Redskins cruise to district title

HARBOR BEACH — There are plenty of reasons why Sandusky continues to be the premier girls basketball program in the Thumb area.

The main reason? The Redskins just keep on winning.

Even after enduring a mini slump to close out the regular season, the Greater Thumb East champions made quick work of this entire Class C district, capped by a 48-31 victory over Unionville-Sebewaing Area here Friday night in the tournament finale.

The 20-2 Redskins advance to the Class C regional at Bad Axe where they will take on Saginaw Valley Lutheran — a 75-52 winner over New Lothrop in the finals of the Montrose district.

Here Friday night, the Redskins started strong and never let up. They led 11-6 after one quarter and pushed it out to a 31-11 bulge at the break.

From there, all USA could do was try to chip away at the deficit, but the Patriots could never get into any offensive flow.

“We just struggled scoring,” said USA coach Dave Bitzer. “I thought in the first quarter we did a pretty good job. We did kind of what we wanted to do defensively. The problem was, we didn’t make our shots, so we couldn’t stay with them.”

Sandusky’s Emily Hale made plenty of shots. The 5-foot-9 junior post player stepped out to the perimeter and buried a pair of first-quarter three-pointers en route to a game-high 20 points. Whitney Fox added 12 points, including three triples of her own, while Lauren Krause netted seven.

The Patriots were hindered by their inability to handle the Sandusky press, something Bitzer felt was a key.

“We got away from our strategy on how to break the press, so I had to keep reminding them about that,” he said. “We had too many turnovers because we didn’t do what we wanted to do.”

USA was led by Miranda Fuerst’s eight points while Amanda DeSimpelare and Chelsey Bitzer chipped in seven apiece.

USA finishes the season at 11-10 overall.

“I think, and I think every girl would say the same thing, we were a little bit below our expectations,” Bitzer said. “Coming in, I think we all thought we could come up with a 15-win season. We let some games get away from us, and we didn’t get there.”

USA will lose just three seniors — DeSimpelare, Chelsey Ewald and Macarena Cobian.

Bitzer thinks his returning players, along with several additions from the 16-3 junior varsity team, will help USA climb the Greater Thumb West standings.

“I think we are on our way up,” he said. “We have some really good, young talent. We’re looking forward to the next couple of seasons.”

Class C at Mayville

Brown City 41, Vassar 36

MAYVILLE — Brown City gives the Greater Thumb East two teams at the Bad Axe regional after the Green Devils clipped Vassar.

The Vulcans actually led 18-14 at the half, but Brown City rallied with a 14-8 spurt in the third quarter and a 13-10 run in the final period.

Kari Burton led the winners with 13 points and three assists while Jennifer McClelland added nine points and Alena Sanson eight points.

Lydia Peplinski led the Vulcans with 14 points. 

Brown City will now play Saginaw Nouvel in the regionals. The Panthers earned a 60-18 win over Beaverton in the district finale at Nouvel.

Allison Hoppe snags a rebound for USA.

USA’s Chelsey Ewald drives along the baseline against Sandusky’s Kelsey Stauffer. 

USA’s Ashlyn VanHoost shoots over Sandusky’s Ashli Lanctot (22).

Sandusky's Kellie Ruggles is surrounded by USA's Miranda Fuerst (33) and Sami Eisengruber (31).

Girls Night Out...District finals

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Class C hosted by Harbor Beach

Monday’s Results

Sandusky 41, Harbor Beach 26

EPBP 62, Ubly 34

Cass City 50, Bad Axe 48

Wednesday’s Games

Games at Harbor Beach

Sandusky 37, EPBP 25

USA 45, Cass City 42 OT

Friday’s Result

Sandusky 48, USA 31

Sandusky advances to the Bad Axe regional to take on the Montrose district winner.

Class C hosted by Mayville

Monday’s Results

Vassar 55, Mayville 16

Marlette 70, Dryden 6

Brown City 61, Memphis 48

Wednesday’s Games

Games at Mayville

Vassar 53, Marlette 29

Brown City 74, New Haven 56

Friday’s Result

Brown City 41, Vassar 36 

Brown City advances to the Bad Axe regional to take on the Saginaw Nouvel district winner.

Class D hosted by Port Hope

Monday’s Result

Port Hope 53, Caseville 42 

 Wednesday’s Games

Owen-Gage 49, A-Fairgrove 40

North Huron 39, Port Hope 38

Friday’s Result

Owen-Gage 39, North Huron 37

Owen-Gage advances to the BCAS regional to take on the Saginaw MLS district winner.

Class D hosted by Peck

Monday’s Results

Deckerville 47, Peck 31 

Kimball New Life 46, Kimball Landmark Academy 26

Wednesday’s Games

Deckerville 38, CPS 23

Kingston 51, Kimball New Life 24

Friday’s Result

Deckerville 54, Kingston 34 

Deckerville advances to the BCAS regional to take on the Flint-Michigan School for the Deaf district winner.

SANDUSKY SPOILER - Redskins shock Harbor Beach

POLL QUESTION: If you're Harbor Beach, and you could only win ONE game, which game would you rather win? Last night's game or Monday's rematch with the Redskins in the district opener?

HARBOR BEACH — Winning consecutive league championships isn’t easy.

Just ask Harbor Beach.

With the Pirates having a chance to go back-to-back in the Greater Thumb East, Sandusky answered their plea here Thursday night with an emphatic ‘not so fast.’ Redskin Jordan Coats drained a go-ahead three-pointer with less than 10 seconds to play, lifting his team to a stunning 38-36 victory over the Pirates in the regular season finale.

With Harbor Beach’s loss, Marlette, an easy winner over Mayville on Thursday, claims the outright GTE championship at 8-2. Meanwhile, the Pirates finish 7-3 in the league, and are now wondering how two straight GTE losses to end the season will impact them as they head toward next week’s district tournament.

Ironically, the Pirates host Sandusky again Monday in the district opener.

“It’s like getting your heart ripped out,” said a dejected Harbor Beach coach Ron Wruble. “As poorly as we played, having that happen at the end — it’s like getting your heart ripped out.”

Coats’ game-winning heroics spoiled a valiant effort from the Pirates, who trailed by as many as 10 points late in the third quarter. 

Harbor Beach took its first lead of the second half at 36-35 on a steal, layup and three-point play from Aaron Ginther with 1:32 left.

After a Sandusky turnover, the Pirates had a chance to cushion their lead, but missed two free throws with 26.7 seconds remaining, setting up the Redskins’ game-winner.

Coats, among the area leaders in three-point shooting, took a pass near the top of the key and buried the go-ahead hoop with 8.2 seconds to play.

After a timeout, Harbor Beach had one last chance, but didn’t even get a shot off as time expired.

“I knew we had our hands full tonight, and I am sure our kids were not taking them lightly,” said Wruble, whose team owned a 17-point win over the fourth-place Redskins earlier this season. “They are a good team.

“We were playing defense fairly well, but we just couldn’t get anything going on the offensive end for much of the game. And it cost us.”

Coats led the Redskins with 15 points while Chase Baysdell added 13.

Harbor Beach had Andrew Siemen with 12 points while Eli Kraft notched eight.

Now, the focus shifts to Monday when the Redskins (13-7 overall, 6-4 GTE) make a return trip to the Harbor Beach (14-5) gym to take on the Pirates in the Class C district quarterfinals.

“It doesn’t matter who we have Monday, my biggest concern is the emotional toll our kids are going to feel,” Wruble said. “This one was tough. We’re going to find out how resilient we are. We have a few days to heal up, I guess. 

“I always tell them that athletic competition doesn’t necessarily build character, it shows it. We will see how they respond come Monday.”

Sandusky led 8-6 after one quarter and 21-16 at the break. The Redskins led by as many as 10 points with 2:07 left in the third period, settling for a 30-22 edge heading to the final eight minutes.

Sandusky’s Chase Baysdell drives around Harbor Beach’s Scott Grekowicz in the second half.

Harbor Beach’s Sean Sorenson goes up for a shot while Sandusky’s Jordan Coats (15) defends. 

Regular Season finales

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

BOYS GAMES

Bad Axe 77, Cass City 73

Reese 58, EPBP 33 

Vassar 54, BCAS 51

USA 70, Essexville-Garber 49

Marlette 62, Mayville 18

Sandusky 38, Harbor Beach 36

Ubly 82, CPS 66 

Peck 52, Owen-Gage 18

North Huron 52, Deckerville 46 

A-Fairgrove 73, Dearborn Advance Tech 63

Caseville's Smith on 'The Big Show'

Adams wrote this story for Wednesday's Tribune...
Congrats to Aaron Smith from Caseville.

GRAND RAPIDS — The power of the social media is not to be underestimated.

Because of Facebook, local sports fan, Aaron Smith of Caseville, recently got to experience something few get the chance to.

Smith participated in and won “Huge Show Friday,” resulting in him being able to co-host “The Huge Show,” a statewide sports talk radio show hosted by Bill Simonson. It’s something Simonson does four times a year for his listeners.

The rules of the contest were simple: The person that got the most people to “like” The Huge Show’s Facebook fan page would get the opportunity to be in the studio with Simonson.

Smith, along with Shae Brophy, were the lucky winners of the contest and were on the airwaves last Friday. The duo also received tickets to a Grand Rapids Griffins game and to Sunday’s Purdue at Michigan State contest.

“When I found out that I won, I had no idea what to expect,” said Smith.  “The only for sure thing was I knew I had a four hour drive to Grand Rapids ahead of me. I never thought I would be on for the whole three hour show. I thought maybe an hour at the most.”

“The Huge Show” is one of the highest rated sports shows in Michigan, but Smith said he wasn’t nervous about doing live radio.

“I did not find it intimidating at all,” he said. “I do a lot of public speaking and all I was doing was sitting in a room talking sports with two other guys. The only thing different was that there is a microphone you’re talking into. I never once thought about the thousands of people that were listening to me.”

Added Simonson: “Aaron was fantastic on air. His passion and knowledge made me proud to have a listener like him in my studio.”

While on the air, Simonson took some jabs at Caseville for being a small town, but Smith took it all in stride. 

Simonson also mentioned how Smith’s grandfather, Mike Power, was along for the experience. 

“The most memorable part of doing this for me, believe it or not, was to see how much fun my grandpa was having sitting in the control room listening to the show,” Smith said. “I would constantly look through the glass and see him smiling just as much as I was.”

Although he’s not even 20 yet, Smith has had his fair share of sports experiences.

He worked with the Detroit Shock for three years, but said Friday’s experience ranks right near the top of the list for him.

“I have been fortunate to do a lot of things in my 19-year life,” he said. “As I mentioned on the show, this is right toward the top of my list.  Not many people get an opportunity to host a radio show that thousands of people across the state listen to each and every day.”

Smith hopes his appearance on “The Huge Show” could possibly serve as a springboard to other opportunities in sports.

“I have always wanted to go into sports for as long as I can remember,” he said. “My dream job would be to coach Division I men’s college basketball. A lot of people have told me over the past few years that I would make a great announcer.

“This experience definitely opened my mind to possibly going into the broadcasting field. One of the neat things about this experience is that I was able to experience the radio business firsthand.”

Smith is also drawing inspiration from another Thumb native, Heidi Androl, who now covers professional sports in Los Angeles. 

Androl’s story recently appeared in the Huron Daily Tribune.

“I carry around the article that Mike Bogan wrote in the Huron Daily Tribune a few weeks ago about Heidi Androl,” he said. “In the article she states, ‘I would encourage them (young people of Huron County) to embrace all opportunities with open arms and not be afraid to fail.’ That is exactly what I did. I saw a great opportunity and made the most of it.”

Simonson takes pride in helping his followers take a chance to pursue their goals.

“I think it is my obligation to give others a chance to chase their dreams in radio like I did when I was 19,” he said. 

Leading up to and since the appearance, Smith’s Facebook page has seen a lot of traffic of its own.

“I would like to thank all of my friends, family, and everyone else that helped me win this contest,” he said. “I would like to send a special thanks to Bill Simonson, Brett Muller, and everyone at The Huge Show.” 

Caseville’s Aaron Smith (left) poses with “The Huge Show” host Bill Simonson on Friday. Smith won a Facebook contest and joined Simonson as a co-host.  

Red Hawks outlast Hatchets

CASS CITY — After losing to Bad Axe in the last two district tournaments, Cass City decided to return the favor here Monday night.

The Red Hawks started strong, muddled in the middle, and flourished at the finish of an exciting 50-48 victory over the Hatchets in the opening round of the Class C girls basketball district tournament.

McKensie Parrish’s layup with 20 seconds to play was the difference for the Red Hawks, who then had to dodge Bad Axe’s final shot, which hit the rim and bounded away as time expired.

“It’s tournament time, that’s kind of what you expect,” said Cass City coach Lloyd Schinnerer. “It was two teams who wanted to win and wanted to play another night.”

In 2010, Bad Axe picked up a 37-30 win over the Red Hawks in the districts. In 2009, the Hatchets rallied for a 40-38 victory.

It didn’t happen this season.

“We couldn’t get a key stop or a key rebound at the end,” said Bad Axe coach Bob Breault. “That’s kind of been our story the whole year. We just couldn’t get the one or two key plays when we needed them.”

Cass City’s Logan Rowell certainly made several key plays for her team, pouring in a  season-high 27 points.  She added seven rebounds, five blocks, and the assist on the game-winning play. Parrish notched 12 points while freshman Shania Chambers came off the bench and buried a pair of important three-pointers en route to tying her season-high with eight points.

The Red Hawks finished the game on an 8-3 spurt over the final 3:25. 

With it tied at 48 with 1:20 to play, Rowell came up with a steal, setting up the game-winning shot. After a timeout, the Red Hawks got the ball at the free throw line to Rowell, who hit a back-cutting Parrish with a nice pass resulting in an easy layup.

“To be honest, I think we ran that the first play of the game and we didn’t execute it at all, so... We’ll take it,” Schinnerer said. 

The Hatchets still had time for a game-saver of their own. After a timeout with 9.6 seconds left, Bad Axe got the ball up the court with a long pass to its best shooter, Justine Morneau, whose 19-footer just missed as the horn sounded.

“The last shot was a good shot,” Breault said. “We switched up the inbounds play a bit, and we got it up the court and into the hands of our best shooter. It just didn’t go in. What can you do?”

Added Schinnerer: “I liked their play at the end. They drew it up very nicely, they executed, and they got a pretty nice shot up. It just didn’t go.”

For the Hatchets, Taylor Breault had 12 points and 11 rebounds while Morneau chipped in 11 points and six assists.

Bad Axe trailed by 12 points at the half, and by five after three quarters. Each time, the Hatchets came back to take the lead, but couldn’t hold it.

“We got down and we battled back, so that was nice to see,” Breault said. “We got a lot of contributions from everyone in their own way.”

Tori Orban, Rachel Breault and Alyssa Kociba netted six points each for Bad Axe while Shelby Fligger added five.

“Bad Axe played well,” Schinnerer said. “They had kids step up and hit some shots for them.” 

The Hatchets finish 6-14 overall, but Breault sees a bright future.

“I think we’re moving in the right direction,” he said. “I think we are farther ahead than the wins and losses indicate, but I know everyone looks at that. 

“The way we battled tonight shows the kind of players we have. We have some good players coming up and down through the program. We’ll miss our seniors, but we have some other people who can step in. 

“I would have hoped for more as far as wins, but I think we’re going in the right direction and we might surprise some people next year.”

As for the 9-11 Red Hawks, they will move on to Wednesday’s district semifinal against 10-9 Unionville-Sebewaing Area. Cass City owns a 43-39 victory over the Patriots in the teams’ only meeting this season.

“It will be a good game,” Schinnerer said. “I am hoping we can play well. They play hard and they play aggressive. I think it might be a similar game like tonight.”

The Red Hawks were red-hot in the opening quarter, flying out to a 24-12 lead. Bad Axe, though, kept its composure and rallied, using a Morneau three-pointer with two seconds left to take a 30-28 edge at the half.

“We scored 24 points in that first quarter, and it seemed to me like we should have been ahead by 15 or 20,” Schinnerer said. “But you look and we’re only up 12, and the next thing you know we’re down at halftime.

“The way we shot in the first quarter wasn’t going to happen the whole game.”

Bad Axe’s Taylor Breault goes up for two points against Cass City’s Logan Rowell in the second half Monday night.

Bad Axe’s Rachel Breault is surrounded by Red Hawks, including Amanda Clifton (14) and Carley Hendrick (32).

Bad Axe’s Amanda Hind (40) and Cass City’s Megan Parrish (2) battle for a rebound in the paint Monday night.

Cass City’s Logan Rowell goes up for two of her 27 points for the Red Hawks against Bad Axe’s Rachel Breault. 

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Class C hosted by Harbor Beach

Monday’s Results

Sandusky 41, Harbor Beach 26

EPBP 62, Ubly 34

Cass City 50, Bad Axe 48

Wednesday’s Games

Games at Harbor Beach

Sandusky vs. EPBP, 6 p.m.

USA vs. Bad Axe, 7:45 p.m.

Friday’s Game

Championship, 7 p.m.

Winner advances to the Bad Axe regional to take on the Montrose district winner.

Class C hosted by Mayville

Monday’s Results

Vassar 55, Mayville 16

Marlette 70, Dryden 6

Brown City 61, Memphis 48

Wednesday’s Games

Games at Mayville

Vassar vs. Marlette, TBA

New Haven vs. Brown City, TBA

Friday’s Game

Championship, TBA

Winner advances to the Bad Axe regional to take on the Saginaw Nouvel district winner.

Class C hosted by Montrose

Monday's Results

Reese 67, Saginaw Arts 28

New Lothrop 74, Genesee 14

Montrose 61, Saginaw BV 36

Wednesday's Games

Saginaw Valley Lutheran vs. Reese

New Lothrop vs. Montrose

Friday’s Game

Championship, TBA

Winner advances to the Bad Axe regional to take on the Harbor Beach district winner.

Class D hosted by Port Hope

Monday’s Result

Port Hope 53, Caseville 42 

Wednesday’s Games

Owen-Gage vs. A-Fairgrove, 6 p.m.

Port Hope vs. North Huron, 7:30 p.m.

Friday’s Game

Championship, 7 p.m.

Winner advances to the BCAS regional to take on the Saginaw MLS district winner.

Class D hosted by Peck

Monday’s Results

Deckerville 47, Peck 31 

Kimball New Life 46, Kimball Landmark Academy 26

 Wednesday’s Games

Deckerville vs. CPS, 6 p.m.

Kimball New Life vs. Kingston, 7:30 p.m.

Friday’s Game

Championship, 7 p.m.

Winner advances to the BCAS regional to take on the Flint-Michigan School for the Deaf district winner.

Our picks for the girls districts

Girls hoop districts open this evening.
Here are our picks.

BOGAN
Class C hosted by Harbor Beach

Sandusky vs. Harbor Beach – The Redskins are reeling after losing two straight games to close out the regular season.

I don’t see them losing three in a row.

Harbor Beach might push them for a bit, but the Redskins are too strong.

PICK: Sandusky 51, Harbor Beach 36

EPBP vs. Ubly – Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port had a fine season at 14-6 while the Bearcats gave major effort, but were winless.

The Lakers advance.

PICK: EPBP 54, Ubly 32

Bad Axe vs. Cass City – These two teams seem to play every year in the post-season.

The Red Hawks hold a 2-0 regular-season edge, though one of the games did go to overtime.

PICK: Cass City 37, Bad Axe 35

Sandusky vs. EPBP – The Redskins own a 17-point win over the Lakers way back in the early part of the season.

It will be closer this time, but with the same result.

PICK: Sandusky 50, EPBP 46

USA vs. Cass City – Cass City beat the Patriots by four in the only meeting this season.

USA gets some revenge.

PICK: USA 42, Cass City 37

FINALS: Sandusky vs. USA – Sandusky usually plays in the district to the south, battling Greater Thumb East rivals Marlette and Brown City.

This year, the Redskins cruise to the district crown.

PICK: Sandusky 56, USA 43

Class C hosted by Mayville

Vassar vs. Mayville – The Wildcats are no match for the Vulcans.

PICK: Vassar 44, Mayville 30

Dryden vs. Marlette – Next.

PICK: Marlette 60, Dryden 39

Brown City vs. Memphis – Memphis is a very good North Central Thumb League squad. But the Green Devils are a very good GTC squad.

No match.

PICK: Brown City 56, Memphis 43

Vassar vs. Marlette – Marlette beat Vassar by a single point during the middle part of the season.

It happens again.

PICK: Marlette 49, Vassar 48

Brown City vs. New Haven – The Green Devils make it an all-GTE final.

PICK: Brown City 55, New Haven 45

FINALS: Marlette vs. Brown City – Two very good teams with several fine players.

Should be a great game.

Jenna Hirsch, a candidate for Thumb Player of the Year honors, will make a play down the stretch to give the Raiders the title.

PICK: Marlette 40, Brown City 38

Class D hosted by Port Hope

Caseville vs. Port Hope – The Bluestars would be smart to take this game seriously. The Eagles, despite just three wins this season, are a dangerous team.

PICK: Port Hope 33, Caseville 25

Owen-Gage vs. A-Fairgrove – The Bulldogs want another shot at the Bluestars.

PICK: Owen-Gage 49, A-Fairgrove 40

Port Hope vs. North Huron – The Bulldogs get their wish.

PICK: Port Hope 50, North Huron 40

FINALS: Port Hope vs. Owen-Gage – It’s only fitting that the NCTL North Division co-champions meet in the finals.

I like the Bluestars, but not by much.

PICK: Port Hope 51, Owen-Gage 48

Class D hosted by Peck

Peck vs. Deckerville – The Eagles clipped the Pirates twice this season.

Make it three times.

PICK: Deckerville 51, Peck 36

Kimball New Life vs. Kimball Landmark – I like Life!

PICK: New Life 39, Landmark 30

Deckerville vs. CPS – The Eagles roll.

PICK: Deckerville 49, CPS 35

New Life vs. Kingston – The Cardinals didn’t have a great regular season, but they get a shot at a district crown.

PICK: Kingston 44, New Life 29

FINALS: Deckerville vs. Kingston – Kingston beat Deckerville by six points a few weeks ago to even the season series.

The Eagles, though, are off to the regionals again.

PICK: Deckerville 46, Kingston 40

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

ADAMS

Class C at Harbor Beach

Sandusky at Harbor Beach: Let’s see if the Redskins can snap out of their late-season funk. The Pirates may also be playing without their leading scorer, Tori Kraft.

PICK: Sandusky 50, Harbor Beach 35

EPBP at Ubly: The Lakers had a fine regular season, with a couple of very nice wins. They could be a dark horse in this district.

PICK: EPBP 56, Ubly 30

Bad Axe at Cass City: This is a perfect example of where a neutral site is needed.

PICK: Cass City 45, Bad Axe 40

Sandusky vs. EPBP: EPBP beat Brown City, Brown City beat Sandusky. I’m going with the Lakers. 

PICK: EPBP 51, Sandusky 48

USA vs. Cass City: As big of a tossup game there is in this tournament. 

PICK: Cass City 47, USA 42

FINAL: EPBP vs. Cass City: Cass City is still young. I expect the Red Hawks to compete for a league title next season, but it’s EPBP’s year.

PICK: EPBP 54, Cass City 45

Class C at Mayville

Vassar at Mayville: The up-and-down Vulcans should have no trouble in this game.

PICK: Vassar 61, Mayville 35

Dryden at Marlette: Dryden may have switched leagues, but it’s still no match for one of the best teams in the GTC.

PICK: Marlette 70, Dryden 39

Brown City at Memphis: The Yellowjackets had a fine year, rolling through the NCTL South. They are deep and played a tough non-league schedule. This could be a little closer than some might think.

PICK: Brown City 55, Memphis 49

Vassar vs. Marlette: We’re heading to an all-GTE championship, so that excludes Vassar.

PICK: Marlette 52, Vassar 43

New Haven vs. Brown City: I know nothing about New Haven, but I know Brown City had a very nice season. That’s enough for me.

PICK: Brown City 59, New Haven 51

FINAL: Brown City vs. Marlette: The teams split the regular season series and this one is on a neutral floor, where it should be. The Green Devils are on a roll after beating Sandusky.

PICK: Brown 59, Marlette 55

Class D at Port Hope

Caseville vs. Port Hope: The Bluestars are gunning for back-to-back district championships.

PICK: Port Hope 53, Caseville 46

Owen-Gage vs. Akron-Fairgrove: Owen-Gage had two goals this season — win an NCTL North championship and a district title. The Bulldogs already accomplished the first part.

PICK: Owen-Gage 59, Akron-Fairgrove 42

Port Hope vs. North Huron: The x-factor will be if the NCTL’s leading scorer, Sara Clancy, can return for the Warriors. If she does, it could drastically affect this tournament. 

PICK: Port Hope 43, North Huron 42 

FINAL: Owen-Gage vs. Port Hope: The two North co-champs square off for a third time after splitting their regular season meetings. 

PICK: Port Hope 41, Owen-Gage 40, OT

Class D at Peck

Peck vs. Deckerville: It hasn’t been quite the year Deckerville was looking for, but I think the Eagles will be refocused for the post-season.

PICK: Deckerville 46, Peck 36

Kimball New Life vs. Kimball Landmark Academy: I know nothing about either. Coin flip — heads for New Life, tails for Landmark. Heads it is.

PICK: Kimball New Life 43, Kimball Landmark 42

Deckerville vs. CPS: The Eagles keep on rolling to another district title.

PICK: Deckerville 51, CPS 44

Kimball New Life vs. Kingston: The Cardinals have played some teams pretty tough this season. I think they have enough to make it to the championship.

PICK: Kingston 59, Kimball New Life 40

FINAL: Deckerville vs. Kingston: Deckerville may have switched leagues, but it won’t prevent the Eagles from winning another title.

PICK: Deckerville 56, Kingston 49