Tiffany Karger led in scoring for the Red Hawks last week, getting 21 points against West Catholic, and 19 against Tri County.

Cedar Springs girls varsity basketball team traveled to West Catholic High School on Friday, Jan. 27, to face the other undefeated team in the OK Blue, the Falcons. After an entertaining game, the ladies of West Catholic came out on top 43-42, in front a near capacity crowd.

The game was tight from the beginning, with West Catholic holding a one point lead after the first quarter but Cedar fought back to take a three point lead into the halftime break 18-15.

In the third quarter, West Catholic came out with a renewed aggressive offense that featured a two-player pick and roll game and attempted to run the ball up the court at every opportunity. West was able to open up a 9-point lead late in the third quarter. Cedar countered and picked up their defensive pressure and was able to close the gap to 34 to 27 at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was exciting as Cedar closed the gap and took the lead late in the fourth quarter. There were several lead changes late in the game with West scoring with about 20 seconds to go. Cedar had one more chance but could not connect on their last attempt at the horn.

Coach Scott Taylor was proud of his teams’ effort. “The girls fought hard and we competed to our best. A game like that always comes down to a few possessions.  Not the last one but different moments throughout the game.”

Tiffany Karger led the Red Hawks with 21 points, Chaya Coxon and Rachael Ludtke each contributed 7.  Molly Holtrop had 4, Brittany had 2, and Hannah Wight had 1 to round out the scoring.

The girls then hosted the Tri County Vikings on Saturday, Jan. 28, in a make up game. The Red Hawks came away with the win by a score of 47-34.

Cedar jumped out to an early lead by 8 points at the end of the first quarter and extended that lead to 25 to 8 at the halftime break. Cedar cruised home to the victory but looked a little tired having played on back to back nights.

Tiffany Karger again led the Red Hawk scoring with 19 points followed by Allie Veltkamp with 9, Chaya Coxon with 8, Hannah Wight had 6, Brittany and Rachael Ludtke with 2 each, and Shaelyn Fasel scored 1.

The Cedar Springs Varsity Competitive Team has been showing what they’ve got this season, finishing usually in the top two.  After losing many seniors last year the team has had their struggles, however using their team motto of never settle, they have shown that they can and will overcome. Their season started when they finished 2nd at the Cedar Springs Invitational on January 7, losing to Kenowa Hills. On January 12, they went on to fight for another 2nd place finish at the OK Blue Conference Tournament at Belding, falling short of a 1st place finish by only one point to Comstock Park. The Red Hawk Cheer Team achieved another 2nd place finish on January 18 at The OK Blue Conference Tournament at Comstock Park, again falling to Comstock Park’s 1st place finish. The Red Hawks continued to show their determination, clinching another first place finish at the Red Hawk Invitational on January 26.

Changes in the team’s line-up have also been an obstacle for the Red Hawks. It showed in last week’s competition, where they placed 6th out of 11 at East Kentwood. “This season has definitely been a season of lessons learned about perseverance and the will to overcome obstacles, “ said head Coach Pam Ingles. “This team has shown that they will do what it takes to get the job done for any given competition.” Ingles went on to say, “We will continue to work on cleaning up our rounds and working towards our goal of advancing out of the district competition in three weeks.  I know that they will push and work hard to get the job done.”

The Red Hawk Competitive Cheer Team will continue to fight for those top finishes when they travel to Sparta on February 1st and again when they travel to Lowell on February 4th.  Please come and cheer on these hard working girls and show them they are supported.

The Sand Lake Boxing Team traveled to Bay City and once again came away undefeated. Two boxers competed in the boxing show. David Lewis, 132lbs, made his boxing debut against Flint’s Jonathan Alben, from Joe Byrd’s Boxing Academy, and won a 3-0 decision. David was able to knock down his opponent twice—once in the first and again in the third round. David pressed the action for the entire fight and did a great job of counter punching his opponent. “I feel good and can’t wait to get back in the gym on Monday” said Lewis.

In the main event of the night, Ricardo Rios won a 2-1 decision over Nolan Linebaugh of Bay City. Ricardo was able to control the fight from the outside, and, in the 3^rd round, had Nolan stunned, but ran out of time and the match went to the scorecards. “He is a really good fighter and I know I will see him in the golden gloves. This is a good warm up for the tournament,” said Rios.

Sand Lake police officer Steve Brandow also traveled to Bay City, but his bout was canceled due to an eye exam. Steve will get his chance this Saturday at the Pre Super Bowl fight night. Steve is one of four boxers scheduled to fight Saturday.

While the Cedar Springs Youth Wrestling Club was preparing for its own tournament, four of its toughest wrestlers were in Indiana on January 14, 2012 at the Border Wars’ “War in the Windy City” National Wrestling Tournament.  Landon Demorest, Ryan Ringler, George Gonzales Jr. and Jordan Ringler all attended and placed at the national event.  Landon, Ryan and George all took Championships in their respective weight classes, earning them a custom 5” inch medal and a new singlet with the word “Champion” splashed across the front.  Jordan Rinlger did very well too, taking a well-earned second place finish.  Ryan also wrestled an age group up and earned himself a 3rd place finish in the 11-12 year old division.  They all returned home late Saturday night excited to wrestle at their own tournament, which was hosted the next day at the Cedar Springs High School.

On Sunday, January 15, Cedar Springs hosted the biggest regional MYWAY tournament of this season. With over 500 wrestlers in attendance, the high school was more than busting at the seams. The Cedar youth wrestlers also busted out at their own tournament, taking home a grand total of 18 medals!  Placers in the 4-6 age group were Chase Sarniak/3rd and Jonathan Lizardo/2nd.  In the 7/8 age group were Landon Demorest/1st, Tacho Gonzales/4th, Trevor Marsman/1st, Gage Ruiz/4th, Aiden Bouwens/2nd, and Maston Wood/4th.  In the 9/10 age group were Trenton Snoeyink/1st, Austin Emmorey/4th, Logan Hull/1st, Reese Gonzales/1st, Samuel Courturier/1st, and Ryan Ringler/1st.

In the 11/12 age group were Allexis Gonzales/2nd and George Gonzales Jr/3rd.  In the 13-15 age group were Jordan Ringler/1st and Tylor Carter/3rd.  Congrats to all of our local wrestlers.

Lady Red Hawk Tiffany Karger had a career best scoring 26 points against the Red Skins.

Tuesday night the ladies from Cedar Springs hosted the Belding Redskins in girls basketball but they were not very generous hosts. Cedar got the victory by a final score of 56 to 32.
Cedar got off to a fast start in the first quarter and at one point led 15-2. Belding fought back in the second to close the lead to 8 points, with about four minutes to go in the quarter, before Cedar reasserted themselves to take a 27 to 14 into the break.
The second half was a shooting clinic by Cedar as they made 11 of 16 shots for 69 percent. Coach Taylor said it was gratifying to see the girls work the game plan that they had put in place this week.  “We played strong defensively, keeping our girls in front of us and denying their drives.  We did have some shot lapses where we seemed to play too loose and we have to eliminate those.”
The Red Hawks made 20 of 33 shots for the game and had a 28 point lead at one point in fourth quarter.
Tiffany Karger had a career best scoring 26 points while making 11 of 13 shots from the field and pulling in 10 rebounds. Rachael Ludtke followed with 7 points; Brittany Todd had 6, as did Hannah Wight. The rest of the scoring was Chaya Coxon with 5, Molly Holtrop, Shaelyn Fasel, and Jeanette Sukstas each contributed 2 point.
The Red Hawks have two more contests this week. Friday night they will meet West Catholic in a battle for the lead in the OK Blue Conference. On Saturday afternoon they travel to Howard City to face Tri County in a make up game from earlier this season.

Lady Red Hawk Brittany Todd pulled down 11 rebounds and made 8 points against Kent City last week.

The Lady Red Hawks went down to defeat for only the second time this season, 72-51, at the hands of Kent City, who posted their tenth win against no losses. Cedar had two consecutive games postponed prior to the matchup against Kent City on January 19, and had not played in almost two weeks. They looked a little rusty especially from the free throw line in the first half, making only 6 of 17 charity attempts. Even with the poor shooting, they were tied 27-27 with the Class C number 4 rated Eagles.
The second half was a totally different story as the Eagles reached for another gear and put the Red Hawks in the rearview mirror.  Cedar gave up 45 points to the Eagles in the second half of the game. Previously Cedar had not give up more than 44 points in an entire game this season. Kent City hit over 70 percent from the field in the second half and over 40 percent from the three-point line for the game.
“We just got out worked in the second half,” said Coach Scott Taylor. “But as I told the girls, this was a good test and Kent City is a good team but that it doesn’t affect us as we go forward with our conference schedule. We need to be able to put this game behind us.”
Cedar was led by senior Tiffany Karger’s double/double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Brittany Todd pulled down 11 rebounds to go with her 8 points. Other scorers for Cedar were Rachael Ludtke with 10, Chaya Coxon and Molly Holtrop with 6 apiece, Hannah Wight with 4, and Allie Veltkamp with 1.
Kent City was led by Sonnie Kurnat with 19 points and 8 steals and Kara Carlson chipped in 18.
Cedar faced conference foe Belding Tuesday (see story this page), and will face West Catholic on Friday.

Cedar Springs formed their first 5th/6th grade competitive cheer team this year.  While it’s uncommon in this area to see girls compete at this age level, coaches Amy Arnold, Deb Garza and Barb Chong had hoped their team would gain experience and get a feel for what competition will be like when they reach middle school. The girls, however, had something else in mind.  It was evident they weren’t about to settle for anything less than the best, and their hard work and dedication paid off last Saturday when they placed first at Catholic Central High School finishing ahead of Vanguard Charter and Kenowa Hills. Their performance can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3N7pTAPVz8.
The team performs again this Thursday at Cedar Springs High School and will finish their season this Saturday at East Kentwood High School.

The Red Hawk JV and Varsity Wrestlers exchanged their singlets for ties for their fundraising event on January 14. The teams went from wrestling to serving, when they hosted a black tie event at the American Legion Hall that included a four course meal and a fun night out. The event is a first this year in an attempt to fundraise in a new innovative way. The guests bought tickets that were sold by the wrestlers, and were in turn served by the wrestlers they bought the ticket from, and others. It was a great start this year, and next year the wrestling team is hoping the event will be even bigger and better, making this a new annual event.
The Red Hawk Wrestlers have been working hard this season, with an  overall team record of 13-8.  “We are a young team,” said head coach Scott Troost. “There are only 3 seniors on the team but most of the team consists of freshman. We are always improving.”
The Red Hawks continue to fight to clinch victories, and while not always getting that first, they are finishing usually in the top 3 at tournaments. A few of their places were in Fruitport 3rd, Tri-County 3rd, and Comstock where they took 3rd out of the 18 teams present.
The Redhawks leaders for the team with their own personal records are: Cody Oehme leading the team with his record of 25-5; Austim Wamser (Senior) who is 18-6 so far this season; Barron Lenardson 22-6; Jarred Vodry 17-9; and Dominick Chong with a 20-7 record. The Red Hawks will continue to work hard to build on the team and individual records.
The Red Hawks were scheduled to go up against West Catholic, Coopersville and Belding on Wednesday Jan. 25, and will be traveling to a tournament in St. Johns, who is ranked 3rd in the nation, on Saturday, January 28.

West Michigan Pursuit played ‘Hart breakers’ at the Hart Attackers open tournament this past Sunday.  Thirteen local wrestlers made the hour and a half trek to compete, in what turned out to be an overwhelmingly successful tournament for the club.  All 13 WMP wrestlers placed in the top 3 in their respective weight classes.
Brocke Fisher, Mayson Levandoski, Nathan Male, Olivia Male, Tommy Stevens, and Aiden Bouwens all brought home first place trophies.
Corbin Orange and Nathan Elliston placed second, and  Taylor Andrus, Easton Arnold, Michael Jordan, Gage Gardner, and Nathan Webb took 3rd place.
The regional competition is just a few short weeks away, and Pursuit wrestlers are kicking it up a notch during training and conditioning.
This weekend the club heads to Grand Haven. Just another stop in their relentless pursuit of champions!

CTA’s boys varsity basketball team traveled up north to take on two Traverse City teams.

Friday night, CTA tipped-off against St. Mary’s of Lake Leelanau. The Eagles of St. Mary’s bested the Chargers with a final score of 42-24. 14 of the Charger’s 24 points came from Senior guard, Cole Chilcote. Early in the 3rd quarter, Chilcote hit a 14-14 game tying 3-point basket. However, St. Mary’s found a way to convert turnovers into baskets, and make it difficult for the Chargers to score for the remainder of the game. Guards, Travis Johnson and Austin Armstrong each added 4 points.
The good news was the Chargers did not have to hang their heads long over Friday night’s loss. They played the Bulldogs of Traverse City Homeschool early Saturday. The first half looked shaky for Creative Tech, as the Bulldogs used their 6’3” center to have their way around the basket on both ends of the court. The Chargers made a few adjustments on the defensive end, and held the center to just a few touches for the remainder of the game. The Chargers were also more determined to attack the basket and get their forwards involved. Creative Tech took the momentum of a buzzer-beater 3-point shot from the hand of junior Austin Armstrong into halftime to trail the Bulldogs by just 2 points. However, the biggest points may have come from senior Zach White from the charity line. With less than 30 seconds left in the game, White’s made free-throws put the Chargers up by 4 points, making it a two-possession game. The Bulldog’s settled for a desperate 3 point attempt as time ticked away. The shot came up short bouncing out of bounds, possession to the Chargers. The Chargers were able to play keep away for the remaining 10 seconds and win with a final score of 26-22.
Creative Tech improves to 5-4 as they reach the halfway point in the season. Tuesday, they take on Waypoint, of Muskegon, and end the week with a trip to Grattan Academy.