The Hastings Banner — Thursday, February 8, 2024 — Page 11Vikings work out kinks in last home performance
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
It was successful tune-up for the Lake-
wood varsity competitive cheer team Mon-
day as it opened the week looking forward to
clinching an outright conference title in its
return to the Capital Area Activities Confer-
ence White division.
The Vikings outscored Pennfield, the only
other varsity team on the mats, at their own
Lakewood Valentine’s Cheerfest putting
together an overall score of 762.34.
Lakewood was set to make the trip to
Charlotte Wednesday for the second, and
final, CAAC-White jamboree of the season.
The Vikings won the opening conference
jamboree of the season last month.
Heading into last night’s meet in Charlotte
the Vikings had a string of 14 consecutive
conference championships rolling.
It was a great start with as score of 232.
for the Vikings Monday, they had their best
round two of the season with a score of
221.44 and then closed the night with a 308.
in round three.
“It was probably our best round two, and I
even had a couple girls out there that haven’t
been in that round yet that I just wanted to get
on the mat,” Lakewood head coach Kim Mar-
tin said Monday.
In the last home meet of the season, Martin
really wanted to get senior Makayla McGarry
on the mat. The senior had surgery last sum-
mer and was just recently cleared to start
jumping.
“I wanted her to be able to come out at
her last home meet and be able to compete
in round one. She is in round three anyway,
but I wanted her to be able to compete in
round one.”
McGarry is one of eight seniors on the
Viking roster this winter, joined by all-stater’s
Emily Pilar and Kylie Walkington as well as
Lilly Burgess, Nadia Martin, Karli Hyatt,
Naveah Newton and Kassandra Schlottman.
The team also includes exchange student
Elena Sanchez.
Martin was also happy to get freshman
Lilly Minard her first turns on the mat in a
varsity competition. The additions didn’t
miss a beat.
“This is what you want to be doing at this
point in the season,” Martin said. “We have a
few things that need to be cleaned up in round
two and there were a couple little minor
things in round three, but it was a good meet
heading into league finals and really heading
into districts.
Pennfield had scores of 186 in round one,
161.7 in round two and 219 in round three to
finish at 566.7.
Lakewood will head to Alma for its
MHSAA Division 3 District TournamentFeb. 17. The Vikings are looking to work
their way through the postseason to improve
on their eighth-place finish from the MHSAA
Division 3 Competitive Cheer Finals from
2023.
“We really have a great shot, in all honesty,
we could win a district, fight for a regional
title and we could place fairly well at states if
we get there,” Martin said. “The girls just
need to improve. They just have to fix what
we keep telling them to fix. They just have to
keep fine tuning the details.”
The biggest fix Martin saw from her girls
came in their performance Monday. They
improved their vocals, their facials and their
energy.
“I just told them, we have to go out and
cheer with an attitude. We have to have an
attitude when we got out there. That was what
we kept drilling into them,” Martin said.
The Vikings have one more tune-up for the
postseason traveling to Mason for an invita-
tional Saturday, Feb. 10.NOTICE OF
WORKSHOP
The Barry County Board of Commissioners will
meet as a Committee of the Whole for the purpose
of conducting a Workshop to discuss Solar and
Alternative Energy on Tuesday, February 13, 2024
at 6:00 p.m.
The Workshop will be held in the Hastings Performing
Arts Center, located at the Hastings High School,
520 W South Street, Hastings, MI 49058.
For more information including a copy of the
agenda, visit http://www.barrycounty.org or contact
Barry County Administration at 269.945.1284.
211819NOTICE: SEEKING APPLICATIONS FOR
VOLUNTEERSThe Barry County Board of Commissioners is seeking applications from
volunteers to serve on the following Boards:Barry County Conservation Easement Board – 1 Agricultural Interest –
Partial termCommunity Corrections Advisory Board – 1 Communications Media
Mental Health Authority Board - 1 position for primary consumer and 3
positions, preference with lived experience in mental health diagnosis and/
or substance use disorderPlanning Commission – 2 positions; 1 partial term
Tax Allocation Board – 1 general public position
Zoning Board of Appeals – 1 position
Applications may be obtained at the County Administration Office, 3rd
floor of the Courthouse, 220 W. State St., Hastings; or http://www.barrycounty.
org under the tab: How do I apply for: An Advisory Board or Commission
and click to display the application. Applications must be returned no later
than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, February 12, 2024. Contact 269-945-1284 for
more information.211758Aviators take double-digit win
over Saxons at HHS
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Hastings split with a pair of non-confer-
ence foes to move its overall record to 6-9 in
recent days.
The Saxon varsity boys’ basketball team
took a 55-36 win over Kalamazoo Phoenix
at the Love and Basketball Showcase hosted
by Kalamazoo Loy Norrix Saturday morn-
ing, but West Michigan Aviation Academy
64-48 at Hastings High School Tuesday
night.
Hastings had a 13-12 lead after one quarter
against the Aviators Tuesday, but the Aviators
rallied to take a 25-21 halftime lead and then
opened the second half on a 7-0 run to move
to a double-digit lead.
The Saxons missed their first five shots of
the second half and turned the ball over a
couple times. A transition three-pointer by
senior guard David Jiles finally snapped the
skid and had the Saxons within eight points
three minutes into the second half.
Another three, by senior guard Owen Car-
roll, had the Saxons within 36-29 with a lit-
tle over three minutes to go in the third
quarter, and a triple by junior guard Dre
Mathis cut the Aviator lead to 38-32 as the
clock ticked towards two and a half minutes
left in the third. A Mathis free throw got theSaxons within five soon after.
The burst of hot shooting from the outside
didn’t last though and five points was as close
as the Saxons would get the rest of the night.
The Aviators went into the fourth quarter with
a 43-34 lead and had a double digit lead for
nearly all of the final eight minutes.
The Saxons return to Interstate-8 Athletic
Conference action on the road at Harper
Creek Friday night and then will make up a
ballgame with Jackson Northwest at home
Monday. That ballgame with the Mounties
will be the first of three next week for the
Saxons in they visit Parma Western Feb. 13
and Northwest Feb. 16.Saxon senior David Jiles looks to get the ball out of trouble as a double team from
the West Michigan Aviation Academy closes in during Tuesday night's non-conference
ballgame at Hastings High School. (Photo by Dan Goggins)
Hastings senior Landon Stewart push-
es the pace for the Saxons during their
contest visiting West Michigan Aviation
Tuesday at Hastings High School. (Photo
by Dan Goggins)Lakewood senior flyer Nadia Martin is
held up by her stunt group during round
three Monday at the Vikings' own
Lakewood Valentine's Invitational. (Photo
by Brett Bremer)Lakewood sophomore Taylor Carpenter cheers with her teammates during a successful round one Monday at the Vikings' home
Valentine's Invitational. (Photo by Brett Bremer)
Robinson beats buzzer to get
DK girls a win in Fennville
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Delton Kellogg bounced back from back-
to-back tough defeats to score a 33-31 win
at Fennville Tuesday night in a non-confer-
ence ballgame.
Paytn Robinson beat the buzzer to sink
the game-winning lay-up with no time left
on the clock after pulling in a three-quarters
court pass from teammate Emma Jeanette.
The Panthers got 17 points from Josie Wil-
liams in the victory. Fennville led 31-28 with
40 seconds to go in the ballgame and called a
time-out to set up an out of bounds play.
Mike Mohn said his girls ran it well, open-
ing things up for a three by Williams that tied
the ballgame. The Delton Kellogg defense
got a stop on the Blackhawks’ next posses-
sion, with the Panthers pulling in a defensive
rebound and with 2.7 seconds to go.“The kids were pretty pumped up, which
was great to see,” Mohn said. “Those
types of performances are always fun to be
a part of.”
Mohn added that guard Summer Ritchie
played a great game before fouling out with
about three minutes left.
“Her performance on the bench, cheering
on her teammates, was a big part of the
win,” Mohn said.
Delton Kellogg moves its record to 3-
with the victory. Fennville is also now 3-11.
The Delton Kellogg girls return to South-
western Athletic Conference Central Divi-
sion play at Gobles Friday. The DK girls are
currently 0-6 in the conference. It will be
the first meeting of the season between the
Panthers and Tigers who are 10-4 overall
and 3-3 in the conference.
The DK girls suffered their sixth confer-ence defeat last Friday, Feb. 2, at Holland
Black River as the River Rats took a 41-
win.
The DK girls were on the road Monday
too at Climax-Scotts where the host Pan-
thers took a 55-18 win.
“We were down a couple kids with an
injury and an illness which did not help,”
Mohn said.
The DK girls shot just 11 percent from
the floor while the Climax-Scotts’ girls
were at 42 percent shooting.
Williams was a perfect 8-of-8 from the
free throw line to lead Delton Kellogg with
eight points.
The DK girls follow up the trip to Gobles
with another busy week ahead. They host
Parchment Tuesday and host Battle Creek
Academy Wednesday. Saugatuck comes to
Delton Kellogg Feb. 16.