Jan. 30: Blue Water basketball roundup
St. Clair keeps rolling, Marysville keeps winning, and upsets keep unfolding throughout the BWAC in this week's Blue Water basketball roundup:
What a time to be a Saints basketball fan
Both the St. Clair boys and girls basketball teams corrected earlier-season losses to local rivals to tie for first place in their respective leagues last week.
The boys were first on Thursday when they rematched with Port Huron High and pulled off a 39-36 victory. Freshman Braylon Frantz led the Saints with 11 points and nine rebounds.
This was St. Clair’s fifth-straight win in the MAC-Silver, putting the team in a four-way tie at 5-2 along with Port Huron, Lakeview, and Madison. The Saints will play Madison on Friday for a possible conference title after traveling to Marine City (0-7) on Wednesday.
Similarly, the girls won their fifth-straight game within the MAC-Gold after defeating league-leading Marine City 52-44 on Friday. The Saints led early and held on, despite the Mariners’ 15-9 third quarter.
Senior Ashlyn Zimmer, who was injured in the first Saints-Mariners matchup, recovered to lead her team with 14 points in the win. Junior Josalyn Dietlin led Marine City with 14 points of her own, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter as she tried to will her team to victory.
The Saints will finish league play this week on the road, starting Tuesday against Fraser (6-2) and finishing Thursday against Lake Shore (1-7).
The Raiders-Spartans rivalry is alive and well
Almont hosted Imlay City in an entertaining double header Friday night.
In the girls game, the Raiders jumped out to an 11-8 lead in the first and followed up with a 15-point third quarter to take control of the game at 32-20. The Spartans answered with 15 points of their own in the fourth (10 of which came from the free-throw line), but Almont outlasted them to win 36-35.
This marks Imlay City’s second league loss, putting the team at 6-2 in conference play, while Almont improves to 4-4.
Kendall Roszczewski led the Raiders with 15 points and nine rebounds. Juniors Jesse Kautz, Lydia LaCavera, and Ava Panduren combined for 13 steals to lead the Raiders’ aggressive defense.
The last time the Almont and Imlay City boys teams played, the Spartans’ victory was decided by a last-second shot. This time, the game would be decided in overtime.
Imlay City led 13-11 after the first, but Almont would take control 27-24 at the half and maintain its lead through the third at 40-38. The Spartans sent it to overtime when they tied the game at 52 apiece and ran away in overtime, outscoring the Raiders 11-1 to win 63-53.
The Spartans were led by senior Beau Hund (20 points) and sophomore Zander Nash (18 points), while the Raiders were led by senior Clay Roszczewski who had 26 points, including six 3-pointers. Imlay City improves to 5-1 in conference play while Almont falls to 1-6.
New league, same victorious Vikings
The Marysville girls team defeated Stevenson 46-24 Friday night to officially secure the MAC-Blue title with two games to go. The Vikings, 8-0, will play Chippewa Valley (3-5) tonight and finish up with Cousino (4-4) on Tuesday. They’ve averaged 48 points per game against league opponents, winning by an average of 18.5 points.
The senior-junior duo of Kara Miller and Avery Wolters continued to lead the Vikings with 13 and 10 points, respectively, in their victory over Stevenson. Sophomore Addison Mynsberge chipped in with eight points.
Looking ahead
The Port Huron Northern boys team will look to clinch the MAC-White title this week. The 7-0 Huskies will host Romeo (4-3) Wednesday before traveling to New Haven (5-2) Friday.
Richmond is leading the boys BWAC at 5-0 and will travel to Imlay City (5-1) Friday night. The Spartans’ only loss was to Croswell-Lexington (6-1). These three teams remain in the top of the league.
Both Cros-Lex teams picked up a pair of wins and are riding with momentum into rivalry week against Yale. The girls had a narrow win over Armada Thursday, 50-48, and the boys won over the Tigers on Friday, 65-39. Yale will come to Croswell for the boys game Thursday and the girls game Friday.
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