COLDWATER (WTVB) – In Branch County high school sports, in Friday night Varsity boys and girls basketball, both Coldwater teams went down to defeat at home against Charlotte in the games we had on the radio while in the Big 8, on the boys side, Quincy and Union City posted victories while the Quincy girls lost. And Bronson’s Boys and Girls teams each suffered losses.
In the Boys action for Coldwater, the Cardinals were on top at the end the first quarter 17-15, but Charlotte took over the rest of the way for a 25-point victory with the Orioles winning 77-52. Charlotte really pulled away in the third quarter when they outscored the Cardinals 23-9. Sharing our McDonald’s Player of the Game honors for Coldwater were Logan Targgart and Collin Warner. Targgart had a double-double for the third time in four games, finishing last night with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Warner had 12 points. The Cardinals wrapped up their Interstate Eight schedule with a final conference mark of 2-12 with their overall record now at 3-15. Next Tuesday, it’s Coldwater at Sturgis.
In last night’s Girls contest in Coldwater, the Lady Cardinals second half comeback came up short with Charlotte holding on for a 44-41 victory. Coldwater was held to one point in the second quarter and trailed 18-11 at the half. But by the end of the third quarter, the Oriole’s lead had been cut to 24-23, setting the stage for the fourth quarter scoring outburst by both teams which ended with Charlotte heading home with a 3-point win. Kenzie McGuire and Michaela Gillette had 10 points apiece and McGuire was our McDonald’s Player of the Game for the girls. Gillette and Carlee Smoker each had 9 rebounds. The loss left Coldwater with a final regular season record of 3-11 in the conference and 6-14 overall.
March Magic for the Lady Cardinals opens on Monday night when they hit the road to take on Vicksburg at six o’clock in the first round of the MHSAA Vicksburg Class B District. The winner will face Three Rivers in the semifinals Wednesday night.
The Coldwater Girl’s Junior Varsity ended their season last night at home with a 35-33 win over Charlotte with 9 points and 12 rebounds for Allison Butler.
Elsewhere last night, in Big 8 Conference Boys hoops, Quincy was a winner at home over Homer 70-50 with a game-high 24 points in the victory for Jake Rider while Jake Jodway added 17 points. And Nathan Karney, who was King of Oriole Week and Friday Night King of the Court, had 15 points. The Orioles improved to 17-1 overall and 11-1 in the conference.
At Union City, the Chargers beat Jonesville 55-31 with 16 points for Darren Austin and 14 for Elijah Way. Union City is now 15-3 overall and 9-3 in the Big 8.
Bronson was beat at home by Niles-Brandywine 63-37 in a BCS Crossover game. Daniel McMichael had 11 points in the loss with 10 for Noah Roberts. The Vikings slip to 5-12.
In another Boy’s game, Tekonsha lost 54-38 at Jackson Christian with 12 points for Riley Lloyd and 10 for Connor Jenkins.
Back to Girls basketball, Quincy fell to visiting Homer 53-30 with 16 points and 9 rebounds for Katie Spalding. The defeat left Quincy with a final regular season mark of 1-19 and 1-13 in the Big 8.
And Bronson’s Lady Vikings finished up with a 49-44 non-conference loss at Athens to close with a 14-6 record. Alexa Ratkowski had 15 points with 11 for Skyler Sobeski.
The post season in Bowling got rolling on Friday with the MHSAA Team Regionals and in Division Two, the Coldwater Boys and Girls teams both advanced to next weekend’s State Finals with their top 3 showings. Yesterday at Continental Lanes in Kalamazoo, the Boys won a Regional Title, with Sturgis second and Niles Third while the Lady Cardinals finished in second place behind Charlotte. Today, it’s the Regionals Singles competition.
