Girls Districts over, Boys ready to start
First off let's look back at the Girls Districts
As expected Benton Harbor won the district at Jenison, you can probably say it was "Destiney," Williams had 32 points to lead The Harbor to the district crown, the Tigers beat Holland 67-24. The Tigers next face Muskegon Mona Shores at Grand Rapids Northview High School on Tuesday.
Another expected win was the Michigan Lutheran Titans advancing, but you wanna talk about waiting until the last minute. ML had to rally from a 2 point deficit with 20 seconds left and defeated Watervliet Grace Christian 34-30 at Covert.
A few surprises.
Rachel Sheffler's last game at Watervliet probably came a little earlier than expected as the Panthers lost to Brandywine in the C District final at New Buffalo. Brandywine won 53-48.
Now this one really isn't a "surprise" but the Niles Vikings won their first District title since moving up from Class B as they defeated Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 61-53, the Vikings lost earlier in the season to the Knights. The Vikings get the surprise in the more important of the two games.
Now THE SURPRISE
During tournament time, you're likely to hear the phrase "It's tough to beat a team three times in a year." Generally that's true, you rarely play a team three times in a year, let alone beat them three times in a year, but this phrase couldn't be more true than it was in the Class B district final at St. Joseph High School.
It's hard to believe that the St. Joe Lady Bears, a team with the history of the Lady Bears, some of the great players that have played, like Tracey Bloodworth and a former Miss Basketball Kim Knuth, and the legendary coach Rick Bloodworth has not won a district title since 1994. Tracey Bloodworth, now a new mother Tracey Dorow, the head coach of Ferris State University. Kim Knuth who was all everything at the University of Toledo, is now an assistant coach. It's been that long.
But the Lady Bears faced arch rival Lakeshore in the Class B district final at the Bear Den on Friday. A team that St. Joe had lost 5 straight games to. Including twice this season. But the Lady Bears would not let that continue as St. Joe had 4 players in double figures. Freshman Lindsay Peirce, daughter of former St. Joe Lady Bear great Amy Porritt (Peirce) had 20 points, Sophomore Katie Mavis added another 19 points. St. Joe started the game on a 10-2 run and never looked back as the Lady Bears ended their district drought at 14 seasons with a 66-54 win over Lakeshore.
St. Joe is off to play in the regionals at Otsego High School against Holland Christian, the Maroons are 19-4 on the season, so it'll be another uphill battle for the Bears. The Bears have been battling an uphill battle all year long. After a 4-17 record last year under first year head coach Jeff Wallace, the Bears would have to try to improve on that in a very tough conference and non conference schedule. Try playing Benton Harbor and Niles twice a year, along with the Lakeland Conference Champs Buchanan. The schedule wasn't the only thing that was rough on the Bears, St. Joe hasn't really had the numbers and the depth chart most other teams have, St. Joe lost 1 of 2 seniors for medical reasons halfway through the season, some injuries and other circumstances left the Lady Bear basketball program with only 6 players on the freshman and 6 on the JV team. St. Joe had to suspend the rest of the Freshman season with 3 games left to field a full JV and Varsity team.
It's been an uphill battle for the Lady Bears, and this victory wasn't just a district title, it shows that no matter how bad the regular season was. Everybody is back to 0-0 and it's a new start. The Bears certainly got a new start at things and a district championship is just a first step for this group of Young Bears in the rebuilding of the Lady Bears basketball program from top to bottom. Plus St. Joe loses only 1 senior going to next year.
Now for the Boys
Class A
Benton Harbor's turnaround season will take them to Holland West Ottawa and they will have the winner of the Hudsonville/Grandville game on Wednesday. James Black and Aaron Clayborn will definitely be two of the Tigers to watch.
Class B
At Lakeshore. I think you can say there are a number of teams that could win this tournament, and as luck would have it, three of those "favorites" are on the same side of the bracket. Host Lakeshore faces Buchanan on Monday at 8, the winner gets St. Joe. Now Lakeshore as the host is yes...a favorite, Buchanan is the top of the Lakeland is another favorite... But St. Joe???
Yes St. Joe, I know I am showing my maize and blue colors (SJHS Class of '93), but St. Joe has been playing a lot better as of late, and it's this the time of year you want to be playing well. The Bears defeated Lakeshore last week 73-65. The Bears could be a favorite if they play the way they did against Lakeshore, not the collapse of Friday at Niles. On the other side of the Bracket, you'll find Berrien Springs, Edwardsburg and Dowagiac, I think you'll see Berrien in the title game against... take your pick from the other side.
