COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) - In Branch County high school sport last night, in varsity boy’s and girl’s basketball, it was Coldwater at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix and the visiting Cardinals fell short in both games, returning home with a pair of losses against the Knights.
In the boy’s action, which you heard here on AM 1590 and the New FM 95.5 WTVB, the underdog Class-B Cardinals gave Loy Norrix a real battle before the Class-A Knights held on for a 64-to-61 victory.
Coldwater had a strong first quarter, which ended with the Cardinals leading 16-to-14. The Knights won the middle two periods 21-to-14 and 17-to-13 but Coldwater hung around to the end and had a couple of good looks at possibly sending the contest into overtime while outscoring Loy Norrix in the fourth quarter 18-to-12. The Cardinals slip to 3-and-12 overall and 1-and-8 in the SMAC East while the Knights improved to 8-and-2 in the division and 11-and-3 overall.
Brad Babjack, who was our Coldwater McDonald’s Player of the Game, led the Cardinals with 16 points while Mitch Galloway had 14 and Jordan Eddy 10. There were no reserve games last night as the Cardinal’s and Knight’s freshman and j-v teams are scheduled to play on February 21st.
The Coldwater varsity teams will be back in action Friday night at home with a boys-girls doubleheader against Battle Creek Lakeview and we’ll have both games on the radio.
Last night in the girl’s game at Loy Norrix, the visiting Lady Cardinals had the upper hand early leading 17-to-11 after one quarter of play. But Loy Norrix then took charge, winning the next three periods 42-to-27 and pulled away for a 53-to-44 victory over Coldwater. Alissa Herlan had 15 points for the Lady Cardinals while on the boards, Ashley Burkhardt, Kenzie Galloway, and Meghan Schorfhaar had 7 rebounds apiece. Coldwater is now 9-and-5 overall and 5-and-4 in the division.
Last night in girl’s hoops, in the Big Eight, Quincy fell at Springport 57-to-30. Sarah Ward had a double double for Quincy with 13 points and 16 rebounds while Katie Santi added 11 points. The loss drops the Lady Orioles to 1-and-14 overall and 1-and-10 in the conference.
And Union City lost at home to Jonesville 44-to-26 with seven points apiece for Brooke Johnson and Andrea Carls. Union City slips to 4-and-13 and 0-and-12 in league play. Jonesville won the j-v game 39-to-21. Gabby Smurr had 12 points for Union City.
And in non-conference action, Bronson was a winner at Colon 42-to-30. The game was tied at 17 all at the half and then the Lady Vikings pulled away for the 12-point victory. Brooke Pyles had 10 points to lead Bronson, which improved to 4-and-12. Bronson also won the j-v game 39-to-30 with 13 points and 11 rebounds for Halely Russell while Kinslea Blouin had 12 points and Makayla Sikorski added 13 rebounds.
Returning to boy’s basketball, last night, Bronson lost at home to Sturgis 61-to-40. Sean Czajkowski had 15 points for the host Vikings, who fall to 5-and-11.
Also, Tekonsha was a winner at home over Will Carleton 50-to-41. Evan Calhoun had 24 points for the host Indians while Saby Ghotra had 10 points. Tekonsha is now 4-and-10.
In a few other boy’s scores, Reading beat Litchfield 71-to-40, Mattawan got by Battle Creek Lakeview 64-to-57 and Marshall defeated Parma Western 65-to-42.
The wrestling state tournament starts tonight for Branch County schools with team districts and then the individual districts are set for Saturday. Coldwater is hosting a Division Two team district. The action starts at 5:30 p.m. The semi-final pairings have the host Cardinals taking on Mattawan while Vicksburg faces off against Harper Creek.
Meanwhile, Quincy will host a Division 4 team district, including Bronson and Union City. The matches begin at six o’clock with the host Orioles against Bronson while Union City vs. Colon.
Also on tonight’s schedule, there’s gymnastics as Coldwater travels to Adrian for a triangular meet against the host Maples and Saline. And in bowling this afternoon, Coldwater has a match with Sturgis at Knottkes in Battle Creek.
Today on the Coach’s Corner, it’s Bronson girl’s basketball coach Andy Hatt.
