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CMU comeback effort comes up short against Oakland
MOUNT PLEASANT - A late Central Michigan rally came up a run short on Wednesday afternoon, as the Chippewas fell to Oakland University in a mid-week non-conference matchup 3-2. The Chippewas had the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning with just one out, but they were unable to score the game-tying run off of Oakland’s Sydney Campbell. Campbell had held the Chippewas’ offense at bay through the first six innings. She pitched the complete game, striking out 11 to earn the victory. Grace Lehto suffered the tough-luck loss for CMU, allowing just one earned run over 6.2 innings of work. Both teams had early scoring chances in the game. Oakland loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first inning, but Lehto was able to get a couple of solid defensive plays behind her to keep the Golden Grizzlies off of the scoreboard.
Ferris State's historic women's basketball season ends in national semifinals
SAINT JOSEPH, MO - The historic season of the Ferris State women’s basketball team came to an end a game short of a berth in the Division II National Championship Game, as the Bulldogs fell to Texas Woman’s University in the semifinals 68-52 on Wednesday night. The Pioneers raced out to a quick lead, 25-16 at the end of the first quarter, and they expanded that by limiting Ferris State to just six second quarter points to take a 39-22 lead at halftime. Ferris State battled back in the second half, using a 15-2 run to pull within eight points in the fourth quarter, but that’s as close the Bulldogs would get in suffering the loss. Mallory McCartney led Ferris State with 16 points, with senior Chloe Idoni adding 10 points for the Bulldogs.
Lake City senior Eli Crittenden secures 7th-straight national wheelchair tournament bid
LAKE CITY— Lake City senior Eli Crittenden picked up the sport of wheelchair basketball in 5th grade at a Grand Valley State University camp. There, he met who would become his coach at Mary Free Bed and get hooked on the sport. Since joining the Junior Pacers program at Mary Free Bed, his teams have never missed a postseason (outside of the COVID-19 year). The top 16 teams get bids to the National Wheelchair Basketball Association tournament at the prep level, and top 32 at the high school level. Last year, Eli’s team was ranked 25th in the country, and came out of nationals with the 22nd spot they hold this year.
Manistee’s Cecilia Postma is taking home one of the MHSAA’s scholar-athlete awards
MANISTEE - The MHSAA and Farm Bureau Insurance, will give $2,000 college scholarships to 32 individuals. Students applying for the Scholar-Athlete Award must be carrying at least a 3.5 grade-point average and have previously won a letter in a varsity sport in which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors a postseason tournament. Other requirements for the applicants were to show active participation in other school and community activities and produce an essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics. Manistee senior Cecilia Postma is a varsity athlete at Manistee high school running both cross country and track for four years and playing soccer for three. She earned all-state in cross country and all-conference and academic all-state in cross country and track as well as serving two seasons as cross-country captain. Postma had quite the day finding out she won the award. “It was a cool day because I got into the University of Michigan, and then as soon as I got home, I got an email saying had gotten this award. So I was kind of on cloud nine that day just hearing both of those things.” Postma said. Postma’s passion for sports came from her running talent.
Chippewas douse SVSU in rain-soaked home opener
MOUNT PLEASANT - The Central Michigan baseball team broke out the bats late in a rain-soaked non-conference home opener on Tuesday afternoon, topping visiting Saginaw Valley State 11-1. The Chippewas plated their first run in the first inning on a bases loaded walk. It would stay that way into the bottom of the third inning, when the game would be halted due to the weather. After a brief delay, the game resumed, with CMU adding on a pair of runs in the fifth inning, courtesy of one of three Cardinal errors in the contest. Saginaw Valley State closed the gap in the sixth inning, with Colin Cornwell delivering an RBI triple to pull the Cardinals within two runs.
Micah Gallegos of Traverse City Christian School named athletic director of the year
Athletic Director Micah Gallegos said the school and students keeps the passion for his career alive. The Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association named Gallegos of Traverse City Christian School athletic director of the year. Gallegos served as athletic director at Traverse City Christian for the past seven years. He said he feels honored to receive the recognition. “It’s just an incredible honor to be recognized for that. And I absolutely love it here. I love our students. That’s what keeps me coming back every day. Our students are fantastic and getting a build relationships with them. We have a great staff, great administrative team,” Gallegos said.
Coaching great Tom Borrelli calls it a career after 33 years at the helm of Central Michigan wrestling
MOUNT PLEASANT — A large chapter of the Central Michigan wrestling program is coming to a close. Head coach Tom Borrelli has decided to step away from the program after 33 years at the helm. “I got to live out my dream for 40 years in coaching in college, and when I was young, if you’d told I would have been able to do that, I would’ve said you were crazy,” Borrelli said. Before his time with the Chippewas, Borrelli spent time coaching at Clemson and Lake Superior State to combine for those 40 years in collegiate coaching.
St. Ignace guard Jonny Ingalls named Michigan Division 4 basketball Player of Year by AP
St. Ignace’s Jonny Ingalls started basketball young. He was certainly in the gym enough as his mom coached the girls’ team at the high school and his dad led the boys’ squad. “He was an awesome player when he was young,” his coach and father Doug Ingalls said. “He was a very unselfish player and is an unselfish player. He has the heart of a champion, he goes after it and does what it takes to win.” Ingalls became a star on the varsity team, scoring 2,000 career points and led the Saints to the state semifinals earlier this month for the first time since 1983.
Ferris State softball splits home opener with Saginaw Valley State
BIG RAPIDS - Two days after snow and cold weather postponed their home-opening doubleheader, the Ferris State Bulldogs finally got on their home turf on Monday afternoon, splitting a GLIAC doubleheader with Saginaw Valley State. The Cardinals used a 4-run outburst in the fourth inning to take game one of the matchup 6-3. Paige Kolinski gave SVSU the lead for good early in the fourth inning with a solo home run. Maddie Campagna went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while Mya Purdy was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI for the Cardinals. Emily DePew earned the win in the circle with six strikeouts over seven innings of work. Ferris State was led by Abby Meyer at the plate with a 2-for-3 effort with a run scored and an RBI.
Dusty May takes over as Michigan basketball coach, leaving Florida Atlantic after 6 seasons and a Final Four run
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — The lure of Michigan became apparent to Dusty May not in the last few days, but almost 20 years ago when he was just starting his basketball coaching career. He was an assistant at Eastern Michigan then and quickly realized Michigan’s logo — the famed block M — was something that people took enormous pride in being associated with. And when Michigan offered him a chance to wear it, he couldn’t say no. May was announced as the new coach at Michigan on Sunday, agreeing to a five-year contract worth almost $19 million, the school said. He leaves Florida Atlantic after six seasons, highlighted by a Final Four run a year ago and more wins in the last two years than almost anyone nationally. “This place allowed me to be extremely selective, to take the job that was the perfect fit,” May told The Associated Press. “I would never feel any remorse if I was at FAU forever. I almost wanted these other jobs to go away, to get filled, so I wouldn’t have a decision to make.”
Michigan State hockey wins first-ever Big 10 Tournament Title in overtime against Michigan
EAST LANSING— The Michigan State Spartans won their first-ever Big Ten Tournament Championship Saturday night at Munn Arena against in-state rival Michigan 5-4 in overtime. Michigan’s Frank Nazar III opened scoring on the night just :58 into the first period. State’s Tanner Kelly would find a response at the 10:53 mark in the first to tie the game 1-1 to end the first. The second would be a whirlwind of goals. The Spartans lit the lamp three times with goals by Daniel Russel, Jeremy Davidson, and Matt Basgall. The Wolverines found the back of the net twice themselves with goals from Dylan Duke (PP) and Marshall Warren to wrap the second 4-3 Spartans. 2:54 into the third, Nazar III would net his second goal on the night to tie the game at 4-4 and send it into overtime.
Ferris State women’s basketball prepares for their first ever Elite 8
BIG RAPIDS - The Ferris State women’s basketball team is making history with each game they win, already becoming the first women’s squad in Bulldog history to make the Elite 8, but the ‘dawgs aren’t done. Ferris State is the number three seed in the Elite 8, and they will take on the six seed University of Tampa on Monday in St. Joseph, Missouri. Bulldog head coach Kurt Westendorp talked about how important the mental side is for his squad. “I think our girls really have that mental belief that when we step on the court that we’re the best team on the court, you know, whether sometimes it’s a little overconfidence, I don’t want to say that’s cockiness, but you got to believe that you’re the best to be able to win those kinds of games.” Said Westendorp. “I try to phrase it to them is, okay, you think you’re the best team out there, they say, Yeah, like, okay, then go and prove it.” Ferris State’s leading scorer, Chloe Idoni, isn’t ready for her senior season to end just yet.
Frankfort's magical tournament run ends in state semifinals
EAST LANSING — The Frankfort Panthers earned a trip to the division four state semifinals in East Lansing, and through the first eight minutes of their matchup with Kingston, the Panthers held tough against one of the top teams in the division, but from there the Cardinals took over, cruising to a 56-33 victory on Thursday night. The Panthers opened the game with a 6-0 run, provoking a quick Kingston timeout. Frankfort led 12-11 at the end of the first quarter. In the second, Kingston found their offense, scoring the first 14 points of the quarter to take a 25-12 lead. The Cardinals would outscore the Panthers 24-4 in the second quarter, taking a 19-point lead at halftime. A big determining factor in the contest was rebounding, where Kingston was able to outpace Frankfort 33-18 on the glass.
Slow start dooms Lake City in semifinal loss to Niles Brandywine
EAST LANSING — The Lake City Trojans’ outstanding girls basketball season came to a disappointing conclusion on Thursday, as the Trojans struggled to score early, and fell to Niles Brandywine 52-39. The Bobcats outscored the Trojans 13-4 in the first quarter, and 14-9 in the second to take a 27-13 lead at halftime. Lake City was able to battle back a bit in the second half, using a full-court pressure defense that they had not really needed to resort to all season to pull within ten points on a couple of occasions, but they were unable to complete the comeback attempt. Niles Brandywine connected on nearly half of their three-point shots in the game and used that advantage to neutralize the Trojans’ clear height advantage in the form of Alie and MacKenzie Bisballe. Lake City was only able to make 1-of-6 three-point attempts in the contest. Miley Young led the Bobcats in scoring with 20 points. MacKenzie Bisballe had 17 points and six rebounds for Lake City, with cousin Alie adding 12 points to go along with seven boards.
Michigan State beats Mississippi State to open March Madness
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Tyson Walker scored 19 points and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo picked up his 20th win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as his ninth-seeded Spartans beat eighth-seeded Mississippi State 69-51 on Thursday. Michigan State improved to 20-6 in March Madness openers under Izzo, who is making his 26th straight NCAA Tournament appearance — an NCAA Division I record for a coach at one school. Jaden Akins added 15 points and seven rebounds and Mailk Hall scored 10 points for the Spartans (20-14), who’ll face either top-seeded North Carolina or No. 16 seed Wagner on Saturday. Freshman Josh Hubbard scored 15 points for the Bulldogs (21-14), who haven’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2021. Hubbard had just two points in the second half.
Michigan assistant coach Greg Scruggs resigns after drunken driving arrest
ANN ARBOR (AP) — Michigan defensive line coach Greg Scruggs resigned Thursday, less than a week after his arrest for suspected drunken driving and without coaching a game with the Wolverines. Coach Sherrone Moore said he was notified of Scruggs’ resignation and wouldn’t comment further. Scruggs, a former NFL defensive end, coached Wisconsin’s defensive line last season. He was a New York Jets assistant defensive line coach in 2022 following two seasons as an assistant with the Cincinnati Bearcats. He was hired by Moore, who replaced Jim Harbaugh when he left to lead the Los Angeles Chargers two months ago.
LSSU fans welcome men’s basketball team home from Sweet 16
SAULT STE. MARIE — The Lake Superior State Lakers are now back in the Soo. The team returned home from Indianapolis after their loss to the Ferris State University Bulldogs in Wednesday night’s NCAA Division II Sweet 16 game. The players and coaches were given a warm welcome inside the Bud Cooper gymnasium. 17-year coach Steve Hettinga and the Lakers’ only senior player, Glen Lake High School alum Xander Okerlund, took to the podium.
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