High School Notebook: Harper Creek wins Interstate 8 Conference volleyball title
BATTLE CREEK - Ending the regular season in a three-way tie with Marshall and Parma Western, Harper Creek was looking to have a good day in the Interstate 8 Conference Volleyball Tournament to finish the season strong.
That's what the Beavers did, as Harper Creek finished as Interstate 8 Conference champs by winning the end-of-the-season league meet at Harper Creek High School on Saturday.
Harper Creek defeated Coldwater in two sets, 25-17, 25-17 and then swept Marshall in the finals, 25-23, 25-19, 25-19 to claim in the I-8 crown.
Cassidy Pratley had 26 kills to lead the Beavers with Ella Chantrenne adding 19 and Camille Robinson coming up with 14 as Harper Creek dominated at the net. Reese Winter added 27 digs with Taegen Andersen coming up with 58 assists in leading the offense.
Cross Country
Lakeview's Aiden Moore continued his standout senior season as he finished first overall at the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference Championship Meet, held at Riverside Elementary in Battle Creek, winning with a time of 15:20.50. As a team, the Spartans finished fourth in the boys race with Jonah Bills finishing 18th overall.
The Lakeview girls also finished fourth as a team, led by Lilamae Frank, who was eighth overall in a time of 19:54 with Alyssa Hinton taking 13th in 20:10.16.
The Interstate 8 Conference Championship Meet was held at Turkeyville as host Marshall finished first in the boys meet to take the team title.
Marshall finished with 29 team points, led by Jack Bidwell, who was first overall in a time of 15:45.5. The Redhawks had five runners in the top 11, with Marshall's Connor Griffith taking fourth, Reece Davis fifth, Abraham McHugh eighth and Kaiden Gore 11th.
Harper Cree's Dominic Lowrie was second overall in a time of 15:59 with the Beavers' William O'Dell taking sixth.
Harper Creek finished second in the girls race as a team, trailing Parma Western. Emma Monroe was fourth for the Beavers with Julia Faber eighth and Layla Silkworth 10th.
Marshall was third with the Redhawks' Camille DeCola taking second overall and Leah McPartlin finishing fifth. Pennfield's Peyton Rhoades was sixth overall.
State Tennis
The No. 10-ranked Lakeview boys tennis team finished tied for ninth overall at the MHSAA Division 2 State Tournament at Grand Rapids on Friday-Saturday. The Spartans finished with 11 team points as Midland Dow won the Division II title.
Lakeview's singles play was highlighted by No. 3 Eric Ryan, who won two matches before falling in the third round.
No. 2 singles player Luke Dzwik and No. 4 singles player Kolten Etheridge also earned a win in his first match.
Lakeview also earned points in doubles action as the No. 2 doubles team of Jason Deal/Kalvin Frank earned two wins and the No. 3 duo of Tyler Duval/Chase Oursler won twice.
No. 1 doubles team Jay Hamric/Sam LaDuke and No. 4 doubles team Brady Kolassa/John Yang both earned a win as well.
State Golf
Lakeview's Amiyah Gibson competed as an individual in the MHSAA State Golf Finals in Division 1 at Forest Akers West at Michigan State University. Gibson finished with a two-day total of 169 to finish 21st overall.
In Division 2 action, Gull Lake finished eighth as a team with a total of 691. The Blue Devils' Charlotte Boudeman was seventh as an individual with a two-day total of 154.
Football
St. Philip finished the season at 4-5 with a 38-20 win over Bangor in eight-player football action on Saturday night at C.W. Post Field.
Nate Rapelje had three touchdowns on the ground and Colt Myers added three touchdown passes for the Tigers, with two of the scoring throws going to Carter Dzwik.
Myers and Dzwik each had 12 tackles on defense and Desmond Byrne added two tackles for loss that shut down Bangor drives.
Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @billbroderick.
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: High School Notebook: Harper Creek wins Interstate 8 volleyball title
