Roundup: Jonesville boys dismantle Homer; Hornets fall to Dundee in 2OT; WCA wins again

HILLSDALE COUNTY — Friday night boys basketball saw big stakes for several teams in the area, with Hillsdale welcoming in the 12-1 Dundee Vikings for their homecoming night, while the Jonesville Comets traveled to rival Homer in an attempt to upset the Trojan's homecoming proceedings.

More: Girls Basketball Roundup: Litchfield and Reading score season-high points totals in wins

The night before, Homer girls basketball stunned Jonesville on the road with a 3-pointer buzzer beater. Jonesville got their revenge on Friday night.

More: Jonesville girls basketball loses to rival Homer on buzzer beater 3-pointer

Jonesville silences Homer homecoming crowd with 64-57 victory

The Trojans, looking to go 2-0 against the Comets in their Cascades rivalry debut, brought in Jonesville boys basketball for their homecoming night. Coach Jeff Turner and the Comets were on a five-game winning streak heading into the event, and they added a sixth win to their streak at the end of four quarters.

Jonesville silenced the homecoming crowd with a 64-57 victory, never relinquishing the lead through all four quarters of play.

The Comets led by as much as 13-1 in the first quarter to start their path to victory. The Trojan offense fought back to within eight points by the end of the quarter.

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Things began to look like momentum had shifted in the second quarter, but near the halfway point the Comets let the ball fly from 3-point range, shutting out and shutting down the noise from the Trojan home crowd. Warrick Elder nailed two triples before halftime and so did Drew Bradley.

It was a standout half for Bradley, who hit two 3-pointers from deep, including one late that sent him for an extra point at the free throw line. The Comet lead grew to 36-24 at halftime.

The Trojan offense was carried by Tyson Garrett, whose nine points in the third quarter would help close their deficit down to 45-40. Micah Calligan had two crucial baskets for the Comets to help keep them above the Trojans.

More: Hoops Report: Jonesville boys basketball earns gritty win at East Jackson

Fighting off the Trojans in the fourth quarter, Jonesville made nine of its 19 points in the end from the free throw line. Jonesville was out in front 63-48 with less than 40 seconds left, with the Trojans squarely out of range of making a comeback. The Trojans managed to knock down two triples, a layup and a free throw in those final seconds to bring the final score to 64-57.

Elder led the Comets with 21 points. Caleb Blonde had 10 points. Gavin VanKampen had nine points and Bradley had nine. Both Carter Rounds and Micah Calligan had six points.

Tyson Garrett had 25 for Homer.

The Comets are now 10-3 overall. Next week will be homecoming week for the Comets. They play Napoleon on Monday, Jan. 22 at home.

Hillsdale nearly takes down Dundee in 2OT homecoming game

The Hornets looked to end their three-game losing streak at home against one of the toughest opponents they have faced so far this season. The AP D3 No. 9 ranked Dundee Vikings entered the matchup at Hillsdale with a 12-1 overall record, their only loss in overtime to Carleton Airport.

Using their homecoming crowd, the Hornets gave the Vikings everything they had, taking the Vikings to double OT. Both teams were tied at 62-all after four quarters. Dundee managed to pull away in the second overtime for the 78-71 final.

More: Hillsdale senior Jack Bowles' 1,000 career point milestone celebrated on Hornet home court

The Hornets got double-digit scoring efforts from four players, led by senior Jack Bowles' 24 points. Casper Overbye had 14 points, including two triples. Both Jace Lennox and Brody Adams had 11 points. Senior Ethan Amburgey had six points. Sophomore Ryan Bernard had five points.

Bowles dished out six assists and Adams had four. The Hornets had a total of 10 steals, with Bowles leading with five and Adams with three. Lennox led the team with three rebounds.

The loss drops the Hornets to 7-6 overall this season, 2-5 in league play. The Hornets look to rebound with a road game against Clinton on Tuesday, Jan. 23. The Hornets beat Clinton 65-45 earlier this season. They end the week with a Thursday matchup against Hudson at home, a notoriously defensive-heavy rivalry showdown.

Will Carleton Academy boys basketball extends win streak to 5

Junior Thomas Maier may have broken the WCA school record for steals in a game with the Cougars' 62-35 win over Pansophia Academy

The win was the fifth in a row for the Cougars, which also includes wins over Camden-Frontier, Tekonsha and Litchfield.

Coach and WCA A.D. Lucas Westblade said that the coaching staff is proud of the players, despite the potential danger of looking ahead to big conference games next week. Westblade was proud of the team win that saw starters sacrifice minutes of playing time to give other players important game experience.

"It's good to get back to .500, too," said Westblade. "We started the season off with a good win and then went into a bit of a slump with some growing pains: new coach, new offenses and new defenses. Something just before the new year started to click, and it's good to get several wins in a row and start to regain some confidence we felt before the season started."

Leading the way was Thomas Maier with 21 points (steals to be updated once confirmed). Tyler Barnes had nine, Will Thielen had eight, Harrison Sands had seven, Tyler Slade had six, Caleb Daniels had five, David Maier had two, James Johnson had two (first varsity points) and Jacob Gadelkarim had two points.

Now at 6-6, the Cougars look to continue their win streak by getting revenge against Jackson Prep. JPEC defeated the Cougars earlier this season in a 52-45 final. Game time is on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m.

In other news, the Cougar girls basketball team got their first win of the season with a 29-28 win over Pansophia Academy.

More: Vote for the Hillsdale County Athlete of the Week: Jan. 8-13

Friday night scoreboard

• Boys Basketball: Hillsdale Academy 64, North Adams-Jerome 20

  • Hillsdale Academy improves to 9-3, 7-0 in SCAA East

  • North Adams-Jerome drops to 1-8

  • (HA): Dawson Scharer: 14 points; Lincoln Knirk: 12 points; Jay Jenkins: 10 points

• Boys Basketball: Litchfield 61, Tekonsha 38

  • Litchfield improves to 7-5, 5-2 in SCAA East

  • Tyler Bills: 21 points, 3 steals, 3 rebounds, 2 assists

  • Junior Alvarez: 16 points, 3 steals

  • Simon Collins: 9 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks

• Boys Basketball: Stockbridge 72, Reading 42

  • Brady Kling: 17 points

  • Brayden Wright: 12 points

  • Rangers look to rebound during homecoming week

• Boys Basketball: Jackson Christian 54, Camden-Frontier 38

  • Kaiden Conroy: 15 points

  • Zach Franks: 8 points

  • Luis Castro-Thilo: 8 points

• Girls Basketball: WCA 29, Pansophia Academy 28

  • WCA wins their first game of 2023-24 season

  • (Stats to be updated)

This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Hoops Roundup: Jonesville boys dismantle Homer 64-57; Hornets fall to Dundee in 2OT