Boys Basketball defeats Comstock for third win in four games
The Hartford Husky boys varsity basketball team returned to the court for the first time since Dec. 20, as they played in one conference matchup last week. The men went into the long holiday break with a 2-1 record, having defeated Martin and Decatur to begin the season, before suffering a lopsided loss to Centreville in their last appearance. Often times, it can take a game or two to break off the rust, with the hope the team would come out strong.
In their lone game of the week, a home conference contest against the Comstock Colts on Friday, Jan. 13, the Huskies showed plenty of the rust we just described, as they had stretches of great play, and stretches of some not-so-good action. However, the men played just enough good basketball to pull out the victory in this contest, 51-46. Hartford led the game after the opening eight minutes, 7-5, before Comstock outscored the Huskies, 12-9, in the second stanza, to lead at halftime, 17-16. The men wearing green and white won both ends of the scoring battle in the second half, outscoring the Colts, 15-12, in the third quarter, to take a 31-29 lead into the final eight minutes, where they would outscore Comstock, 20-17, to put the game out of reach.
Six players scored for the Huskies, including two that finished the night in double figures. Brody Johnson led all Hartford scorers with 15 points, while Caiden Smith chipped-in 11 points in the win. Other players finishing in the scoring column included Dylan Kuehnle (9 points), Julien Rodarte (6 points), Zach Truelove (6 points) and Austin Reyna (4 points).
Hartford is currently 3-1 on the season and is 2-1 in Southwest 10 Conference play. The men will take the court for three home conference games in the coming week, which started with a visit from the Mendon Hornets, on Tuesday, Jan. 17. That will be followed by a matchup with the Bloomingdale Cardinals, on Thursday, Jan. 19, before the team finishes weekly play one night later, on Friday, Jan. 20, as the Bangor Vikings come into town, making up a game that was postponed due to the snow storm prior to winter break.
Hartford Girls Basketball shows improvement during two victory week
Last week, the Hartford Lady Husky varsity basketball team returned to the court for the first time in nearly a month (their last game was back on Dec. 15), as the team played in three games during a six-day stretch. Prior to winter break, the ladies competed in a total of five games, posting a 1-4 record, with the good news being that they won their last contest prior to their extended break. The hope is that with the amount of practice time that they’ve had, improvement will show up.
In their first game of the week, a non-conference matchup against the Lady Clippers of Martin, which was held at Coloma High School on Tuesday, Jan. 10, the Lady Huskies came out ice cold on the offensive end in the first half. Despite a much-better second half shooting the ball, the team fell in their return to the court, 47-30. As we just mentioned, the Lady Clippers dominated the first half, leading 13-4 after the opening eight minutes, before extending their lead to nineteen points at halftime, 25-6.
The second half was evenly played on the scoreboard, as both teams scored a total of 24 points; Hartford won the battle in the third quarter, 14-9, before Martin responded with a 15-10 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter to finish off the contest.
Six players scored for the Lady Huskies, including one that finished the night in double figures. Brooke Birmele led all Hartford scorers with 12 points, while both Ava Bachman and Raven Ledesma each chipped-in five points in the loss. Other players finishing in the scoring column included Lillian Price (4 points), Sianelli Rodriguez (2 points) and Abby Valdes (2 points).
In their second game of the week, a road conference contest at Comstock against the Lady Colts on Thursday, Jan. 12, the Lady Huskies and their opponent played one solid half of competitive basketball before the ladies wearing the green and white broke the game open in the second half. Hartford finished the game in the win column, 47-28.
As we just mentioned, the first half was a competitive one from the first whistle, as the Lady Huskies would lead, 10-9, after the opening eight minutes of action, before Comstock responded with a 13-9 scoring advantage in the second stanza to take a 22-19 lead at halftime.
The second half was all Hartford, as they would outscore the home team, 28-6 in the final two quarters; the Lady Huskies outscored the Lady Colts, 15-4, in the third quarter and 13-2 in the fourth quarter to bring us to the final margin of victory.
Seven players scored for the Lady Huskies, including one that finished the night in double figures. Ava Bachman led all Hartford scorers with 17 points, while both Brooke Birmele and Raven Ledesma each chipped-in eight points in the win. Other players finishing in the scoring column included Rylee Deckard (6 points), Abby Valdes (4 points), Lillian Price (2 points) and Sianelli Rodriguez (2 points).
In their third game of the week, a home conference contest against the Lady Vikings of Bangor on Saturday, Jan. 14, both teams played a competitive contest from start-to-finish. Neither team led by more than two possessions throughout. In the end, the Lady Huskies capitalized on just a couple more offensive possessions, scoring the victory 34-30. Hartford led after the opening eight minutes of play, 9-8, before extending their lead by three points in the second quarter, as they took a 17-13 lead into halftime.
The Lady Huskies extended their lead to 29-23 with eight minutes remaining, and, while Bangor won the scoreboard battle, 7-5 in the fourth quarter, it was not enough to overcome the margin, and the home team ended victorious.
Six players scored for the Lady Huskies, including one that finished the afternoon in double figures. Abby Valdes led all Hartford scorers with 10 points, while Ava Bachman chipped-in nine points in the win. Other players finishing in the scoring column included Rylee Deckard (6 points), Sianelli Rodriguez (6 points), Fantasia Eastman (2 points) and Lillian Price (1 point).
Hartford is currently 3-5 on the season and is 3-2 in Southwest 10 Conference play. The Lady Huskies will take the court for a pair of road conference games in the coming week, which started with a trip to Mendon to take on the Lady Hornets on Tuesday, Jan. 17. The team will finish weekly play by traveling to Bloomingdale for a showdown with the Lady Cardinals on Friday, Jan. 20.
Hartford Wrestling finishes
six team dual-meet week with
4-2 record
The Hartford Husky wrestling team returned to the mat on two different occasions last week, as they competed in their second conference meet of the season, in addition to participating in a weekend team dual invitational. The wrestlers have been extremely busy so far this winter, as they have already wrestled on a total of six dates, which has included both individual and team meets. The team continues to have lofty goals but must continue to improve to achieve them.
In their previously mentioned conference meet, which was held at Comstock on Wednesday, Jan. 11, the Huskies had team duals against the Marcellus Wildcats and Mendon Hornets. Hartford went 2-0 on the evening, defeating Marcellus, 62-18, before finishing the night by taking down Mendon, 42-37.
Hartford wrestlers that won matches against Marcellus included Mason Garner (150 pounds), Mikayla Hartline (175 points), Govani Gonzalez-Perez (215 pounds), Shane Phillips (285 pounds), Chandler Morsaw (106 pounds), Robert Lenza (113 pounds), Ernesto Rodarte (120 pounds), Alex Saldana (126 pounds), Armando Garcia (132 pounds), Ian Parker (138 pounds) and Braeden Birkhead (144 pounds).
Hartford wrestlers that won matches against Mendon included Adrian Flores (175 pounds), Govani Gonzalez-Perez (215 pounds), Chandler Morsaw (106 pounds), Robert Lenza (113 pounds), Ernesto Rodarte (120 pounds), Alex Saldana (126 pounds) and Braeden Birkhead (150 pounds).
In their previously mentioned weekend tournament, the All City, which was held at Battle Creek Lakeview on Saturday, Jan. 14, the Huskies competed in four (recorded) team dual matches. They included matchups against Colon, Tecumseh, Battle Creek Central and Battle Creek Harper Creek. Hartford went 2-2 on the day, defeating Colon, 63-12 and Battle Creek Central, 51-26, while they were defeated by Tecumseh, 60-18 and Battle Creek Harper Creek, 48-36.
Undefeated Hartford wrestlers on the day (with a minimum of three matches) included Braeden Birkhead (4-0), Ernesto Rodarte (4-0) and Alex Saldana (4-0).
Hartford is currently 11-9 on the team dual meet season and is 4-0 in Southwest 10 Conference action. The wrestlers will appear on the mat twice in the coming week, competing in their third conference meet and in a late-week individual tournament. The team will host the conference meet on Wednesday, Jan. 18, which will also feature Comstock and Lawrence, before traveling to Comstock on Friday, Jan. 20 to take part in the Comstock Friday Night Invitational.
As always, GO GREEN! GO WHITE!
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