UNION CITY, MI (WTVB) – In Branch County high school sports last night, in Big 8 girls Varsity basketball, Union City wrapped up their regular season with a 36-22 loss at home to Jonesville. The Lady Chargers had a 13-12 halftime lead before the Comets took control for the 14-point win. Union City finished 1-13 in the conference and 3-17 overall. They open state tournament play next Wednesday in the semi-finals of the Class-C Reading District.
Also in girls hoops, Tekonsha lost last night at Jackson Christian 62-12.
Last night in reserve boys basketball, Coldwater swept a pair of games at Charlotte. The Junior Varsity Cardinals beat the Orioles 50-44 with 15 points for Zack Murphy and 13 for Nick Aker. Coldwater took the freshman game 57-14 with 14 points for Logan Fee and 10 for Christian Pine as all ten Cardinal players ended up scoring. Next week, it’s the 42nd Coldwater Noon Exchange Club Freshman Tournament at Legg Middle School with the host Cardinals opening game on Monday night against Kalamazoo Loy Norrix.
Last night in freshman girls basketball, Coldwater finished their season with a 46-34 loss at Pennfield with 10 points and 12 rebounds for Nadia Kiersey.
Last night in gymnastics, Coldwater closed out their regular season with a dominating non-conference win at home over Mason, beating the Bulldogs 124.85 to 96.5. It was the last opportunity for individual gymnasts to earn regional qualifying scores for a chance to compete in the post-season and Coldwater picked up more than twenty qualifier scores. The team will be sending seven individual gymnasts to compete at the MHSAA Regional a week from tomorrow. Coldwater coach Kim Nichols said every single gymnast who qualified was able to do so in multiple events, the first time that’s happened for the team in more than a decade. Competing in the post season will be Jennifer Daoud and Amanda Daoud in all four events while Darien Dyer and Madison Hedstrom will on the vault, beam, and floor. Sarah Hughes will perform on the vault, bars, and beam, Brooke Neitzert on the vault and beam and Shelby Kahler and Brooke Neitzert qualified on the vault and beam.
Last night, in the opening event, Jenny Daoud won the vault with an 8.6 and then next placed first on the uneven bars with an 8.0. Three stuck beam routines and six qualifying scores on the balance beam set the Lady Cardinals up for an impressive team total of 31.4 points. Amanda Daoud and Sarah Hughes tied for first with a score of 8.2. It was a personal best mark for Hughes. On the floor exercise to finish the competition, senior Jenny Daoud closed out her last home meet with a winning score of 8.10. In the all-around, Jenny claimed first place with sister Amanda Daoud second and Sarah Hughes third. The Lady Cardinals finished with a 4-3 conference record and tied for 4th place in the South Central Gymnastics League.
Tonight in high school sports, in Boys and Girls Varsity basketball, it’s Coldwater at home against Charlotte and we’ll have the doubleheader on the radio starting around 5:30 pmfollowing the Evening Journal. The Girls action is scheduled to tip off at 6 pm after the JV Lady Cardinals game against the visiting Orioles which gets underway at 4 pm.
Elsewhere tonight, in Boys and Girls basketball, Quincy hosts Homer while in Boys only play, Bronson has a BCS Crossover game at home, Union City hosts Jonesville and Tekonsha is at Jackson Christian. In a Girls only game, Bronson is at Athens.
Today on the Coaches Corner, it’s Coldwater Girls bowling coach Pat Lewis.
In middle school sports yesterday, in girls basketball, Bronson’s seventh grade team closed out their season with a win at home over Mendon 41-21 with 20 points for Keona Salesman.