Boys’ basketball has up and down week
The Coloma Comets varsity boys basketball team would get their week started off on Monday, Feb. 20 in a game against the Dowagiac Chieftains. Both teams would come into the game with very similar records as Dowagiac was 2-16 and Coloma 1-16.
Dowagiac is a school that has a history of having a great basketball program but this season has gone against usual expectations as the Chieftains have struggled on both sides of the ball. In eight out of their eighteen games played, Dowagiac had given up sixty or more points with their worst defensive games coming against Benton Harbor. While Coloma was in a very similar boat as Dowagiac, they did have a better defense coming into the game.
Coloma would come into the game with an eight-point loss to Allegan in their previous game, but they would look better as of late even if their improved play had not translated into the win column. The Comets would be ready to try and secure their second win of the season.
Dowagiac would come out quick as they would force two turnovers immediately and score threes off of both turnovers. Coloma would be forced to take a timeout minutes into the first quarter. The Comets would score a basket out of the timeout but it would not take long for Dowagiac to extend their lead. Coloma would find some offense late in the first quarter but they would struggle to slow down Dowagiac as the Chieftains would take a 17-8 lead into the next quarter.
The two teams would trade baskets throughout the second quarter. The Comets would be able to find something to build on going into halftime as their offense was finding success, but they would need their defensive rotations to be quicker if they looked to cut into the Chieftains’ lead as Dowagiac would lead 25-19 at halftime.
Unfortunately for the Comets, they would not find many defensive answers for the offense of the Chieftains in the third quarter. Coloma would continue to give up three pointers and would commit fouls that would send Dowagiac to the free throw line far too often. The Chieftains would secure their largest lead of thirteen heading into the fourth and final quarter. The Comets would have to dig deep in the fourth quarter if they hoped to win this game, and they were able to do just that.
The Comet offense was able to catch fire throughout the fourth quarter as they would see themselves finding success in the close midrange as well as in the paint. Tyrell Taylor-Owens would get the scoring going early in the fourth quarter and would be a threat throughout the entire quarter as he would score seven points in the fourth quarter. PJ Parker would play hero for the Comets at the end of the game though as he would score six straight points for the Comets in their 9-0 run. Coloma would secure a 46-43 point lead heading into the final minute of the game.
The Comets would look to defend to the best of their ability to hold the lead, but they would commit a foul on a three point shot within the final ten seconds and Dowagiac would hit all three free throws to tie the game and send it to overtime. Coloma and Dowagiac would trade baskets to start overtime until Zacorious Tanner would give the Comets a 52-50 lead and the team would hang on for the remainder of overtime for the 55-51 victory over Dowagiac!
For the win, Ryan Schroder scored two points, Adarius Jenkins would score 10 points, Tyrell Taylor scored 21 points, Carter Crist had two points, De’anthonie Cornelius scored six points, PJ Parker finished with 10 points, and Zacorious Tanner scored four points. The Comets record would improve to 2-16 after the victory.
The Comets would play again on Tuesday, Feb. 21 against the Lawton Blue Devils. Lawton would come into the game with a record of 9-9 on the season and having just had a big loss to Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep by a score of 37-76. Coloma was coming off the win against Dowagiac the previous night and would look to carry their momentum into this game.
The Comets would come out in the first quarter with their offense producing well from inside the paint as well as from the midrange while their defense was able to create some turnovers against Lawton to give them a 13-9 lead to end the first quarter. They would come back in the second quarter and continue to work their strengths on offense and find success while their defense was able to lock down the offense of Lawton, holding them to their lowest scoring quarter with only five points. Coloma would take a large lead of 26-14 into halftime.
At halftime it looked like Lawton made all the right changes because they would come out in the third quarter on an offensive tear and it would be a night and day difference for the Blue Devils. Lawton would also slow down the offense of the Comets as they were able to force them to settle for longer ranged shots that were often contested. The Blue Devils would cut the Comet lead to just two points at the end of the third quarter, 32-30.
The Comets would hope to find some offense again in the fourth quarter and while they would not have a terrible offensive performance, they would not stop the offense of Lawton as the Blue Devils would outscore the Comets 14-8 in the fourth quarter and would end up beating the Comets by a score of 44-40 in a heartbreaking loss for the Comets. The Comets would drop to 2-17 on the season following the loss.
The Comets would play their third game of the week against Watervliet on Friday, Feb. 24. The Comets and Panthers had already met once this year where Watervliet would win by a large 28-point margin when they defeated the Comets 59-31 in the middle of January. The Comets had been playing well recently and would look to get a major upset over the Panthers and notch their third win of the season.
The Panthers would open the game with a 6-0 run against the Comets. Coloma would cut the lead down to four points and make it a 6-2 game, but that is the closest Coloma would come in the first quarter. The Panthers would go on an 8-0 run to end the first quarter and take an 18-6 lead to end the quarter.
The Comets would find their offense in the second quarter as they began to hit shots much more consistently. But their defense was not able to slow down the Panthers as they would outscore Coloma 18-15 and take a 36-21 lead into the halftime. Watervliet would outscore the Comets 20-13 in the third quarter. The Comets would have their best offensive quarter in the fourth quarter as they would score seventeen points, but they would not be able to cut the Panthers’ lead by much. Watervliet would go on to beat Coloma by an end score of 69-51.
De’anthonie Cornelius would score 10 points, Tyrell Taylor scored 22 points, Ryan Schroeder scored one point, Adarius Jenkins scored nine points, PJ Parker scored five points, and Zacorious Tanner scored four points. Coloma would fall to 2-18 following the loss.
Cheerleading competes at Regionals
The Coloma Competitive Cheerleading Team would compete at the regional tournament this past weekend at Grand Rapids Northview on Saturday, Feb. 25. The Comets would have a great performance and end up taking 10th place overall. Although they were not able to qualify for the state championship tournament, the Comets had an incredible season. Congratulations on making huge strides this season and best of luck to the competitive cheer team next year!
Coloma sends three bowlers to State Individual Finals
The Coloma boys bowling team would compete at the regional tournament on Saturday, Feb. 25. For the boys, they would place 8th overall but not qualify as a team this year to go to the state championship tournament like they had last year. Only the top three teams get to move on.
The boys would play eight baker’s matches, scoring 150 in their first, 138 in their second, 152 in their third, 155 in their fourth, 142 in their fifth, 185 in their sixth, 176 in their seventh, and 134 in their eighth match. They would also play two complete regular games as a team where they would score 701 in their first game and 792 in their second game. The Comets would end with a combined total of 2,725 points at the team portion of the regional tournament.
The boys would bowl again on Sunday, Feb. 26 for the individual portion of the tournament. The bowlers would bowl six complete games and would then have their totals combined from the six games to give them an overall score. The number one bowler overall at the individual portion of the regional tournament was none other than Brodie McQuillan from Coloma!
Brodie would bowl a 195 in his first match, and then would go on a crazy run for the remainder of his games. In his second game, Brodie scored a 233, in his third game he scored a 201, in his fourth game he would post the best score at the tournament with a 247. Brodie would score a 211 in his fifth game, and he would cap off his five game streak of 200 or more points with a 201 in his sixth game. He would finish with a combined score of 1,288 and would finish 11 pins higher than the 2nd place bowler.
James Anthony from Coloma would also qualify for the state championship as he would secure the tenth and final spot of the regional tournament as a freshman! James would bowl a 176 in his first game, 246 in his second game, 157 in his third game, 154 in his fourth game, 218 in his fifth game, and 173 in his sixth game. James would finish with a combined score of 1,124.
Conner Kiser would finish in a tie for 50th place overall at the tournament. Conner would finish with a combined score of 893 points. Garrett Wolfe would finish in 54th place with a combined score of 884. Neal Wilson would finish in 55th place overall and would finish with a combined score of 870.
Congratulations to all of the boys from the Coloma boys bowling team on a tremendous season and congratulations to Brodie McQuillan and James Anthony on making it to the state tournament as individual bowlers! The boys have a young team overall so they should be expected to be right back here competing at a high level again next year.
Coloma’s girls bowling team would also compete at the regional tournament for the team portion on Saturday, Feb. 25. The Lady Comets would have a great showing at the tournament as a team, but they would just barely miss the cut as they would place 5th overall and would be right outside the top three spots to go to the state finals tournament as a team.
The girls would score a 171 in their first baker’s match, 162 in their second match, 148 in their third, 167 in their fourth, 105 in their fifth, 103 in their sixth, 131 in their seventh, and 166 in their eighth match. The Comets would play two complete regular games where they would score 674 in their first game and 700 in their second game. They would finish with a combined score of 2,527 and would miss getting into the top three spots by just 45 pins.
The girls would compete again on Sunday, Feb. 26 for the individual portion. The bowlers would play six complete games and then be ranked by their total combined scores from the six games. Savannah Hamilton would place fifth overall and punch her ticket to the state championship tournament! Savannah would bowl a 230 in her first game, 189 in her second game, 117 in her third game, 127 in her fourth game, 146 in her fifth game, and 173 in her sixth game. She would finish with a combined score of 982!
Heavyn Swetay would finish just outside the top ten to qualify as she finished 13th overall. Heavyn would score a 138 in her first game, 162 in her second game, 157 in her third game, 182 in her fourth game, 125 in her fifth game, and 132 in her sixth game. She would finish with a combined score of 896 and would miss qualifying by just 27 pins!
Mackenzie Hosbein finished 22nd overall for the Comets with a combined score of 893. Alyse Grenon finished in 58th place with a combined score of 720. Molley Haase finished in 81st place overall. She finished with a combined score of 537.
Congratulations to all the bowlers on a great season and congratulations to Savannah Hamilton on making it to the state finals tournament!
A Look into the Week
Boys basketball will play on Thursday, March 2 at South Haven with a start time of 7 p.m.
Girls Basketball District Final will be on Friday, March 3 with a start time of 7 p.m., should the Comets advance.
Cecilia Williams will compete at the Wrestling State Finals at Ford Field in Detroit on Friday, March 3 with a start time of 10 a.m. Wrestling State Finals will continue on Saturday, March 4 with a start time of 8:30 a.m.
Bowling Individual State Finals will be on Saturday, March 4 at Jax 60 in Jackson with a start time of 8:25 a.m.