Feb. 27: Blue Water basketball roundup

This week, we'll take a look at broken records, conference titles, and a postseason preview:

Girls BWAC basketball completed

Girls BWAC teams played their final regular season games to close the week. On Thursday, Armada defeated Richmond 50-29, Imlay City topped Algonac 46-33, and Yale ran away from Almont with a 21-point fourth quarter to win 42-31.

Meya Drob posted 19 points and four rebounds to lead the Tigers while Sadie Dykstra and Alyssa Barr led the Bulldogs with 16 and 13 points, respectively.

North Branch topped Croswell-Lexington 38-25 on Friday, and Almont bounced back Saturday to defeat Algonac 54-37. Jesse Kautz led the Raiders with a career-high 17 points and Kendall Roszczewski added 11.

See the final scores and standings.

Girls district preview

North Branch's Bailey Gormley shoots against Marysville's Avery Wolters in the season opener.

The 2022-23 basketball season is drawing to a quick close as the girls MHSAA District tournament begins today while the boys will follow next week.

Marysville (18-4) and North Branch (20-2) will enter their respective districts as the favorites. The Vikings won the MAC-Blue league title, as well as the MAC-Blue/Gold tournament, sweeping potential district opponents St. Clair and Marine City.

As for the Broncos, they won their first conference title since 1989 with a 13-1 record against BWAC opponents, and they recently defeated another potential district foe in Caro (18-4), 49-43.

Both teams are led by a dynamic guard-post duo, Marysville with senior Kara Miller and junior Avery Wolters, and North Branch with seniors Bailey Gormley and Natasha Bickel. Miller and Wolters are averaging 9.5 and 14.4 points per game, respectively, while Gormley and Bickel post 13.2 and 9.9 a night.

Huskies back on track

The Port Huron Northern boys basketball team was plagued with sickness and injury earlier in the month, dropping the first game of the MAC-Red/White tournament against Eisenhower. The Huskies now are regaining strength as they picked up a pair of wins over Roseville (91-78) and Macomb Dakota (64-54) to finish the tournament.

Tyler Jamison combined for 71 points in the two games, while Alex Jamison added 38 and Cam Harju chipped in with 28.

Blue Devils escape Tigers

Tied atop the BWAC standings with Cros-Lex, Richmond couldn’t afford a loss Friday night against Armada. The Tigers led 25-21 at the half and the two teams were tied at 50 midway through the fourth quarter. Richmond managed to secure the victory at the free-throw line, 57-56.

Karl Stevens and D’Quan Haskins each had 17 points to lead the Blue Devils while Andrew Sniesak and Justin Schapman led Armada with 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Roszczewski’s record-setting performance propels Raiders

Almont's Clay Roszczewski looks to drive against Imlay City's Zander Nash earlier this season.

The Almont boys basketball team hosted Algonac Saturday and jumped out to a 45-17 lead by halftime. The Raiders would go on to win 64-40.

Senior Clayton Roszczewski led the way with 26 points, eclipsing the school's record for the most points in a season, previously set by Larry Kersten with 414 in 1957. Roszczewski has totaled 419 points on the year with at least two games to go. He’s made 71 threes and averages 3.5 per game.

Other notable results:

Imlay City’s Zander Nash led the Spartans to a 63-48 victory over Yale with a season-high 27 points. Greg Pawlaczyk chipped in with 16 points, while Jackson Kohler led the Bulldogs with 14 points.

After a pair of narrow losses in the MAC-Bronze/Silver tournament, Port Huron High finished with a dominant victory over Clawson, 73-37. Garrett James led with 20 points and Dwynell Benjamin added 15.

St. Clair’s Braylon Essian helped the Saints to a 57-49 victory over Clawson on Tuesday, breaking the school record for most 3-pointers in season with 57.

Marine City's Jade Blanchard had quite the week, first with 20 points against Richmond on Tuesday and 22 more against Lamphere on Thursday. She also totaled eight rebounds in the two games. The Mariners are now 17-4 overall, after winning 34-20 and 56-26.

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For in-game updates and other news, follow Calli on Twitter @ newberry_calli

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