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Midlakes Sports
by Ginny Konz
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The 2004-05 high school basketball season officially came to a close on Sunday, March 6 with a brunch held at Club 86 in Geneva. A big group of athletes, parents, friends and fans enjoyed a delicious assortment on the buffet table and pleasant commentary from all the coaches involved with the program. It was there that I received the information to print this correction: it was Zach Maslyn who was part of the varsity boys' scholar-athlete team, not Zach Marion as reported last week.
The jv cheerleaders, under the direction of Coach Young, finished in third place at the Victor competition and 2nd at the Dansville competition during the season. The coach named Morgan Heusler the Most Improved cheerleader for the season and gave the Coach's Award to Liz Scoville, whom she considered to be a very mature and dependable young lady.
The varsity cheerleaders, as reported earlier, are the Finger Lakes East Division II champs, and finished 4th in sectionals. Also, this squad finished 2nd at Victor, 4th at Dansville, and went on to the Greater Rochester competition where they finished 4th. Coach Hovey named Alicia Beckens the Most Improved on this squad. Ashley Barber was given the Captain's award because she really kept things together on this big squad.
There were two Coach's Awards for this group. One went to Amanda Archer, who came back from an injury to accomplish a lot, and the other went to Kara Morrell, a "new flyer" who really added to her skills repertoire this year. It was also announced that Ashley Barber will cheer at the Exceptional Seniors' game on March 16 at the Chiropractic College.
Coach Johnson praised the jv girls for their 14-6 season, pointing out that the team won the Tip Off Tournament at home, and then went to the Geneva Christmas Tournament and won that also. They finished 2nd in the league. She named Meredith Burns the Defensive Player for her constant hustle that caused a lot of turnovers. Shannon Sweeney was named the Offensive Player as she had the highest point average. Her Coach's Award went to Laura Hopkins, completely dependable and never complaining.
Coach Wilbur pointed out the varsity girls won 10 games for the 4th season in a row, finishing 2nd in the league to Waterloo (who as of this writing is still pursuing drams of a state championship). He recognized his assistant coaches, Nate Rich on offense and Amy Kierst on defense, and gave manager Sydney Forshay a ball autographed by all the players and coaches connected with the team.
Hollie Rinaldo with an average of 10 rebounds per game was named the Defensive Player of the Year. Hollie, Alex Oaks, and Liz Donk were honorable mention players in the all-league selection. Alex took 12 charges for the season and shot 45% from the floor. Liz was the team's steals and assists leader. Stephanie Groff was given the Gatorade "Will to Win" Award - this girl has been hustling since she entered the program. Katie Litts was recognized for her steady dependability.
The "Rookie of the Year" was Marissa Bunce who led the league with 35 three-pointers and was named to the 2nd team of league all-stars. Whitney Dixon was a unanimous 1st team all-star selection. Our points leader, she was the Offensive Player of the Year and the Gatorade "Player of the Year." Sarah Sweeney, who had 30 treys for the season, will play in the Exceptional Seniors Game March 22.
The freshmen boys won only 3 games but the boys continued to improve both their basketball skills and their character, according to Coach Stewart. They were a close-knit group of 8, sometimes only 7, players. Zach Hicks, who had more than one game in the 20 points vicinity, was the Offensive Player of the Year. Jared Schoonerman, who learned to rebound effectively while staying out of foul trouble, was the Defensive Player of the Year. One Coach's Award went to Kyle Tillman, who did an excellent job as captain. The other went to Josh DeBoover, who led the team in assists, and was 2nd in rebounds and points. David Rivera was the Bench Player of the Year. A reliable point guard or shooting guard, some afternoons he was absolutely in the zone from 3 point land. Colin Hotchkiss was named the Most Improved.
The jv boys, under the direction of Coach Young, put together a 7-7 league record (11-8 overall), which was good enough for the Finger Lakes East Division II championship despite injuries and the flu which affected virtually all the players at some point. Clay Hemminger, strong on the boards, was named the Defensive Player of the Year. The Coach's Award went to Neil Scheible, who wore a leg brace the entire season to protect his ACL and never complained. Point guard Ben Sheppard led the team in scoring, averaging 17.7 points per game. He also averaged 5 assists and 2 steals per game, shot 50% from the floor and 40% from behind the 3 point line. Obviously he was the Offensive Player of the Year for this team.
The varsity boys started the season 3-0, including winning the Livonia Tournament, and finished the season with a 3-1 streak. Coach Panek said the Attica coach told him (after we lost the sectional game to them) that his team had never played that well before. The Most Improved player on this team was Zach Marion, who had 50 steals, 69 assists and was a real floor leader. One Offensive Player of the Year was point guard Tim Jopson, who had 71 assists and was named to the 3rd team of league all-stars.
The other Offensive Player was Caleb Frederick, who was name to the 2nd team of league all-stars. He averaged 13.6 points per game, led the team in rebounds and blocked shots and was 2nd in free throws at 85%.
Andrew Flood was the recipient of the Coach's award and described as a "great captain and a great person." Two were chosen to play in the Exceptional Seniors game on March 16. Doug VanderBrook, an honorable mention all-star, was 2nd in rebounding and blocked shots and will play. Kevin Lowry, recovering from shoulder surgery, will not be able to play. A 3rd team all-star and MVP of the Livonia Tournament, he shot 92.6% from the free throw line, hit 41 treys over the season, and had a career high 31 points at Pal-Mac.
The modified teams celebrated the end of their basketball seasons with a dessert party last Wednesday evening. Coach Hovey stood in for Coach Russo, who was at a graduate course. She read the speech Coach Russo had prepared, handed out the certificates and announced two opportunities for improving cheerleading skills - a day camp at Midlakes in July for middle schoolers and younger and the high school cheerleading camp August 5-7 at the Chiropractic College to which the 8th graders were invited. (If your child doesn't have the information call the school.)
Coach Wescott, who worked with the 7th grade girls, reminded the crowd that the goals of the modified program are for the participants to have fun, improve their individual skills, and improve as a team every game. She also mentioned a girls' day camp for basketball that will be held at Midlakes July 17-21, 9am-5pm. After handing out the certificates, she told about a basket she felt should have been worth 15 points - Kelsey Knitter scored from next to the team bench but only got the usual 2 points for it.
Coach Czerkas brushed off the 3-10 record of the 8th grade boys, pointing out that most of the losses were by fewer than 10 points. He then handed out the certificates, and the boys gave him a referee's shirt they had all signed.
Coach Czerkas also coached the 8th grade girls and mentioned how nice it was to see that Midlakes had the height advantage in many games - a rarity. Again he brushed over the losing record, pointing out the closeness of many of them. The highlight was a win over Mynderse, put together in the second half after being down by 15 at halftime. He also joked about the fact that 5 of 14 of the girls had names beginning with K, complicating the fact that he has trouble with names. After he handed out the certificates the girls gave him a shirt that poked fun at his difficulty.
The 7th grade boys, with Coach Meyer at the helm, enjoyed a 9-4 season because they employed a strong defense despite being shorter than every other team except Mynderse. Coach Meyer, who often has written a poem about his players, this time chose to hand out a specially named award to each of the players.
Alex Zehr received the Osama Bin Laden award for mastering the deceptive back cut. D.J. Thompson, described as someone you'd be willing to go to war with, received the Marine Corps award. Chris Roll was named Jack the Ripper because he would foul anyone rather than let them have an easy shot. The shortest man on the team, Teddy Oaks, received the David and Goliath award because that's what his match-ups often appeared to be.
Ben Landschoot, who missed a high five with a teammate and accidentally hit the coach in the back, got the Mike Tyson award. John Hicks received the mason's award because his effort and dedication would probably have him running through brick walls before his career is over. Jordan Filiatreau, considered the one most likely to be a coach in adulthood, received the Jim Boeheim award. Matt DeHond played with a dogged intensity that earned him the rabid dog award.
Kyle Consolie, who played with a sore neck, received the purple heart award. Dom Beniamino, good at scoring " touchdowns" in practice drills, received the Vince Lombardi award. The ice cream award went to the smooth moving Aaron Burnett. The Mr. Meyer award went to Nick Judge, best at reproducing the coach's scary competitive look.
It isn't a sport but it certainly requires athletic strength and stamina to take part in the Midlakes Theater shows, and this year is no exception. Seussical is incredible, and exhausting. It's still on this weekend and is a "don't miss."
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