High School Notebook: Road to state finals in soccer starts this week with districts
Win or go home. It is getting to be that part of the season for the high school boys soccer programs in the area.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association soccer postseason begins Wednesday with the start of district play.
In the area, Gull Lake is ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 2 and will be looking for a long run. All-City champ Lakeview is among the city teams hoping for some success in district play and looking for a taste of the regionals this season.
In Division 1, Lakeview will open the tournament 6 p.m. on Wednesday with a first-round district contest against host Loy Norrix. Battle Creek Central is in the same district and will host Portage Northern on Wednesday as well.
The top-ranked Blue Devils get a bye in the first round in Division 2 and will wait for the winner of a Wednesday Harper Creek vs. Thornapple Kellogg opening round game, set for 7 p.m. at Middleville Thornapple Kellogg High School. Marshall is in the other side of the bracket there and will open against Charlotte.
In Division 3, Pennfield will wait until Thursday to face Williamston in a district opener at Eaton Rapids with the winner taking on Lake Odessa Lakewood in the semifinals. Olivet is in the other half of the bracket and will see host Eaton Rapids.
The St. Philip/Calhoun Christian co-op and Battle Creek Academy are both in a Division 4 district at Kalamazoo Christian. St. Philip/Calhoun Christian will play Comstock in the first round at 5p.m. Thursday and Battle Creek Academy will face Bellevue at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
CROSS COUNTRY
The Lakeview boys won the Calhoun County Cross Country Championships on Saturday, led by first-place finisher Aiden Moore in 15:56. The Spartans had 32 team points, followed by Harper Creek, Marshall and St. Philip.
Lakeview had four runners in the top 10, with Zach Piercy taking fifth, Jonah Bills in sixth and Parker Miller ninth.
Harper Creek had a duo in the top five with runner-up Dominic Lowrie leading the way as the sophomore finished in 16:20, with William O'Dell third for the Beavers. Marsall's Jack Bidwell was fourth and St. Philip's Luke Sprague was seventh.
In the girls race, Lakeview also took first with a team score of 28 as the Spartans grouped three runners in the top five, led by second-place finisher Lila Mae Frank, Alyssa Hinton in third and Paige Ratliff in fourth.
Camille DeCola of Marshall won the race in 19:18 and Harper Creek's Madison Berning ook fifth.
Volleyball
The two powers in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference matched up in a dual at midweek with Lakeview holding off Gull Lake, 25-21, 25-19, 25-16 to stay undefeated in SMAC East Division play. The Spartans, who are starting to receive votes in the state rankings in Division 1, had a big performance from Anya Rankin, with 15 kills and a .324 hitting percentage. Livi Overbeek and Madie Belmore each added nine kills.
Lakeview finished a strong week by winning the championship at the Mt. Morris Invitational, defeating host Mt. Morris in the gold final, 25-21, 25-21 and is now 31-4 on the year.
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Notebook: Road to state finals in soccer starts this week with districts
