Boys BBall: Bronson takes down Concord; Union City races past Springport; Tekonsha falls to Camden
CONCORD, MI. — In what could be considered a bit of a minor upset the Bronson Vikings took the long trip to face the first place Concord Yellow Jackets in a night of Big 8 conference hoops and it was the Vikings coming home with the win. Bronson controlled nearly every aspect of the game and held off a late Concord charge to take home a huge 50-45 victory.
When Bronson appears to be hitting their shots they are as dangerous as any team in the state and that was Friday night right from the start for Bronson as the Vikings outscored Concord 17-11 in the first quarter. The Vikings extended their lead with an 18-10 second quarter advantage, pushing their lead to 35-21 at the half.
Concord started their comeback in the third quarter, outscoring Bronson 13-7, closing to within 42-34 with one quarter left to go. Concord fought to the end, outscoring Bronson 10-8 in the fourth quarter but it just wasn’t enough as the Vikings took home the huge conference win 50-45.
Bronson was led on the night by three players in double figures, paced by big man Saylor Wotta with a career high 17 points. Also hitting double digits was sophomore big man Boston Bucklin with 10 points while sophomore guard Kam Brackett scored 13 points. Also adding to the Viking effort was Aden Hathaway with eight points and Ashton Wells with two points.
Concord was led on the night by Mekhi Wingfield with 19 points, all of which came in the second half.
With the loss the Concord Yellow Jackets fall to 10-5 overall and suffer their first Big 8 loss, now sitting at 7-1, tied for first place with the Jonesville Comets.
With the win the Bronson Vikings improve to 7-8 overall on the year and 4-4 in the Big 8 conference. Bronson will next see action Tuesday when they host the Jonesville Comets.
Union City takes down Springport on Team of Fame night
UNION CITY, MI. — On a night set aside to remember one of the best basketball teams that Union City has ever seen, the most recent installment of the team sent the crowd home happy, defeating the visiting Springport Spartans for a 45-32 win.
The Charger faithful honored the 1975-76 Union City boys basketball team as their latest Team of Fame in a ceremony before the game. Once the game started it was slow going at first but eventually the Chargers took control to take the win.
“We played some really good defense tonight,” said Union City head coach Ben Chard. “We controlled the tempo of the game and came out on top because of it.”
The game stood tied at 7-7 after one, with the Chargers taking control of the game after a 14-6 second quarter, pushing their lead to 21-13 at the half.
Union City never really looked back, outscoring Springport 17-10 in the third quarter, building a 38-23 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Springport won the fourth quarter 9-7 but it was far too little too late as the Chargers took the 45-32 win.
In all eight different Chargers scored on the night, led by Jeremy Zehr with 11 points and Landon Galvin with 10 points. Also adding to the Union City effort was Phoenix Elkins with six points; Rick Austin with five points; Eli Payne with four points; Alex Hull with four points; Aidan Decker with four points; and Riley Laird with one point.
Leading the Springport effort was Carter Cole with 12 points.
With the loss the Spartans fall to 1-13 overall on the year while Union City improves to 6-9 overall on the season.
“Starting through the league a second time, teams always get better and that certainly was the case for Springport,” said Chard. “However, we are getting better as well, our youngsters are gaining confidence and our seniors are continuing to lead by example. I am very proud to coach this team, a great group of young men.”
Union City will next see action Tuesday when they travel to Quincy for a key Big 8 battle.
Big fourth quarter surge pushes Camden past Tekonsha
TEKONSHA, MI. — The Tekonsha Indians fell to Camden Frontier Friday night by the score of 55-45.
The difference in the game came in the fourth quarter as it was Camden outscoring Tekonsha 20-12 to put a very close game on ice.
The two teams were tied at 11-11 after one quarter, with Tekonsha holding a slim 24-21 lead a the half. Camden came back to lead 35-33 after three quarters before putting the game away in the fourth quarter, thanks in large part to their free throw shooting which included a 12 for 14 effort in the fourth quarter alone.
Camden also had a big advantage in the rebounding department, out rebounding Tekonsha 33-21 with 23 second chance points scored.
Tekonsha had two players reach double figures, led by Jake Boring who recorded a big double-double, scoring 16 points to go along with 12 rebounds.
Senior guard Isaac Henry also stuffed the stat box in the tough loss, scoring 13 points to go along with eight assists and four steals.
Also adding to the Tekonsha effort was Blake Griffith with eight points and three assists; Wyatt Blashfield with six points; and Claude Wart with two points and three assists.
Pacing the Camden Frontier effort was Beau Groves with 12 points, Ethan Wickham with 11 points, and Wade Brown with 10 points. Brown was clutch from the free throw line late, hitting on 6 of 6 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter.
With the loss the Tekonsha Indians fall to 6-6 overall on the season and 4-5 in the SCAA. Tekonsha will next see action Wednesday when they travel to Colon.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Boys BBall: Bronson takes down Concord; Union City races past Springport; Tekonsha falls to Camden
