Sports

Blackhawk softball 3rd at classic
The Brandon Blackhawks Varsity Softball team came in third place at the Macomb Classic April 19 and 20. The Blackhawks beat Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse 2-1, Utica Ford 1-0, and Fenton 5-1. (Fenton is ranked second in Division 1). Senior Jennifer Sherman had three hits and three RBI’s to win the first game. Sherman also had a single home-run.
Jennifer Sherman’s younger sister Jessica Sherman (sophomore) threw a two-hitter in the first game, and also threw a five-hitter in the third game to gain the victory. Jessica Sherman fanned 16 batters on the day. Junior Kim Michal threw a three-hitter to earn the win for the Blackhawks in the second game of the day.
The Brandon Blackhawks will play at Linden High School at 4 p.m. on April 28.

Martian nine perfect in league play
On April 17 The Goodrich Martians varsity baseball team defeated Mt. Morris 12-2 and 12-4. Goodrich and Mt. Morris shared the co-championship for the 2007 baseball season.
‘We played extemely well,? says Goodrich Varsity Baseball Coach Bob Foreback.
‘Mt. Morris is a quality team, and the score does not indicate their abilities.We were co-champs with them last year, so it was a huge thing to sweep the defending co-champs.?
The Goodrich Martians varsity baseball team continued their winning streak with their blow-out win against Byron High School April 21. The Martians led the way throughout the game with an 11-0 victory.
With the Martians? only loss to Lapeer East, their overall record is now 12-1 and their league record is 5-0. The Martians play at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. at Burton/Bentley High School April 28.

Martian golfers tops at GAC open
The Goodrich Martians took home the GAC preseason golf tournament April 14. Caleb Jones and Tyler Frantangelo each shot a 79 to help Goodrich with the win which was played at Atlas Valley. Goodrich won with a total of 328, Durand finished second with 352, and Byron came in third with 353. Both Jones and Frantangelo were given individual honors at the GAC tournament.
Goodrich won their next match with a score of 168 against Durand (170) and Lake Fenton (187). Colin Engle shot a 41 to lead Goodrich, and Tyler Frantangelo and Troy Westerby each shot 42. The Goodrich Martians? next match is at the Byron Invitational at 4 p.m. on April 28.

Goodrich kickers top Mt. Morris
The Goodrich Martians girls soccer team kicked their way to their first victory of the season against Mt. Morris April 17 on their home field with a 8-0 win. The Martains scored seven first-half goals. Matilda Sydvart had four goals for the Martians, Joylnn Zirnhelt, Lindsey Berquist, Leah Ross, and Ashley Moorhead all had one goal for the game. Goodrich record is now 1-3 and and 1-2 in the GAC. Mt. Morris fell to 0-3 in the GAC. The Martians will play Byron Area High School at 4:30 p.m. on April 29.

Lady Martians sweep pair
The Goodrich Martians softball team played Byron High School April 21 and took home two victories from the doubleheader. It was a 8-2 win during the first game with Megan Smith as the winning pitcher. She had 13 strikeouts. Brittany Bertrand had two hits and two stolen bases, Kortni Elsworth also had two hits with one home run, and two RBIs. Brooke Zimmerman and two RBIs.
In the second game of the night Goodrich won 12-0 with Brooke Zimmerman as the winning pitcher. Nicole Hill went one for two, one walk, one RBI, and two runs scored. Hannah Nothhelfer was two for three with one run scored, and Brittany Bertrand was 1-4 with three RBIs.
The Martians league record is now 4-0 and overall 7-2. The Martians play Bentley High School at 4p.m. on April 28.

BY NOAH PURCELL
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Despite allowing a few big plays, the Clarkston High School football team was able to make enough plays of their own to capture a 25-20 victory against West Bloomfield. The home victory evened the Wolves record at 1-1, after a season opening loss to Rochester Adams last week.
Things were bad for Clarkston when the drive that had been going so well ended in an interception with 11:02 remaining in the 4th quarter. It got worse as West Bloomfield returned the ball to the Clarkston 15 yard line, in fact the situation was best described as grave when West Bloomfield lined up on the Clarkston two yard line looking to build on a 20-19 lead.
Instead of letting things hit rock bottom the Clarkston defense stood tall and when the ensuing play was whistled dead Clarkston junior Steve McIsaac was laying on the ball he had popped loose in the goal line scrum. Clarkston then embarked on a drive that would start on their own three yard line and end when junior Mike Kittle pounded the ball into the end zone from four yards out giving Clarkston the 25-20 lead which became the final score just five minutes later.
‘This is the type of win that can bring you together as a team,? Clarkston head coach Kurt Richardson said. ‘Those kids could have quit when the ball was down there on the two, but then we got the takeaway and then make a 97-98 yard drive, that’s huge, it shows character.?
Clarkston opened the scoring in the game early when on their second drive of the day. They methodically drove down the field with an assortment of runs until senior quarterback Scott Leigh lofted an arcing fade into the waiting hands of senior Adam Briceland.
West Bloomfield answered back, connecting on a 51 yard pass play for a score that resulted in a 7-6 Clarkston lead after a missed extra point kick with 2:01 left in the 1st quarter.
The teams played each other to a stalemate for the rest of the first quarter and most of the second until the Clarkston passing game awoke late in the half. Briceland came up big again for the Wolves as his diving reception at the West Bloomfield four yard line set up a touchdown run by McIsaak.
‘We knew we had to shut down the option on defense, I think we did a pretty good job of shutting down the option, really they just had a couple of big plays against us,? said Richardson.
Richardson was no doubt referring to the kickoff after McIsaak’s touchdown run which found Clarkston defenders clutching at air as West Bloomfield running back Erick Walker picked up the ball off a bounce and scampered 90 yards to make it a 13-13 game going into the half.
‘Our special teams were terrible tonight, that’s going to be our emphasis this whole week,? said Richardson referring to the touchdown return and two blocked extra point attempts.
The second half opened with a West Bloomfield possession that seemed to take one step forward and two steps back, the drive featured a West Bloomfield fake punt run turn into a 12 yard gain and a 15 yard penalty on Clarkston, but also saw two penalties called on West Bloomfield and a fumble forced by Kittle and recovered by Clarkston on their own 28.
After the fumble recovery Clarkston plodded down the field until a 19 yard reception turned into Briceland’s second touchdown catch gave them a 19-13 lead with 3:01 left in the third quarter
The Clarkston score late in the 3rd quarter stirred something deep within the West Bloomfield squad for their option offense came alive culminating with a five yard sneak for a 20-19 lead setting up the dramatic finish to the contest.
‘We definitely stepped it up from last week, (28-7 defeat at Rochester Adams) we went into last week playing as individuals, this week everyone come together as a team,? said Kittle adding that the credit for the win should be laid upon the Clarkston offensive line.
Kittle and fellow running back Nick De Vault who made two spinning juking runs of 16 and 6 yards to set up the final touchdown helped Clarkston gain 197 total yards on the ground while ringing up 18 first downs compared to just eight for the game by West Bloomfield.
‘We were just playing power football and Stevie McIsaak was just blasting people,? said Richardson.
Clarkston quarterback Leigh went 11 for 14 for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Clarkston plays next at Farmington Hills Harrison on Friday Sept. 10.

BY NOAH PURCELL
Clarkston News Sports Writer
The Clarkston High School girl’s basketball team is 2-0 this season having squeaked by two opponents last week by a combined score of four points. Clarkston triumphed against Grand Blanc 43-40 on Tuesday Aug. 31 and found a way to gut out a victory the next night against Walled Lake Northern 29-28.
?29-28, we should have that at halftime ? We really had trouble putting the ball in the basket, I think a lot of it might have been that we were coming off back to backs and it was the first time these girls had ever played in back to back games, their legs were a little tired,? said Coach Ann Lowney
Clarkston rushed out to a 10-7 lead in the first quarter against Walled Lake but turnovers and poor shooting for both sides conspired to make the game a battle of defenses.
‘We started out fairly well, our second quarter was definitely not our best but we still hung in there, we had a lot of turnovers but we still looked for each other and we were very unselfish with the ball,? senior forward Leigh Christy said.
Clarkston had 22 turnovers in the game and was led in scoring by Stephanie Parkin with 10 points while shooting 5-14.
‘We don’t have the studs that the Southfield Lathrups and the West Bloomfields have, so every possession is so important. If we are careless how we shoot the ball and turn it over we are in for a long night,? Lowney said.
The Wolves will rely heavily on the play of their four seniors, including Christy and Parkin, for leadership on the floor as they go against a tough inter-league schedule.
‘We used to set a goal to win the league title. We really can’t do that this year because Southfield Lathrup, in our league, is ranked 2nd or 3rd in the State. I guess our goal is to each day get better so come State tournament we’re good. We really think we can make some noise in the State tournament,? said Lowney
The Clarkston women’s basketball team’s next game is Thursday Sept. 9 at Rochester.

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