Watervliet Press Box

Basketball teams keep winning!

The Panther varsity basketball teams both had good weeks as the girls beat both Hartford and South Haven and the boys beat South Haven and took a loss on Saturday. The previous week, the boys had two big wins at Martin and Fennville. Additionally, the girls also took a win against Fennville after losing to Gobles on Dec. 5 for their season opener.

The girls opened the week with a 47-22 win against the Hartford Huskies. The Panthers led 16-6 after one quarter as senior Grace Chisek dropped in 10 points on her way to a game-high 23. They led 27-14 at the half then held the Huskies to just eight points in the second half. Ellie Golden found her shot and scored 10, Lauren Laws scored four, Natalie Van Lente and Courtney Van Lente each scored three, and Tia Caldwell and Abby Whorton each scored two.

On Friday night, Dec. 15, the South Haven basketball teams came to Watervliet and went home with a pair of losses.

In the girls game, the Rams started the scoring with a three; but then Chisek again led the Panthers to a 10-3 lead after one quarter as she scored six points in the early going. They took a 22-14 lead into halftime but the Rams weren’t going down easy. South Haven tied the game at 22 shortly into the third quarter. The Lady Panthers led most of the game but found them down by a point midway through the final quarter. They regained the lead then played back and forth until making some big defensive stops and hit five free throws, after getting the Rams into foul trouble, to secure the 46-40 victory.

Chisek finished with 21 points including 11 free throws. Lauren Laws scored eight points, all in the second half. Golden and Caldwell each scored four, Whorton scored three, and Van Lente, Van Lente, and Riley Preston each chipped in a bucket.

The girls take a 3-1 record into the holiday break and play next on Friday Jan. 5 at Dowagiac.

The boys basketball team also took on the South Haven Rams Friday night, winning 56-45. Jacob Pleyer got the house rockin’ with a big blocked shot 30 seconds into the game. And then at the other end, got an assist from Wyatt Epple and drained a three to take the early 3-0 lead. The Rams took a brief lead at 6-5 but the Panther defense stifled the Rams and Watervliet was ahead 17-10 after one quarter, led by Owen Epple’s seven points.

The Panther boys led 33-19 at halftime and then 40-32 after three. South Haven chipped away at the Panther’s lead to get within six points to start the fourth quarter, and then made a short run to pull within four points with 4:30 left to play. The Panther shooters extended their lead back to a more comfortable eight points before pulling away late.

Pleyer led all scorers with 17 points. Kaiden Bierhalter, Owen Epple, and Wyatt Epple each scored 11, Jacob Schaefer scored four and Colton Swisher scored two.

On Saturday the team played Glenbrook South, a team from the northwest Chicago suburbs. Watervliet took a 47-39 loss and are now 4-1 on the season. They played on Tuesday at Allegan and then play again at Dowagiac on Friday, Jan. 5.

Wrestling action

The Panther wrestlers headed east to Climax last Wednesday, Dec. 13 for a meet with the Climax-Scotts/Martin co-op team and South Haven. Climax/Martin is the preseason fifth-ranked Division 4 team which makes this one a tough meet for the young Panthers.

Wyatt MacMillan continued surprising opponents at 215 and pinned his opponent. Luke Isbrecht keeps getting bumped up to 132, several pounds over his regular weight, and earned a hard fought 5-3 victory. Riley Hess took his opponent to sudden victory OT but lost on a takedown.

Lucas Smith had the toughest matchup and was pinned by CSM’s Logan Gilbert, who was a state champ last season and runner-up his freshman season. This was Gilbert’s 100th victory, which is common enough, but not this early in a wrestler’s junior season. Next the Panthers faced an always-tough South Haven team. Getting wins were Riley Hess, Kameron Smith, and Luke Isbrecht, all three with pins.

On Saturday, Dec. 16 the team went to the Burton Richards Memorial Tournament at Eau Claire. Riley Hess won his 175-pound bracket with three wins. Luke Isbrecht took second place with a pair of pins. Kam Smith won a pair of matches, Braizen Robart won a match, and MacMillan had a pin. The team finished ninth in a field of 20 teams.

Panther wrestlers opened their season in Allegan on Dec. 6 with team duals against Delton-Kellogg and Allegan. They dropped both team matches, with individual wins from Riley Hess, Taylor Woollett, Sophie Wigent, Braizen Robart, Wyatt MacMillan, and Luke Isbrecht.

On Saturday, Dec. 9 the varsity wrestlers went to Zeeland West for a big tournament. Senior Riley Hess went 4-0 on the day, with Luke Isbrecht and Wyatt MacMillan going 3-1. Kameron Smith and Aiden Wolford each got wins.

Meanwhile, the girls and JV wrestlers went to Coloma for a smaller tournament. Taylor Woollett took first place in her bracket, getting three pins at 0:55, 0:50, and 1:20. Ayana Marshall also took first place with pins at 0:33 and 0:44, then a 7-2 win in the final. Sophie Wigent took second place with pins at 1:24 and 0:44. On the JV boys side DeAndre Rose took third place with three pins at 5:08, 4:46, and 2:04.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Tri-City Record apologizes to the Panther student-athletes and their families and fans for duplicating the Watervliet Press Box column from Dec. 7 in the Dec. 14 issue. Highlights from missed column have been added to this Press Box edition.