Eagles knock off Port Hope

For those who wondered, I'm still around. Just got back from the Caseville-Port Hope game and it definitely lived up to the hype... if you were an Eagles fan. Caseville handled the Bluestars and beat them 35-20 (I think this is right, I didn't write down the final).
At one point the game was tied 12-12, but Port Hope's shooting went cold, Caseville's team played with reckless abandon and the Bluestars were held scoreless for more than entire quarter.
The win for Caseville puts them back in the NCTL North title picture, at least theoretically. The Eagles are two games back with six games to go and have finished their two game series with Port Hope.
Translation: They will need some help to get even a share of the title and will need to take of their business as well.
The fact that Caseville is still in the title hunt this late in the season is a testament to the coaching of Brian Siegfried and the heart of this team, because they have come a REALLY long way from the beginning of the season when they played North Huron in the opener. They have come together as a team and are having a great season, which Siegfried believes will help attract more players to be part of the program.

Tuesday Night in Photos

Better late than never! As I said things would be a little slower over here, so this is about a day later than usual, but I still think you'll enjoys these.
As for the game itself, I thought that Ubly did a nice job of establishing Shannon Weber in the first half, where she had 17, but didn't do so well with that in the second half (she had just five points). Coach Brent Wehner said there were two factors: Sandusky adjusted defensively, but more importantly his team didn't do a good job of running their offense and didn't get her the ball as much as they should have.
Looking at a positive for Ubly, their early season loss to Lakers really refocused them, so this game may have the same effect. I still predict that the Bearcats will win on the road at Sanduky in the season finale to win the league title.
Pretty bold prediction after the team just lost, but I saw enough to know with a few tweaks, this could still be the team to beat in the East.

Shannon Weber
Alicia Leipprandt

Alicia Leipprandt

Gena Briolat

Gwen Pionk

Lyndsay White

Shannon Weber

Kayla Kubacki

Ask and you shall receive

This picture is from last Thursday, but I got a call from Elayna Wichert's grandma who wanted to see it on the blog. Wichert is the Bad Axe player on the left, EPBP's Stephanie Maxwell is on the right.

Major Announcement...

Just wanted to let everyone I will try to get some pics from friday up some time this weekend. By the way, that wasn't the announcement.
Things may get a little slower around here, as yesterday I was promoted to the position of Interim Editor of all three of our publications. I will be handling all the regular editorial stuff, while maintaining all of my sports duties. I'm going to be spread pretty thin for awhile. Here's hoping we get the approval quickly to hire my replacement in sports.
But one guy who won't be joining my staff is Andrew Seilich, former TCA sports writer, who joined the JRC family recently when he was hired as the spors editor at the (Lapeer) County Press.
Welcome to the company Andrew!
Personally, I'm looking forward to this challenge, one I undertook for four months last year from the summer through part of the fall. I think our news papers will take a better direction and become much more reader friendly and interesting. Only time will tell, but the change should be evident in the next few weeks as I get settled in and the changes get made.

UBLY 45, MARLETTE 35

The Ubly girls sent a message to the rest of the league tonight. The message is... they will be a player in the league title race.
The Lady Bearcats did a nice job on the boards tonight, despite being at a decisive height disadvantage (the Red Raider's had three players who were about the same height as Ubly'stallest player Shannon Weber). The defense stepped up as well, shutting out Marlette for over six minutes in the four quarter to come away with win.
While this is only one game, it does prove that Ubly should be in the conversation with Sandusky and Marlette as legitimate contenders in the GTE. I believe they host the Redskins at home on Tuesday, which will really show where they are at.
All I can say is... beware of the trap game. I know Ubly coach Brent Wehner will have his team ready for Friday's battle with Harbor Beach, but they need to play focused. If they get caught looking ahead... let's just say the Lady Pirates are the type of team that could make them pay.

Shannon Weber gets her shot blocked.

Lyndsay White attacks the basket.

Alicia Leipprandt pulls up for a jumper.

Alicia Leipprandt

Lyndsay White

Gena Briolat

Gwen Pionk

Coach Brent Wehner talks with Kayla Kubacki.

Alicia Leipprandt

Friday night delights

Here are some photos from last night's Owen-Gage/ Port Hope hoops game. The Bulldogs had little trouble with the Bluestars as they won 64-24. It looked like Owen-Gage had the right type of effort heading into a make-up showdown with Norh Huron later this evening, but first year coach Derek Howard wasn't thrilled with how his team performed.

In other games, Sandusky pulled a mild upset and beat Harbor Beach 52-43. I did notice that Alex Talaski was not listed in the scorers I saw on-line, who is one of their most prolific scorers. That would at least partially explain the setback, although the team's top scorer

While today's game would seem like a crucial early season match-up between to rivals, Howard said his team is taking a game at a time and at this point no game will make or break the season.