Weekend roundup: St. Mary girls pick up critical win at Inland Lakes, now tied atop SVC
GAYLORD ― We've reached the busiest point in the winter sports season, and the weather is finally allowing all area high school teams to get out and enjoy it.
Enough snow has gathered to allow the ski teams to hit the slopes while the recent break in the cold weather has allowed all the area basketball, wrestling and hockey teams to get their games off without major cancelations.
This weekend had a bunch of stuff going on across the three Gaylord-area schools. Catch up on some of the results from this past weekend.
GSM girls top Inland Lakes, now tied atop SVC
The Gaylord St. Mary girls basketball team picked up a critical win on Friday, Jan. 26 as they won a 33-25 battle with the Ski Valley Conference's top team, Inland Lakes.
Sophomore Kaylee Jeffers had 17 of the team's 33 points, helping turn the tide of the game towards GSm in the middle two quarters. Fellow sophomore Payton Glasby had 7 points and 6 rebounds.
Now both 7-1 in conference play, the Snowbirds and Bulldogs are currently tied atop the SVC standings, meaning a lot could be riding on their next matchup on Tuesday, Feb. 27 if both take care of the rest of the teams on their schedules.
JoBurg gets SVC win, still within striking distance
The Johannesburg-Lewiston girls picked up another Ski Valley victory on Friday as well, coasting to a 60-27 win over Forest Area for the team's fifth conference victory.
Jayden Marlatt was all over the box score, finishing with a double-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists. Brittney Fox added 17 points and 7 rebounds while Emerson Wertman had 9 points and 5 assists.
Now 5-3 in SVC play, the Cardinals are still in the conference title hunt with two more games with the conference leaders Inland Lakes and GSM, traveling to Indian River to take on the Bulldogs on Tuesday, Jan. 30 and hosting the Snowbirds on Friday, Feb. 23.
Gaylord wrestling tops NMC Championships, three individual champions
Saturday was a good day to be a wrestling fan in Northern Michigan.
Well, at least a Gaylord wrestling fan.
With 39 teams from across Northern Michigan competing at the Gaylord-hosted Northern Michigan Wrestling Championships on Saturday, Jan. 27, the Blue Devils showed why they are one of the most consistently successful teams in the entire state, dominating the day with eight total medalists, three individual weight class champions and finishing atop the leaderboard as a team.
Ty and Jaron Bensinger won the 190-pound class and 120-pound brackets respectively, while Zane Willobee's win in the 157-pound bracket highlighted the individual performances. Other medalists included Caden Sides (second, 285 pounds), Luka Lehre (third, 106), Kieran Beach (fourth, 165), Sunni LaFond (fifth, 113) and Logan Wolff (fifth, 175).
Gaylord finished with 189.02 points, nearly 50 points more than the tournament runner-ups, Benzie Central.
VOTE: Gaylord Herald Times Athlete of the Week, winter week seven
NMC: Bensinger brothers lead big day for Gaylord wrestling at NMC Championships
Other scores
Boys basketball
BC Pizza Classic
Marquette 66, Gaylord 49
Gaylord 59, Brimley 57
Girls basketball
Sault Ste. Marie 65, Gaylord 42
Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Gaylord St. Mary girls basketball gets critical Ski Valley win over Inland Lakes
