COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – In boys basketball MHSAA state tournament district semi-final action Wednesday night, Coldwater dropped a close contest to Sturgis, Quincy rolled past cross county rival Bronson, and Union City lost to undefeated Hillsdale.
In the Coldwater Class B District matchup that we had on the radio between long-time rivals Coldwater and Sturgis, there were 11 lead changes and 9 ties and in the end, the visiting Trojans held on to beat the Cardinals 47-44. Sturgis earned a measure of revenge after losing at home to Coldwater by six points last week. Last night’s back and forth battle had the Trojans ahead 17-16 at the half with the Cardinals on top 29-28 heading into the fourth quarter. But Sturgis surged back into the lead and enjoyed its largest advantage of the night at 45-38 before finally securing the 3-point victory.
The defeat for Coldwater was spelled out in their cold shooting, hitting just 29% from the field, including only 2 for 13 from 3 point range compared to Sturgis connecting at a 44% rate while making 3 of their 8 three point attempts. Our McDonald’s Player of the Game for Coldwater was Logan Targgart, who had 15 points and 7 rebounds. Nate Waterbury also had 15 points for the Cardinals, who finish the season with a 5-16 record.
Sturgis improved to 13-8 and will play for the District title tomorrow night in Coldwater against Edwardsburg, which won last night’s opening semi-final game in a 75-53 victory over Three Rivers.
Turning to the Hillsdale Class C District, Quincy had six players score in double figures in their 105-63 victory over Bronson. Nick Haberl led the way with 24 points, followed by Jake Jodway with 19, Jake Rider had 17, Chase Cook 14, Quinn Eifrid 13, and Andrew Karney 10. Bronson, which ended up with an 8-14 record, was led by Sean Kenny with 16 points while Daniel McMichael had 15.
Quincy will take a 21-and-1 mark into its District Final against Hillsdale, which stayed perfect on the season with their 77-53 decision last night over Union City. The visiting Chargers stayed within striking distance, trailing 38-29 at the half, but the Hornets put the game away by winning the third quarter 21-9. Darren Austin had 16 points and Jalen Boes 15 for Union City, which closed out with a 17-5 record. Tomorrow night’s Quincy-Hillsdale District title game at Hillsdale tips off at 7 pm and we’ll have it covered for you on the radio and on-line at wtvbam.com with our live broadcast beginning at 6:30 pm.
A couple of other scores from last night to pass along including Pansophia Academy losing 66-to-15 to North Adams-Jerome in the Class D District hosted by North Adams. And in a showdown of ranked teams at the Hanover-Horton Class C District, it was number-8 Hanover-Horton getting by number-6 Jackson Lumen Christi, with the host Comets beating the Interstate Eight Conference champion Titans 63-61.
March Magic in the Girls basketball state tournament continues tonight with the Regional finals and while no Branch County teams made it out of the districts last week, two area schools will play for a title this evening with a Class C encounter at Concord between Homer and Galesburg-Augusta.
Today on the Coaches Corner, it’s our final look at Union City Girls basketball with coach Jenn Harty.
