Basketball Roundup- Union City drops road battle with Jonesville; Tekonsha falls to Jax Christian; Coldwater JV, Frosh, UC JV all win

JONESVILLE — The Union City Chargers dropped a tough Big 8 conference road battle on Thursday night, falling to conference foe Jonesville by the score of 51-41.

Jonesville held a slim lead early on, outscoring Union City 11-8 after one quarter of play. The Comets again managed to build on their lead by a very slim margin, outscoring the Chargers 16-14 in the second quarter to build a 27-22 lead at the half.

The teams played to an 8-8 stalemate in the third quarter, sending the game to the fourth quarter with the outcome still very much in doubt.

Union City could not seem to get going offensively which allowed Jonesville to outscore the Chargers 16-11 in the final period to find the final score of 51-41.

Union City was led on the night by Kyle Johnson who scored 15 points, one of two Chargers in double figures. Also adding double digit scoring was Landon Galvin-Mueller who poured in 12 points, including three 3 pointers.

Also adding to the Union City effort was Terrance Morgan Jr. with six points; Caden Marshall with two points; Tyler Wagley with four points; and Phoenix Elkins with two points.

Jonesville was led by Tyler Scholfield with 16 points who led a very balanced Comet attack.

With the win Jonesville improves to 5-4 overall on the season and 3-1 in the Big 8. Jonesville will see action again next Friday when they travel to Concord.

With the tough loss Union City falls to 5-3 overall on the year and 2-2 in the Big 8 conference. Union City will look to bounce back from their two game losing streak next Thursday when they travel to Reading.

Tekonsha struggles on offense in loss to Jackson Christian

JACKSON — The Tekonsha Indians traveled to Jackson Thursday to battle with Jackson Christian in a key SCAA conference battle.

Tekonsha struggled on the offense end throughout the night, dropping the conference battle by the score of 42-34.

Jackson Christian led from the opening tip as the Indians committed 23 total turnovers.

“We have to do a better job offensively,” said Tekonsha head coach Tim Jenkins.

Leading the Tekonsha effort was Jake Boring with nine points while Lance Renfro added eight points and six rebounds. Also adding to the Indians effort was Marco Barron with eight points and four assists; Chase Hewlett with four points.; and Wyatt Blashfield with three points and six rebounds.

With the loss Tekonsha falls to 2-5 on the season. The Indians will next see action next Tuesday when they face off with North Adams in a makeup conference clash.

Coldwater JV boys basketball nips Northwest

COLDWATER — The Coldwater JV Cardinal boys basketball team just squeezed past a very solid Northwest squad Thursday night, winning by the score of 48-44.

Leading the way for Coldwater was Niko Downs who led all scorers with 15 points to go along with four rebounds and two assists.

One other Cardinal hit double figures as Aiden Dirschell poured 14 points to go along with seven rebounds, two assists and one steal.

Also adding to the Coldwater JV effort was Tyson Roby with four points, one steal, one assist and one rebound; Eddie Pool with two rebounds and one point; Evan Porter with six points, two rebounds and two steals; Jack Ruden with three steals, two assists and two points; Gabe Wagoner with two rebounds and two assists; and Keavyn Zabonick with six points and two rebounds.

Coldwater Freshman boys secure first win of the year

COLDWATER — The Coldwater Freshman boys basketball team picked up their first win of the season Thursday night, defeating Northwest by the score of 47-32.

Leading the Freshman Cardinals in their big night was Drew Ennis and Kendall Austin each with 14 points. Also adding to the Coldwater win was Claudel Wischmeyer with eight points.

Union City JV continues to roll, routs Jonesville

JONESVILLE — The Union City JV Chargers improved to 7-1 on the season Thusrday night, rolling past the Jonesville JV Comets by the score of 63-37.

Union City jumped out to an early lead, outscoring Jonesville 13-8 in the first quarter. The Chargers exploded in the second quarter thanks to the hot shooting of Jeremy Zehr, Eli Payne, Aiden Decker and Nathan Maurer as they outscored Jonesville 24-10 to build a 37-15 lead at the half.

Union City continued to pour it on in the third quarter as they essentially put the game away with a 20-9 advantage, building a 57-24 lead after three quarters. Jonesville made some noise in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Chargers 13-6, but it was too little too late as Union City took the 63-27 win.

Leading a very balanced Charger attack were three players in double figures, paced by Aiden Decker with 18 points. Also hitting double digits was Ricky Austin with 10 points and Nathan Maurer with 10 points.

Also chipping in for the Charger win was Riley Laird with four points; Ethan Neveraski with three points; Zach Bishop with three points; Jeremy Zehr with nine points; and Eli Payne with six points.

Jonesville was led on the night by Gavin VanKampen and Kyler Harrington with seven points each.

St. Charles kicks off 2022 basketball schedule with tough loss

COLDWATER — The Cougars of St. Charles Borromeo in Coldwater faced off with the Raiders of St. Mary’s Assumption in Bronson in the opening game of the Sturgis Christian League. St. Mary’s secured the early seaosn victory, defeating St. Charles 32-24.

Scoring for St. Charles in the contest was Carter Shaffer with 10 points and Andrew Richards with eight points. Adding two points each for St. Charles was Kenzi Maynard, Matthew Waller and Luke Aerts while Ross Bertram contributed some huge rebounds for the Cougars. Playing tough defense was Kenzi Maynard who was suffocating in the full court press.

“This game was another hard fought contest between these two cross county rivals,” said St. Charles head coach Kevin Paradine.

St. Charles will be back in action on Jan. 20 when they face off with Trinity Lutheran out of Sturgis, which will be played at Coldwater’s Pansophia Academy.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Reporter: Boys Basketball Roundup in Branch County