesy of Gary Baker / Gatehouse News Services."][/caption]

A year after going 11-17 the Jonesville Comets baseball team has guaranteed itself at least a share of the Big Eight regular season crown.

The Comets were able to get to one of the league's best pitchers, Brandon Stempien, and senior Joe Kroa crushed the first two homers of his entire career as Jonesville downed Quincy 4-3 and 9-5 in the most crucial contests of the Big Eight season.

The Comets came into the doubleheader with a 9-1 league mark, while the Orioles sported an 8-1 Big Eight record.

Now Jonesville needs to win just one of its final two games, against Union City and Springport, to clinch an outright championship.

"We're more stable this year and my coaching position was set, unlike last year. We never lacked any confidence and the guys definitely put in the time," Jonesville head coach Dale Steward said. "Our goal has been to win the conference and win districts, because Jonesville hasn't won a district title in who knows how long. We've got one goal out of the way."

The first contest was back and forth with the Orioles taking a 3-2 lead in the fourth, but the Comets would have the final say.

Kroa's homer broke a 3-all tie in the top of the seventh inning and Ben Stemen held Quincy off the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning to complete the victory.

"He got a fastball and it was just up in the zone a little bit," Quincy head coach Brett Allman said about Kroa's long-ball off his ace Stempien, who pitched a perfect game earlier this season.

Stemen added a home run and John Sigler and Casey Clow had two hits apiece as the Comets took the first step toward securing the title.

Stemen struck out seven and scattered eight hits while giving up three runs, two earned.

Stempien's final line was seven innings pitched, seven strikeouts, eight hits and four runs, two of which were earned.

Both Stempien and Eric Stetler had two hits, while Shane Rider, Joe Neely and Kiefer Lah all drove in runs.

In the nightcap the Comets jumped on the Orioles for six runs in the third inning, and while Allman's squad fought back, they never fully recovered.

Kroa's 3-run homer in the third inning was the finisher and Jay Bearden added three singles.

Despite the results Thursday, Allman was still proud of his boys.

"It was 0-0 through the top of three in the second game, so I don't think we (put to much pressure on ourselves after the first loss). The difference really is just that they hit the ball well throughout the lineup and we didn't," he said. "Anytime you don't reach one goal you have to keep your head up and realize there are other goals still out there to go after. I was proud we fought in the second game after going down 8-0 and I told the kids that."

Lance Hammill had three hits including a double and Phil Fast and Stetler drove in runs for the Orioles, who were Big Eight co-champs in 2008.

Sigler earned the pitching victory, giving up eight hits and five runs in five-and-two-third innings, while Stetler took the loss, with nine runs on nine hits and five strikeouts.

"They have basically every starter back from last year and Dale has done a good job with those guys. A few years ago their JV team did finish second, just a game behind us in the league, so it's not as big a surprise as you might think," Allman said.

The Comets are now 17-5 overall, while the Orioles fall to 15-9.

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Hillsdale County high school diamond roundup from May 14

[caption id="attachment_587" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Not even bunts were working for the Comets Thursday, on a night where they loss a pair to Big Eight foe Quincy. Photo courtesy of Gary Baker / Gatehouse News Services."][/caption]

Baseball


Rangers hit Spartans hard
Reading baseball head coach Rick Bailey said Thursday night’s doubleheader at Springport seemed to last “forever and a day”, but it was worth it, as his Rangers earned two league wins.
In the opener Reading scored in six of the seven innings, including 10 in the seventh in a 24-14 slugfest.
Joe Hubbard, Ryan Dillon and Trevor Shaffer all had four hits, while Sam Creel tallied three.
One of Creel’s was a homer and he drove in four runs, while Shaffer, Hubbard and Tyler Ferrier all had three RBI.
Kyle Gibson picked up the win, pitching in relief.
The nightcap was Dillon’s own proving ground, as he smacked a grand slam and drove in six runs in a 13-1 four-inning Rangers win.
Chad Berger pitched well in victory, going four innings, giving up just two hits and no earned runs, while striking out four.

Softball


Harmon is too much for Comets
Former Hillsdale pitching ace Bree Harmon tallied 27 strikeouts against just three walks as Quincy took both games of a doubleheader from Jonesville Thursday.
The Orioles won the opener 2-0 behind a pair of hits from Sarah Cutler.
Harmon struck out 16 and walked zero.
The nightcap was a 10-0 Quincy victory.
Kelsey Aemisegger suffered both losses for Jonesville, but gave up just two runs and struck out five in the opener.

Reading loses pair on road
Springport downed Reading 6-1 and 6-2 Thursday.
Reading scored its only run in the first inning of the opener and in the nightcap errors squashed their hopes.
They went into extra inning tied at two in the second game, but four straight errors allowed the Spartans to score four runs.
KateLynn Wilson struck out a total of 12 batters and allowed just six hits in two wins for Springport.
Kasie Owens suffered both pitching defeats, but allowed just five hits and walked just one in 15 total innings of work.

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Jonesville hires new varsity football coach

27-year-old Joshua Lindeman is set on bringing what he calls "The Comet Way" to Jonesville, and now he'll get an opportunity, as the Comets varsity football coach.

It was finalized Monday that Lindeman, a Hudson High School graduate, will be the successor to Brian Stroble, who resigned in late March after three seasons at the helms.

Lindeman graduated from Adrian College in 2005, and has coached at various positions for JV and varsity programs at the Class A level ever since. He has garnered experience at Tecumseh, Ann Arbor Pioneer and Ann Arbor Skyline, and he is also finishing up his third year of teaching at Jackson High School.

When he heard the Comet job was opening up he said it felt like the perfect opportunity in an ideal community, where he can do what he loves most — work with kids, change lives, and be around football.

"Jonesville is one of those jobs that just fit. I'm a small town guy, I think I understand both athletes from this size area, as well as from bigger schools, from four years in Class A, and I think I can help build this program up," he said.

Lindeman was married last July and is not yet a father, so he believes he has the time and resources to build something special, starting June 8 when offseason football workouts officially start.

"There are three things in my life. First is my faith and family, second is teaching, because I love it and it pays the bills, and third is football. I told my wife what she was getting into when we got married, she knows I love football, and I'm excited about this chance," he said.

Lindeman said he has a vision for the program, which begins at the seventh grade level with youth football, and focuses on one philosophy from middle school up to the varsity squad —a philosophy he calls"The Comet Way".

"The five things are commitment, optimism, maturity, enthusiasm and teamwork. I think I've learned some 'Dos and Don'ts ' of building programs the last few years and I'll use that knowledge and experience," he said.

Lindeman also said he believes communication between the program and the community, parents, students and the administration is vital. He said the football program is working on setting up a community-wide get together for late May to introduce Lindeman to the community, while also presenting a forum for public comment.

The Comets have gone 10-17 the last three years, including a 5-4 mark in 2008.
The next order of business is for Lindeman to hire his staff, which he said could include some holdovers from Stroble's staff, as well as some new faces.

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The 'Dale's high school sports roundup for May 6, 2009

[caption id="attachment_501" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Jonesville's Ben Stemen earned the win on the mound, while also driving in four runs Tuesday. "][/caption]

Baseball

Comets stay perfect in Big Eight
The Jonesville offense doesn't seem to be slowing down and its pitching staff has yet to let up.
Ben Stemen went five innings and held Concord to just two hits and one run on Tuesday in the Comets 12-1, five-inning mercy-rule win over the Yellow Jackets.
Stemen was also the key run-producer at the plate, with two hits and four RBI.
Casey Clow drove in three runs, while Jay Bearden added three singles and Joe Kroa, John Sigler and Kyle Flint all had two hits.
The Comets are now 13-2 overall and 7-0 in the conference.

Hornets annihilate Pilgrims
Two shortened no-hitters and 35 runs in six innings was more than enough for the Hillsdale Hornets baseball team Tuesday.
They beat Lansing Christian 19-0 and 16-0 on a night where 11 different Hornets drove in runs, and Scott Lantis and Dillon Dirth both dominated on the mound.
In the opener, 11 second-inning runs did the Pilgrims in, and literally everyone contributed for Hillsdale.
Lantis struck out six and walked one in three innings, while adding a double and RBI at the plate.
Aaron Blanchard drove in three runs and had a triple, while Drew Byers scored three runs and added an RBI.
Kirk Putnam, Mitchell Gabriele and Dillon Dirth all had a double and drove in a run, while Tyler Vandeberghe had two hits and one RBI.
In the second contest Dirth struck out seven and walked one to earn the win.
Putnam and Lantis both had two hits and three RBI to lead the offensive surge.
Brandon Quick also added two hits and drove in a run, after tallying an RBI in the first contest.
Darren Wisely was good for two hits and an RBI.
Although the Pilgrims didn't present a great challenge Tuesday, Hornet head coach Chris Adams said piling up league victories is ultimately the goal in the team's quest for an SMAA crown.
"We're right where we want to be, controlling our own destiny," Adams said. "Tonight was good for everybody but we have some work still to do with four games at the end of this week."
The Hornets are now 7-1 in the conference, tied with Western in the loss column, but several games up in the wins column. They have six league contests remaining.

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Hillsdale County baseball and softball roundup from Thursday's action

[caption id="attachment_394" align="alignright" width="183" caption="Justin Carr of the North Adams Rams is called out as he runs through the base during their first game of their double header thursday night. Photo by Nick Sarles / HDN."][/caption]

Baseball
Jonesville        6
Concord           1
The Comets improved to a perfect 3-0 on the season with their first Big Eight win Thursday.
John Sigler pitched four strong innings to earn the win, and Chase Jacks caused most of the damage in the runs department.
Sigler allowed only two hits and one run (none earned), while striking out four in four innings. Ben Stemen pitched three scoreless innings, allowing no hits with four strikeouts in relief.
Jacks belted a 3-run double in the second inning to give the Comets breathing room.
Casey Clow helped pile on with a 2-run single in the fifth.

C-F takes two from NA-J in double-header
Jake Jividens was on a power trip Thursday, helping the Redskins take a pair from the Rams in their first action of the season.
Kurtis Tyler struck out 10 and allowed just two hits in a 10-3 game one victory.
Jividens provided the offense with a home run and five RBI.
He wasn’t done though. In the second game he smacked another dinger in a 5-4 Redskins win.
“They were both mammoth shots to deep center field in the bleachers,” C-F head coach Nate Gust said. “I just told him hopefully he doesn’t hit his stride too early.”
Brady Nusbaum earned the win in relief for C-F and sophomore Jimmy Walker tallied three hits on the day.

Softball
Wildcats drop a pair to start season
The second was close, the first wasn’t close and the Pittsford Wildcats started 2009 with two losses, at the hands of North Central (OH).
Nicole Culbert suffered the loss in the first game and Sam Cole picked up the teams lone hit.
Marissa McEathron came up with a big hit for Pittsford in the nightcap, a two-run single, but North Central scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to eek out the victory.
Marissa Hamilton took the loss in game two.

Jonesville 10, Concord 0
Jonesville pitchers combined on a one-hitter and tallied 11 hits of their own in the Big Eight win.
Kelsey Aemisegger earned the win with nine strikeouts in three innings and Kelly White struck out three in two innings of relief.
White, Aemisegger and Megan Rowe all had two singles for the Comets.

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Stroble steps down as Comets' head coach

[caption id="attachment_330" align="alignright" width="199" caption="After three seasons as the head football coach at Jonesville High School Brian Stroble has resigned."][/caption]

By RJ Walters / Daily News Sports Editor

As published in the Hillsdale Daily News on March 27, 2009

Just when it looked like the Brian Stroble-era of Jonesville football was getting rolling, it has suddenly come to a screeching halt.

The Comets head coach of three seasons notified the school of his resignation Tuesday, citing a desire to spend more time with his family and focus on things other than football in what had become a year-round, daily commitment.

Jonesville Community Schools has already posted the coaching vacancy on its Web site and Stroble will officially announce his resignation at the district's next board of education meeting.

Jonesville went 10-17 under Stroble's leadership, including a promising 5-4 campaign in 2008, where the Comets came up just one win short of a playoff berth.

While Stroble admitted it was tough to step down, Jonesville athletic director Kathy Bondsteel agreed that the timing is right for both Stroble and the program as a whole.

"Brian has a new family and I know he wants to spend some time with his family and it's a lot time away from them to have to run a football program," she said. "I don't think I would ever say it wasn't the right fit. It's just that a varsity position is a huge time commitment and sometimes when you have a family it's hard...it's really hard to say."

Bondsteel added that her former head coach is a great teacher who does a good job with children, the current state of Jonesville football just dictated that the parties go their separate ways.

Stroble has a daughter who turns five in July and a 4-month-old son and he said he just couldn't put the football program's success ahead of spending quality time with his family.

"I think in order for the program to continue to get better I would have had to spend more time working in the program and with the program, and it takes a lot (of hours) to be the varsity football coach. I know Marc Lemerand over at Hillsdale has a young family and he's made it work, but right now in my life I'm young. I'm only 30 years old and other opportunities will come around," he said. "Football, as much as I love the kids and the game, my family comes first. My son was born in December and now summer is coming along and I'd be spending hours in the weight room and hours in meetings and sessions, but my son is only going to be young once."

Bondsteel echoed Stroble's mindset, saying whoever is hired to replace him is going to have to prove to her they want to "live, breathe, and die football at Jonesville" starting July 12.

"They've got to want to have the parents of the players on board and I've got parents here who are waiting to be as helpful as they can, because they like to see success for the kids and for the community as a whole," she said. "The (community) takes ownership and have pride in Jonesville and that's one thing that's a positive aspect here."

Stroble said he has no regrets from what he is calling his "first career" in football, but did say it would've been nice to go out after a playoff appearance and he wishes he would've started using the Wing-T offense a little sooner to give his players a better shot at success. He said a 10-17 record isn't one he considers to be great by any means, but he does feel good about how with the help of assistants like Dustin Scharer and Louie LaMothe the Comet football team seems headed in the right direction.

"With next year's group of guys coming through, Jonesville looks to be reckoned with. We have 17 starters returning...I feel like I've left the program in a great position and now I can focus on my family and teaching," he said.

This was never an easy decision for Stroble, who said he will "always love the game" and be back coaching when his children are older, so not surprisingly he actually found some solace in the words of a fellow Big Eight coach earlier this week.

"I e-mailed the Big Eight coaches and thanked them for three years of, I guess you could say, ethical football coaching; and I got a response back from (Reading's) Rick Bailey and he expressed that he was sorry to hear I was leaving and he thought I had done a great job and he could see Jonesville working their way back to where (former coach) Greg Morrison had it," he said. "I played against (Rick's teams) when I was in high school at Quincy and as an official I've crossed paths with him lots of times, so I took what Rick Bailey had to say, and that helped me out a lot."

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Brian Stroble steps down as Jonesville High School head football coach

After just three seasons at the helm, Jonesville High School football coach Brian Stroble has resigned as the Comets head coach. He resigned Tuesday, citing the desire to spend more quality time with his family, instead of living in the weight room and film room.

He has a little girl who is almost five years old and a 4-month-old son. From talking with several sources off the record I thought there may have been quite a rift between Stroble and Jonesville athletic director Kathy Bondsteel, but after talking with both of them at length I thing my radar may have been a bit off.

No, they're probably not best friends and never will be, but they had a solid working relationship and both of them came to the realization Stroble needed to show more commitment to the program to take it to the next level and they both knew he wanted to put that time in elsewhere — with his wife and kids — which I personally think is a great thing, despite what Comet athletic boosters and some fans might think.

A full-length article with quotes and other details will be on here tomorrow afternoon.

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Hillsdale's Curby wins Div. 3 wrestling crown at 171 pounds

[caption id="attachment_293" align="alignleft" width="510" caption="Mike Curby is officially declared the Division 3 state wrestling champion at 171 pounds at The Palace Saturday."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_294" align="alignright" width="510" caption="Jonesville senior Andrew Barrett was a Division 4 runner-up."][/caption]

By RJ Walters / Daily News Sports Editor

As published in the Hillsdale Daily News on March 16, 2009

At the last second possible Saturday Hillsdale junior Mike Curby proved he was not only among the state's best in his weight class — he was indeed the best.
With a Division 3 state title hanging in the balance Curby grabbed Allegan junior John Rizgalleh's left leg, yanked him to the mat and pushed his arm out of the way to earn a takedown with just two seconds remaining in the finals, just enough points for a 3-2 decision in the 171-pound weight class.
It was the sweetest form of revenge for Curby, who actually lost to the Rizgalleh (65-2) in the regional championship bout several weeks ago.
Curby finished the year with a 50-2 record and will have a chance to defend his state crown next season.

Other high-placing area wrestlers

Runner-up
Andrew Barrett, Jonesville Sr.
Barrett was second overall in the 125-pound weight class in Division 4 Saturday, falling 13-0 to New Lothrup's Allen Krupp in the championship bout. Barrett was 48-4 overall this year and was two positions better than his fourth placer state finals finish in 2008.

Third place:
Payden Armstrong, Jonesville Sr.
Armstrong took a 3-2 decision over Bill Krisch in the 152-pound consolation match, earning a third place medal.
Armstrong ends his senior year with a 48-3 record.

Fourth place:
Chase Weber, Pittsford Sr.
Despite a second-round loss Saturday the Wildcat senior fought back to make it all the way to the consolation match. In that match he lost a 3-2 decision to Luke Jones. He ends the season 52-7.

Ben Wines, Pittsford Sr.
Hudson's Gabe Elliott took down Wines 11-3 in the third round Saturday, but he bounced back to make the 189-pound consolation match, which he dropped 16-10 to Taylor Trim of Dansville. His final record for the season is 57-9.

Fifth place:
Trent Morris, Reading Sr.
Grant Cook of Dansville ended Morris' title hopes with an 11-3 second round win in the 171-pound weight class. Morris took fifth place with a 9-2 victory to end his career. His season record was 43-5.

Sixth place:
Buddy Poljan, Hillsdale Sr.
At 285-pounds Poljan fell 6-3 in the semifinals before losing 5-2 to Onsted's Gauge Aebersold in the fifth place match. He ends the year at 35-7.

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Recaps and notes from Tuesday's boys high school hoops action

By RJ Walters / Daily News Sports Editor

A Walters 'n Words exclusive blog post

Here is a quick look at the three high school boys basketball games from Tuesday night.

And three quick thoughts of my own to go along with the brief recaps: 1.) I think I'm finally realizing Hillsdale isn't as good as I once believed they were. Four league losses in a league that has a few teams in rebuilding years is two to many for my liking. And the inconsistency of Nick Kelley in the post from game-to-game is something I actually overheard a few Hornets faithful talking about at the Hillsdale College men's basketball game last night, and come district play they're going to need A+ performances out of him to keep up with Marshall and Colwater. Well, that is if Coldwater's 6-4 play-maker Jake Robinson plays in the first-round battle. He apparently was picked up by the cops over the weekend (I've been told by several sources what for, but have no legal confirmation) and is in jeopardy of being forced to sit out for the district opener via a suspension by the program. So at least that's one positive thing for Hillsdale. 2.) Unless Hudson is somehow a whole lot better now then when I saw them earlier this year, Pittsford is going to make a perfect regular season a reality. North Adams-Jerome should be a 20-point win Thursday night and I don't think the Wildcats will succumb to pressure against the Tigers at home on Friday. 3.) I wouldn't want to play Jonesville right now. They played Homer extremely tough, they just beat Quincy and they have Mitch Miller outside and Kyle Flint and Logan Jenkins on the inside. They can't win a slug-fest where the score is in the 60s or higher, but if they control the tempo and do what they've been doing as of late then they are a dangerous team.

Stockbridge 59, Hillsdale 55

A 25-point fourth quarter from the Stockbridge Panthers was just enough to overcome Hillsdale Tuesday night, in a 59-55 victory.

The Hornets are now completely out of the SMAA title race and have only Lansing Christian left on their schedule, at home on Friday.

The Hornets made seven 3-pointers and Mitchell Gabriele had 18 points and Nick Kelley pitched in with 17, but Stockbridge was 24-of-31 from the foul line, while the Hornets were only 8-for-12.

Jeff O’Brien lead the Panthers with 22 points, after being held to 10 in the previous meeting and Jake Powers added 18.

Gabriele fouled out with about 3:30, greatly hurting the Hornets chances down the stretch.

The Hornets are now 13-6 overall.

Pittsford 50, BC St. Phil 47 (OT)

Just two games remain in the Pittsford Wildcats quest for perfection in boys basketball, but only after a road thriller against of one the state’s best teams.

The Wildcats trailed Battle Creek St. Phil, a team that was ranked in the Top 10 earlier this season, by five points heading into the final quarter Tuesday, but a furious rally and a big bucket by junior Garet Lee in overtime helped them prevail 50-47.

Lee was held to 12 points and shot just 4-of-12 from the foul line but he pulled down 17 rebounds.

Wes Smith added 12 points and Corey Gamble put in 11 for Pittsford, who is now 18-0 overall, with home games against North Adams-Jerome and Hudson remaining, on Thursday and Friday.

Chris Riley paced Battle Creek St. Phil with 19 points.

Jonesville 47, Quincy 40

Jonesville’s boys basketball team continued it second-half push to end with a winning season, at the expense of the Quincy Orioles who have been trailing off as of late.

Mitch Miller led the Comets with 16 points, including a 9-for-12 effort at the foul line and Kyle Flint put in four points and 10 rebounds, while Logan Jenkins tallied four and eight.

The Comets end the regular season at 11-9 overall and 8-6 in conference play.

Dustin Truitt and Drew Stetler both scored 11 points to pace the Orioles, while Ben Olmstead pitched in with 10.

Quincy is now 11-8 overall and 9-5 in the Big Eight.

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Friday night Hillsdale County hoops roundup: Colts girls coast, Comet boys hold off Union City

By RJ Walters / Daily News Sports Editor

As published in the Hillsdale Daily News on Feb. 21, 2009

Colts girls take down Terriers, prepare for pivotal battle with Waldron

The Hillsdale Academy girl’s basketball team didn’t get caught looking ahead as they took down Litchfield 57-39 Friday night.

Now tonight, less than 24 hours later the Colts who are 9-1 in the SCAA host Waldron, the only team who is unblemished in league play.

But first the Colts jumped out to a 33-18 halftime lead on the Terriers to take care of business.

Connaught Blood scored a game-high 24 points, including 12 in the first four minutes of the second half. Shena Albaugh added 11 points and Emily Pewe scored four and added 14 boards.

Laura Thomas led Litchfield with 12 points.

At 7:30 p.m. tonight the Spartans will invade the Academy.

The last time the two teams met Waldron prevailed 40-39 with the Colts failing to get up a last second shot.

Academy coach Jeff Hubbard said he’s telling his girls they are underdogs Saturday, but have a great shot.

“Waldron always seems to find ways to win and we’re kind of underdogs and we’re just going in knowing we have a chance, he said. “It’s hard to tell the girls not to over-emphasize this one though, because we’ve been working on stuff all week.”

Waldron is trying to wrap up its first league title since 1973 and the Academy is clinging to hopes of its first SCAA title ever.
Comet boys now within one game of .500

With three games remaining in the regular season the Jonesville Comets still have a shot at posting a winning record.

The Comets allowed Union City to score 17 points in the second quarter Friday, but only 16 the entire rest of the game in a 39-33 Big Eight home win.

Logan Jenkins put up six points, nine rebounds and five blocks and Mitch Miller tallied 12 points and four assists for the Comets.

Jonesville is now 8-9 overall and 5-6 in Big Eight play.

AcMoody led Union City with 11 points and Mitchell Inman scored eight.

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