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Midlakes Sports
by Ginny Konz
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Victor's jv and varsity girls' teams were at Midlakes on January 19. Our jvs' shooting was as cold as the outdoor temperature - for the first five minutes we had only two baskets. Fortunately they were both treys from Sam VanderBrook. Victor also had two threes, and they had more besides that, putting us in a hole early. Down by 13-8 at the end of the first quarter, we began to work it inside and tied the game at 15 in just over 3 minutes of the second period. Then we went away from that tactic and the score jumped to 21-15 after the next 3 minutes. Again we were rescued by inside play and tied the game at 23 by the half.
We actually played a pretty solid 3rd quarter and were ahead, 32-27, as the period ended. However, we scored only 2 points in the ensuing 4 minutes, allowing Victor to take a 35-34 lead and extend it, with some help from the charity stripe. Outscoring us 13-2 in the final period, they won by a 40-34 score.
The 7th and 8th grade girls' teams were introduced between games. The 8th graders had begun their season at home the afternoon previously and lost by 1 point, "but I was very pleased with their comeback" said Coach Pete Czerkas who gave me the following roster. Miranda Goodman, Kayle Ford, Claire Scheible, Allison Strub, Sam Hemminger, Kaila Fox, Kyla Durso, Kristin McGregor, Jane Petzoldt, Crysta Baroody, Jessica Wright, Brooke Adams, Caity Kumkey, Gina Phamisith, and Alissa Galener were on the list. You can see this team at home again on Friday, Jan. 28 at 4:15. The 7th graders will not play at home until Feb. 1.
Back to Wednesday night's games. Neither team shot well to open the varsity contest, but they found the range sooner than we did and were more consistent. From an 11-6 deficit after 8 minutes we came within 3 at 20-17 before they took off again for a 27-19 halftime lead.
We started the second half taking the ball inside more effectively and were shooting slightly better overall. We cut their lead to 5 before letting them go on another streak. Suddenly everything went right for them - their shots dropped, we turned the ball over. We never came closer than 10 points in the final period and lost, 50-36. Alex Oaks was an energetic sparkplug as usual, but even she was not shooting well and ended the game with 9 points. Hollie Rinaldo and Whitney Dixon both had 10. Marissa Bunce was usually blanketed by their defense and had 7 points; I think they had scouted us well.
Senior Night for the wrestling team was Thursday, Jan. 20. Seniors Adam Biesenbach, Chad Clark, Jeremy Denisi, Seth Smith, Billy Lathrop and Enan Congdon were introduced, along with their parents. The boys were given sweatshirts; the moms received red roses. Seth and Chad then retired to the bench, injured, along with Chris Teed. Mynderse was the evening's opponent.
Enan Congdon began the evening with the 215lb. bout, jumped out to an 8-2 lead after one period and pinned his opponent in the third period. Chris Stobie at 103lbs. didn't waste any time; he pinned his opponent in just over a minute of the first period.
Freshman Steve Rathbone fought hard but was pinned near the end of the second period. Midlakes forfeited at 119lbs., and that evened the match.
Billy Lathrop at 125 lbs. faced an opponent who was slightly taller with longer legs and arms and who used that to his advantage. Every time things looked good for Billy his opponent reversed it and eventually won. Gabe Gigliotti at 130lbs. faced a similar opponent and was pinned.
Adam Orlopp at 135lbs. was clearly stronger than his opponent and won by a technical fall in the 3rd period. Morgan Hoven at 140lbs. was also clearly in charge. Ahead 15-1 after 2 periods, he pinned his opponent in one minute of the 3rd, giving us a 23-22 lead. Jesse Goodman's 145lb. match was stopped early for his nosebleed, and he never could get a strong hold on his opponent. He lost by technical fall in the third.
Adam Biesenbach won his match at 152lbs., but we were still behind, 27-26. Jeremy Denisi at 160lbs. had an 8-1 advantage before he pinned his opponent in the 1st period to give us a 32-27 lead.
Nick Newland, another freshman, wrestled at 171lbs. and was pinned in the first. Josh Moracco, who usually is in at 171 lbs., this night was giving up a lot of pounds to his 189lb. opponent, struggled valiantly but lost, cementing the 36-32 Mynderse win.
Freshmen Daniel Jones and Steve Kemp were both pinned in exhibition matches. Sophomore Rob Barber, sidelines by injury and making his first appearance, fought hard but lost. Freshman Trent Jones won his exhibition match by a 6-1 score. The wrestlers are not at home for the remaining season, which includes another dual meet, cross over dual meets and tournaments before the varsity team heads for the league tournament which will hopefully take some on to Sectionals in February.
Geneva's jv and varsity boys' teams were in town last Friday, January 21. We needed to bring our A game to play with these guys, and it didn't happen. The jv team was definitely beatable had we been "on," but we weren't. We started the game with three turnovers and they scored off two of them to set the tone. We weren't shooting well, were afflicted with "slippery ball syndrome" and sloppy passing and yet hung close. The halftime score was 20-16. They went on a 7-2 run in three minutes of the third fueled by our continued poor shooting and lack of offensive rebounding and continued to add to their lead, finishing with a 48-31 win.
The varsity game was over almost before it began. The Geneva team was tall, strong, and athletic, with good hands, and they shot really well. Meanwhile, nothing was dropping for us, even from the free throw line, and passing was a problem also. The score was 15-6 at the end of one quarter, and they continued to add to their lead. Geneva had 32 points at the half, to our 14. We could not score at all in the third, and managed 14 in the fourth to their 17. Both teams used their benches extensively in the final 12 minutes. Andrew Flood was high scorer for us with 7, Caleb Frederick added 6. Did we help Geneva by deciding we didn't have a chance ahead of time, did their superior athleticism create most of our problems, or did we just have an off night at a really inopportune time? The boys' teams will be home next on Friday, February 4. You can see the freshmen this Friday, Jan. 28, at 4:15.
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