THE HASTINGS
Thursday, February 3, 2022Trojan girls have best ski
result yet at Bittersweet
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Powered by a few blistering runs in the
giant slalom, the Plainwell/Thornapple
Kellogg varsity girls’ ski team had its bester
ever finish at a Southwest Michigan Ski
Conference race Wednesday at Bittersweet.
The Trojan Ski girls were second to
league leading Portage in the GS and a
fourth-place point total in the slalom was
good enough to get the Trojans into the run-
ner-up spot for the day.
Lucy VanDemark and Madison Nagel
led the way for the Trojans in the GS. Van-
Demark was the runner-up in the event
with runs of 27.60 seconds and 27.71.
Nagle flew down the hill with times of
29.31 and 28.49 to place seventh – her best
GS performance yet.
The Trojan Ski coaching staff, which
includes head coach Stephanie Larson as
well as assistants Douglas Nagel, Chris
Geilinki and Keith Bacon, shared that they
have been very impressed with the hard
work in practice from both the boys’ and
girls’ teams in recent weeks.
The meet marked the first time the Tro-
jan Ski girls have finished better than
Caledonia or the Mattawan/Paw Paw team
at a conference meet. They didn’t best
them by much.
Portage won for the third time in three
conference meets by finishing Wednesday
with 71 points, ahead of Plainwell/TK 110,
Caledonia 111, Mattawan/PP 113, Hackett/
Vicksburg 128, Kalamazoo United 131,
Hudsonville 218 and South Haven 296.
The conference was set to get together
again last night, Feb. 2, at Timber Ridge
Ski Area.
In the GS at Bittersweet, the Trojan girls
also had Ella Way 21st with runs of 33.
and 33.30 and Abigail Warnez with runs of
33.49 and 33.86.
In the slalom, the Plainwell/TK girls
were fourth as a team. VanDemark was
third with runs of 38.07 and 35.19 on the
bitterly cold evening. Nagel was 11th with
runs of 40.77 and 39.70. Warnez placed
21st in the slalom and Sarah Russell was
23rd – just ahead of teammates Anna Davis
and Way.
Coach Nagel shared, “as the Trojan Ski
team matures, there is more and more com-
petition for varsity spots on both the boys’
and girls squads. This continues to push
our skiers and is making us more and more
competitive as a team and most important-
ly, really excited about our future.”
The Trojans were pleased with the boys’
performance too, especially considering
the team was without one of its top racers
Liam Troutner.
While the Trojan girls were exceptionally
strong in the GS Wednesday, Caledonia
head coach Duane Petrosky was especially
pleased with his girls’ performance in the
slalom. The Scots were second to Portage in
that event – with both Caledonia and Mat-
tawan/PP scoring 57 points in the slalom
behind Portage’s 32.
Barbie DeGood paced the Scots in the
slalom with runs of 38.54 seconds and38.83 which put her in eighth place indi-
vidually.
“My girls really excelled in slalom
tonight,” Petrosky said. “Barbie DeGood
led the way for us, she has been Ms. Con-
sistent this season and she is a great exam-
ple for our younger skiers. She pushes her
self in practice and also pushes her team
mates to be their best too.”
Caledonia also had Kyleigh Thompson
15th in the slalom, Mya Baldwin 16th and
Evie Schlett 18th.
In the GS, the Scots had Barbie DeGood
11 th, Schlett 12th, Baldwin 15th and
Thompson 16th.
Mattawan/PP’s Anna Roethlisberger
was the champion in both races. She had
runs of 27.25 and 27.17 to win the GS and
runs of 35.81 and 35.15 to win the slalom.
“Kyleigh Thompson and Mya Baldwin
both stepped up tonight, these two sopho-
mores have been increasing in speed every
race and are a big key to our team’s suc-
cess,” Petrosky said.
The Mattawan/Paw Paw boys won on
Wednesday with 44.5 points, ahead of
Caledonia 64.5, Portage 116, Hudsonville
135, Plainwell/TK 183, South Haven 219,
Hackett/Vicksburg 223 and Kalamazoo
United 226. Mattawan/PP, Caledonia and
Portage have gone 1-2-3 at all three confer-
ence races so far this season.
“We really skied well again tonight, but
just could not get enough extra speed to
get past Mattawan/Paw Paw,” Petrosky
said. “Our guys really knocked down
some great runs at this meet and I am
proud of their efforts on an extremely cold
night. Ben DeGood and Tyler Dean traded
off leading the team in each event and the
rest of our starters chipped in to help when
a team mate had a rough run. Our team is
so balanced that if we drop a skier due to
a DQ or DNF our next guy is there with a
very similar time – the Caledonia Clump
as we call it pushes our opponents back in
the overall helping keep our score low.
“Our challenge is that Mattawan is grab-
bing enough of the top placements we are
not blocking them out like in the past.”
Ben DeGood tied for fourth in the GS
and placed sixth in the slalom for the Scots.
Tyler Dean was fourth in the slalom and
ninth in the GS. The Scots also had Tyler
Roy sixth in the GS, Mason Peters tenth in
the GS, Brayden Smith 12th in the slalom
and Sean Rice 13th in the slalom.
Dillon Vliestra led the Trojan boys’ team
with an eighth-place slalom finish and a
12th-place time in the GS. The Trojan team
also had Travis Barton 25th in the slalom
and 23rd in the GS. Colin Gritter was 31st in
the slalom and 27th in the GS. Matteo Gar-
barino scored with a 22nd-place GS time
and Elijah Korrek was 35th in the slalom.
Portage’s Daniel Grile was the individ-
ual champ in the GS with runs of 25.
and 26.45 and Hudsonville’s Treyton Har-
rell scored the runner-up position with
times of 26.51 and 26.43. Ian Bradley
from Mattawan/PP took the slalom title
for the day with runs of 34.73 and 35.01.
Grile was the slalom runner-up.Cedar Springs cheers to pair of
wins over Thornapple Kellogg
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
The Trojans have a challenger.
The Thornapple Kellogg varsity competi-
tive cheer team was bested for the first time
this season when it hosted the second OK
Gold Conference jamboree of the season on
the mats in Middleville Thursday.
Cedar Springs was a little over eight points
better than the TK ladies in round two and
then edged the Trojans in round three to ulti-
mately finish a little over eight points ahead
in first place. Cedar Springs also edged the
Trojans for the top spot Saturday, by about a
point and a half, at the LMCCOA Scholar-
ship Invitational hosted by Byron Center
High School.
The Red Hawks finished the day Thursday
with 755.08 points, besting TK at 747.00,
Forest Hills Eastern 658.30, Wayland 594.50,
Catholic Central 571.70 and Kenowa Hills
380.36.
The TK girls had the best round one score
at 229.70, then added a 209.60 in round two
and 307.70 in round three.
Cedar Springs was a little more than a
point behind the Trojans following round one
after opening the day with a score of 228.40.
The Red Hawks added 217.78 points in round
two and 308.90 in round three.The Trojans and Red Hawks were both
about 60 points ahead of the nearest compet-
itors heading into round three.
TK and Cedar Springs are now tied atop
the conference standings.
The conference was set to get together
again for its third and final jamboree Wednes-
day, Feb. 2, at Wayland Union High School.
Cedar Springs won Saturday with a total of
723.64 points. TK put together a three-round
score of 722.18 at Byron Center. Mason was
third with 711.24 points, ahead of Byron
Center 705.94 and Reeths-Puffer 702.14 in
the top five.
A ten-point deduction in round two hurt the
Trojans’ final total. TK nearly passed the Red
Hawks with their round three performance
which scored 303.90 points. TK was the only
one of the 16 Division 2 teams competing
Saturday to score more than 300 points in
round three. Cedar Springs put up a round
three tally of 285.20.
TK also had scores of 221.70 in round one
and 196.58 in round two. Cedar Springs had
a score of 224.00 in round one and 214.44 in
round two.
TK had the top round three score of the
day; Cedar Springs had the top round two
score; and Reeths-Puffer had the top round
one score at 224.10.Marshall ekes out win over Saxon girls
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
The Saxons had second place in their
sights and now they’re looking up at the Red-
hawks.
Marshall’s varsity girls’ basketball team
went on a 10-0 run during a two-minute span
early in the fourth quarter to wipe away an
eight-point Saxon lead and went on to an
eight-point win of its own, 49-41, at Hastings
High School in Interstate-8 Athletic Confer-
ence action Friday night.
Marshall moves to 6-2 in the conference
with its second victory of the season over the
Saxons. Hastings is now in a three-way tie for
third in the conference standings with North-
west and Coldwater at 5-3. Everyone is still
chasing the Parma Western girls who are 8-
in the conference and 12-1 overall.
The lead swung back and forth Friday. The
Redhawks held a 13-7 advantage at the end of
the first quarter. That was the biggest lead of
the night for either team until the Saxons
pushed in front 31-23 in the opening seconds
of the fourth quarter when Brianna Barnes
attacked the basket for two of her five points.
Barnes was one of five Saxons with five
points or more. Junior guard Macy Winegar
led her team with 16 points. She buried four
three-pointers in the ballgame. Senior center
Madison Pettengill came off the bench to
score nine points for the Saxons.
Pettengill’s contributions in the paint were
big for the Saxons against the guard-heavy
rotation of the Redhawks and teammate Bai-
ley Cook’s foul trouble which lasted from the
first minute of the ballgame until she picked
up her fifth foul with a little over two minutes
to play in the ballgame.
Pettengill scored six points in the first two
minutes of the second half as the Saxons
pushed a 16-14 halftime lead to 22-17. Her
presence forced Marshall to bring some size
off the bench to try and slow her down.
It was a great third quarter for the Saxons.
They closed the period on a 6-0 run to go into
the fourth quarter up 29-23. A Winegar triple
off an assist from Barnes sparked that surge.
“We were prepared,” Hastings head coach
Chase Youngs said of the defensive effort that
held Marshall to 17 points in the first half.
“We switched up and ran a match-up zone that
they hadn’t seen. That was the first time we
ran it. Our communication was better, and our
movement was better, and just being aware of
the moment and what they were trying to do.”
After Barnes’ quick bucket to start the
fourth quarter, the Marshall defense turned up
the pressure. The Saxons had some struggles
with the full-court press and found it hard to
get in a flow offensively when they did get
into the front court.
Coach Youngs said his girls saw a little
pressure from Marshall in their first meeting
this season, and prepped for more in the prac-
tices leading up to the contest. He said he stillfelt like it caught his girls off guard a bit.
Marshall had a huge night at the free throw
line knocking down 21-of-27 attempts. The
Redhawks began cutting into the Saxon eight-
point lead at the start of the fourth quarter by
knocking down six straight foul shots. A steal
and a bucket by senior guard Mallory Tucker
finished completely wiping away the Saxon
lead – tying the ballgame at 31-31.
Moments later, a couple of offensive
rebounds led to a put back bucket for the
Redhawks’ Brooke Waito that put her team in
front 35-33 and Marshall led throughout the
entire final four and a half minutes.
Winegar tried to play hero while battling a
calf cramp, knocking down a pair of contest-
ed three pointers in the final two minutes, but
the Redhawks kept knocking down foul shots
to extend their lead.
Brooke Waito led Marshall with 15 points
in the end. She was 8-of-9 at the free throw
line. Marshall also got 11 points from Addi-
son Waito and ten from Tucker.
Brooklynn Youngs and Carly Warner fin-
ished with five points apiece for the Saxons.
Coach Youngs noted that Brooklynn Youngs
and Winegar appeared to be the focal points of
the Redhawk defense, unsurprisingly, and
made it difficult for them to get off many clean
looks at the basket. Even Winegar’s triples
were mostly deep, contested attempts.
Hastings is back at it in the I-8 Friday (Feb.
4) at Coldwater.Hastings senior center Madison Pettengill fires up a shot
between Marshall defenders Mallory Tucker (right) and Kylie
Brown during the first half Friday night at Hastings High School.Hastings senior Carly Warner works against pressure from Marshall's Sydney Feasel just over halfcourt during the second half
Friday night at Hastings High School. (Photo by Brett Bremer)
Hastings senior Bailey Lewis works the offensive progressions
from the top of the key during her team's I-8 loss to visiting Marshall
Friday night. (Photo by Brett Bremer)