8/13/2019 Weekly Choice - Section B - January 03, 2014

1/6

By Mike Dunn

GAYLORD Choosing a

top-10 list of sports stories is

always a subjective process

and its not easy to do. There

were many notable team and

individual achievements in

2013, as there are every year,

so picking a handful to recog-

nize was a real challenge.

Readers are bound to agree

with some picks and disagree

with others. Im not saying

my picks are the right ones;

only that these are the onesthat stood out to me as I went

through the 52 papers the

Weekly Choice published in

the calendar year.

Theres no question that

the top story related to sports

in 2013 was the tragedy that

took the lives of the Grayling

golf coach Jason Potter and

Viking athlete Louis Menard

on April 29. I intentionally

didnt include that out of

respect for the families

involved.

MY TOP STORY for 2013

was the remarkable playoff

run of the St. Mary girls bas-

ketball team of coach Dan

Smith. The Snowbirds not

only repeated as district and

regional champs in March

but suffered a narrow two-

point defeat in the Class D

quarterfinals for the second

year in a row.

The Grayling football team

of coach Dan Smith exor-

cised some demons of past

years with a thrilling home

playoff victory against peren-

nial U.P. power Kingsford in

the Div. 5 playoff opener at

home. It was the first timethe Vikings have beaten a U.P.

rival in the playoffs since

2005 and the first time in

Coach Tim Sanchezs four

years as head coach. Thats

our No. 2 story.

The No. 3 story is a tribute

to the grit, guts and determi-

nation of Mio senior wrestler

Zach Mack, who posted a 45-

1 record in the final season of

his outstanding prep career

on the mats and placed his

name prominently in the

record books by winning the

125-pound state title with a

second-period pin over

rugged Matthew Elliott of

Fife Lake Forest Area.

I have included more

information on the top three

stories later in this article.

The rest of the top 10 list

includes the amazing feat of

Petoskeys amazing senior

Louis Lamberti, who repeat-

ed as the Div. 2 state high

jump champion, clearing the

bar at 6-foot-7 to again beat

out a very tough field under

the toughest of circum-

stances; St. Mary junior

Caylee Lawnchak beating out

everyone to capture the indi-

vidual state championship in

the annual National Archery

in Schools Program (NASP)

state tournament with a

score of 292 out of 300 with

22 bulls-eyes; the

Cheboygan baseball team of

coach Kevin Baller taking a

school-record 24 wins and

claiming the Chiefs first-ever

district title in the sport

behind the seed-throwing

efforts of hurlers Damon

Proctor and Stan Swiderek,

then advancing to the

regional finals behind

Proctors shutout over

Gladwin and very nearly

wresting the title from

defending champ Chippewa

Hills behind Swidereks two-

hitter; the Onaway baseball

team rallying to edge Rogers

City 7-6 in the district semifi-

nals before powering past I-

Lakes to win the schools first

district title in 13 years as

lefty Andrew Prow produced

a school-record 14 strikeouts

in a complete-game effort;

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Ben scored a game high 31points in the Chiefs win againstKalkaska during the KingsleyInvitational Boys Basketballtournament last week.

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Continued on page 2

Top Stories of 2013

ST. MARY GIRLS MAKE RUNSnowbirds of Coach Smithreturn to Class Dhardwood quarterfinals intop story; Grayling homeplayoff victory on gridironand Mio wrestlers state

title are top 3 stories

Top Sports Stories

of 20131St. Mary girls basketball team of coach Dan Smith repeats asdistrict and regional champ, loses narrowly again in Class Dquarterfinals

2Grayling defeats visiting U.P. rival Kingsford 42-25 in D-5 grid-iron playoff to advance to district finals for third time in fouryears

3Senior Zach Mack of Mio claims 125-pound state wrestlingtitle, finishing with sparkling 45-1 record

4Senior Louis Lamberti of Petoskey repeats as state high jumpchamp, clearing 6-foot-7 in Div. 2 state meet

5St. Mary junior Caylee Lawnichak wins individual state NASParchery title, scoring 292 out of possible 300 with 22bulls-eyes

6

Cheboygan baseball makes school history, wins 24 games and

advances to regional finals

7Onaway baseball claims district title as lefty Prow sets schoolrecord with 14 Ks

8Gaylord girls basketball team wins first district title since 1995and first ever for girls competing in Class A

9Petoskey freshman phenom Tommy Rousch earns All-State inboth discus (168-4) and shot put (52-1.25), taking third andsixth place, respectively

10Cheboygan junior golfer Andrew Purcell captures individ-ual D-3 district and regional titles

* See other notable sports achievements for 2013 inside

8/13/2019 Weekly Choice - Section B - January 03, 2014

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Owners Gary & Mary Ann Stempien

the Gaylord girls basketball

team of coach Frank Hamilla

winning nine of their last 12

games and peaking at the

perfect time to generate

back-to-back-to-back upsetvictories over Alpena, T.C.

West and T.C. Central to win

the Blue Devils first district

title since 1995 and the first-

ever district title in Class A;

Petoskeys strong-armed

freshman Tommy Rousch

earning All-State in both

throwing events in the D-2

state meet, taking third place

in the discus with Herculean

heave of 168 feet, 4 inches

and sixth place in the shot

put with a distance of 52 feet,

1.25 inches; and Cheboygans

stellar junior golfer Andrew

Purcell winning individual

D-3 district and regionaltitles, firing a round of 77 at

the Cheboygan Country Club

in the district tourney and

shooting 75 at the Lakeside

Links in Ludington in the

regional tourney.

Heres a review of the top

three stories:

THE ST. MARY GIRLS fin-

ished 18-2 in the regular sea-

son, losing only at

Johannesburg-Lewiston and

Mount Pleasant Sacred

Heart. The Snowbirds

stormed through the district

and regional competition,

pushing their record to 23-2.They rolled past Leland 60-28

in the regional semifinals

before outscoring tall-and-

tough Bear Lake 39-23 in a

hard-fought and physically

intense regional title game

played at Buckley.

One of the constants

throughout the season for St.

Mary was the scoring punch

of junior guard Kari

Borowiak, who was reliable

as the times tables as she sur-

passed the 1,000-point

plateau as a junior. She was-

nt alone, though. Senior cen-

ter Mary Spyhalski was a

blue-collar battler in thepaint who wasnt afraid to

bang bodies down low; sen-

ior guard Chrissy Smith was a

two-way force offensively

and defensively as well as

being a super ball handler

and smart passer; hardwork-

ing senior Sara Long was a

dependable physical pres-

ence inside; freshman Bekah

Myler brought height andphysical toughness to the

floor; and Jada Bebble terror-

ized opposing ball carriers

and was poison from the

perimeter.

St. Mary faced talented

Climax-Scotts (19-5) in the

Class D quarterfinals at Reed

City. The Panthers jumped to

a quick lead, hitting their first

eight shots from the floor.

The Panthers also did a good

job of keeping Borowiak from

penetrating or getting any

kind of open looks at the bas-

ket.

Coach Smith switched to a

1-3-1 zone late in the firstquarter with his team down

15-4 on the scoreboard and

that was a pivotal move as

the Snowbirds surged back to

pull within a point, 21-20,

before halftime.

Borowiak, who kept draw-

ing defenders like magnets,

was able to find Spyhalski

and Myler inside to help

spark the comeback.

Chrissy Smith made the

twine dance from downtown

at the start of the third quar-

ter to give St. Mary a 23-21

advantage. The Panthers ral-

lied behind the strong play of

All-Stater Janae Langs later inthe quarter, however, and

took a 37-29 lead into the

final period.

The Snowbirds went down

with both fists flying. A steal

and breakaway bucket by

Borowiak ignited a run that

eventually brought the

Snowbirds to within a point,

38-37, with 2:25 remaining.

Langs responded with

another penetrating drive to

make it 40-37, however, and

then she hit the two biggest

points of the game, nailing

both ends of a one-and-one

with just 23 seconds left to

make it a five-point game,42-37.

Smith drained another

triple to cut the lead to 42-40

with 5 seconds left but that

was as close as the Snowbirds

would get.

Myler came off the bench

to score 14 and lead the way

for the Snowbirds. Smith

sank 12, including three

treys, to go with four

rebounds and three assists.

Spyhalski spanked the nets

for 10 points, including eight

in the first half, and she also

hauled in six rebounds. Sara

Long secured five boards and

Kari recorded eight assists.

Langs scored 19 to pace

the Panthers.

GRAYLING FINISHED the

regular season with an 8-1

record. The Vikings of coach

Tim Sanchez had faced

Kingsford the year before in

the opening round of district

play and suffered a 36-14 set-

back. This time around,

though, the No. 3 seed

Flivvers had to come to sec-

ond-seeded Grayling and on

a sun-soaked autumn after-

noon the Vikings entertained

the overflowing home crowd

with an electrifying win in a

battle of high-powered

offenses.

In the first half, senior sig-

nal caller Jake Swander

teamed with fellow first-teamAll-State receiver Tyler

McClanahan on TD connec-

tions of 11, 50 and 9 yards as

Grayling established a 28-13

lead on the scoreboard.

The visitors closed the gap

to 28-19 on their first posses-

sion of the third quarter but

the Vikings answered right

back as Swander fired his

fourth TD pass of the game, a

missile that leaping Grayling

receiver Brandon Latusek,

who had a phenomen al

game, wrested away from a

Kingsford defender in the

corner of the end zone.

Kingsford trimmed the

lead to 35-25 with a long

scoring pass early in the

fourth quarter but the

Vikings sealed the deal with a

game-clinching 18-play, 80-

yard march culminating in

Swanders 3-yard burst up

the middle behind the escort

of plowing lineman William

Rock-a-Bye Romain with

2:25 left to play.

Swander, who hit on 18

passes and finished with 263

yards through the air to go

with his four TDs, had key

hook-ups of 19 yards with

Danny Schultz, 16 yards to

McClanahan and 13 yards to

Latusek on a fourth-and-11

play in the red zone.

Grayling amassed nearly

600 yards of total offense in

the game, generating oneexplosive play after another

through the air or on the

ground. The Vikings top two

runners, Michael Branch and

Kevin Harris, both finished

with more than 150 yards

rushing as they launched

their way through the over-

matched Flivver defense.

Branch also tallied on a 10-

yard TD burst around end.

Sanchez was especially

pleased with the play of the

O-line featuring center

Justice Junttila, guards

Emmett Helsel and Romain,

and tackles Noah Kolka and

Tyler Wyman which formed

a black wall of defiance

around Swander on pass

plays and consistently

opened canyon-like holes for

Branch and Harris.

McClahanan, playing in

the final game of his brilliant

prep career, hauled in 10

aerials for 191 yards and the

three first-half TDs and he

also had 10 tackles with an

interception near the goal-

line as a safety on defense.

Branch led the way defen-

sively with 11 stops from his

linebacker post and Romain

racked up nine stops with

two sacks.

Harris, in addition to his

slashing effort running the

ball, booted all the extra

points and thundered most

of his kickoffs into the endzone.

MIO SENIOR wrestler Zach

Mack capped his brilliant

four-year mat career with the

Thunderbolts in the best way

possible, capturing the state

title in the 125-pound weight

class at The Palace of Auburn

Hills.

Mack, a four-year state

qualifier, barreled through

the competition in the Div. 4

state meet like a Mack truck,

capturing four straight

matches. Mack whipped

Matthew Elliott of Fife Lake

Forest Area via a second-

period pin in the state finals

to secure the title.

After icing Collin Haag of

Addison in the opener, Mack

faced two very tough oppo-

nents en route to the finals,

edging rugged Hunter

Malchus of Bronson 2-1 in

the quarterfinals and then

outscoring Carter Ballinger

of Jonesville 11-9 in a wild,

seesaw semifinal clash.

Mack finished his out-

standing senior season with a

sparkling 45-1 record. He was

also a district and regional

champion. In his stellar

career with the

Thunderbolts, Zach

advanced to the state meet

all four years and earned All-

State honors three times,

including a fifth-place finisha year ago at 125. Zach

earned a whopping 175 vic-

tories in his four years.

* Petoskey senior 215-pound grappler

Jordan Haggerty battles to a fourth-place

finish in the D-2 state meet to earn All-State

* Gaylords rugged senior Trent Hunt earns

eighth place at 152 pounds in the D-2 state

meet to earn All-State honors

* Grayling freshman Jon Man Eater

Martin finishes eighth to earn All-State at

103 pounds in the D-3 state wrestling finals

* Johannesburg-Lewiston girls capture

Class C district hoops title, fall to TCSF in

regional semifinals to finish with 22-2 record

* Mio boys go 21-2, capture district title

before falling to Beal City in regional opener;

Micah Thomey surpasses 1,000 points, earns

All-State honors

* Grayling boys win third straight district

title, advance to regional finals again in Class

B, finish with 19-6 record

* St. Mary archers are runner-up in annu-

al state tournament, advance again to NASPnational tournament in Kentucky

* Johannesburg-Lewiston

baseball falls by one run to

Atlanta in distric t final as

crazy bounce hits baserun-

ner Brandon Huff to short-

circuit seventh-inning rally

* Mancelona baseball team

rallies to win two suspended

games and share SVC title

with Onaway; Ironmen also

capture fifth straight district

title

* Mio softball wins third straight district

title, advances to regional finals before los-

ing to Ubly

* Cheboygan girls soccer team posts 15-

game winning streak, wins third straight dis-

trict title before losing 5-4 to Muskegon

Oakridge in regional semifinals

* J-Ls Shannon Kievit, the only athlete

from local area to qualify at state in three

individual events, earns All-State with herfifth-place time of 1:01.88 in the 400 dash

* Gaylords Trae Hill finishes fifth in 400

dash in 50.21 seconds in the D-2 state meet

and teammate Nate Fischer is sixth in the

800 run (1:56.69) as both earn All-State

* Defending champs Triebold and LaJoie

capture Au Sable Canoe Marathon for sixth

straight year

* Ben McMurray, 26, rallies in final mile to

edge out Dave Smith, 29, by a mere 18 sec-

onds and win 33rd annual Mellon Triathlon

at Otsego Lake County Park

* Slippery senior QB Nick Harrington runs

wild, scores all five TDs as St. Mary rallies

past Pellston 33-21 to win first game on grid-

iron in two years

* Johannesburg-Lewiston football wins

home playoff opener, battles St. Ignace to

wire in D-8 district title game under first-

year head coach Joe Smokevitch

* Gaylords determined sophomore Alexis

Smith earns top-10 finish in D-2 state cross

country finals

* Onaway volleyball goes undefeated in

league play, repeats as district champs but

loses All-Stater Mariah Ehrke to ankle injury

in finals

* Pellston volleyball repeats as district

champ, defeats short-handed Onaway in

regional semifinals

* The Celebrate Grayling Recovery event

raises $7,600 for the Viking golf team in the

wake of the spring tragedy

M# ,e#+ 0+e,%e+ Zac" Mac$ caed "#, b+#%%#a +-ea+ +e ca+ee+ b ea+#! a ,ae #%e a 125

d, # "e D-4 ,ae &ee. Photo byterryGillette

Other notable sports eents, listed chronologicall!:

8/13/2019 Weekly Choice - Section B - January 03, 2014

3/6

KINGSLEY Steve Ernst

isnt one to stand pat.

Its not his personal style,and it isnt the style he wants

to see from his Cheboygan

High School boys basketball

team.

The Chiefs fell to Kingsley,

60-54, in the championship

game of the Kingsley

Invitational and stand 3-3.

Cheboygan returns to the

court on Tuesday, Jan. 14,

with a non-league game at

Gaylord.

Were trying to develop a

style of play that can win you

games around the state ofMichigan, said Ernst, who

last year led Lansing

Christian to the Class D state

semifinals. Weve got a

choice. We can either adjust

to how the games are called

and have an unrealistic ver-

sion of basketball, or play at a

fast, exciting pace.

The dilemma faced by

Ernst and the Chiefs, who

opened the tournament with

a 67-36 semifinal win over

Kalkaska, is that fast-paced

style of play is netting anunmanageable number of

foul calls.

And the Chiefs dont have a

deep bench to withstand foul

trouble. They played last

weekends tournament with-

out point guard Eric Sturvist.

Kingsley went to the free

throw line 36 times, 18 of

which came in the fourth

quarter, in its championship-

game win over the Chiefs.

Cheboygan went to the line

just nine times.

The Stags made 16 of their

36 attempts, including 7-of-

18 in the final period when

they rallied from a deficit.

Tyler Cases 3-pointer with

about two minutes to play

broke a 52-52 tie and put the

Stags ahead for good.

We certainly didnt play

our best basketball, Ernst

said. It was a bad loss. Bad

coaching loss for us at

Kingsley. It was one (in

which) I should have done a

better job and figured out

how to win it.

Kingsley has a nice kids

and they play hard, nothing

against them, but its one we

should have won. Youre

never going to win if the

other team shoots 18 free

throws and you shoot one (in

the fourth quarter). And we

were trying to go to the bas-

ket. We werent settling for

outside shots. Weve got to do

a better job adjusting to the

style.

Stacy Almquist scored 26

points to lead the Stags (2-2),

while Luke Harrington had

21 points and Ben Pearson

added 13 for the Chiefs.

Pearson scored 31 points

and Harrington added 21 in

Cheboygans semifinal win

over Kalkaska, and both

earned a spot on the all-tour-

nament team.

Almquist and Tyler Newell

of Kingsley were also named

to the all-tournament team

along with Will Noble of

Kalkaska and Joe Stiles of

Houghton Lake.

Kingsley topped Houghton

Lake, 52-38, in the other

semifinal. The Blazers

defeated Houghton Lake, 78-

62, in the consolation game.

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Chiefs at .500 take a mid-inter breakCheboygan falls in tournament finale to Kingsley

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CHEBOYGAN The last

thing Cheboygan High

School hockey coach Craig

Coxe needed was the injury

bug to bite his team.

Yet thats exactly where

Coxe and the Chiefs found

themselves last weekend

when they hosted theCheboygan Holiday

Showcase at Ralph G.

Cantile Arena.

The Chiefs, playing with-

out five players because of

injuries, opened the event

with a 4-2 loss to the Bay

Area Thunder, then followed

with a 6-2 loss to Midland

Dow.

Dow is ranked third in the

Division II state poll, and

12th overall regardless of

class.

We were down to three

lines and four (defense-

men), Coxe said. My kids

competed great. I wasextremely proud of them. It

was 3-0 going into the third

period (against) Dow and

my guys never gave up, kept

working hard. Theyre (the

Chargers) are a very good

hockey club. Youre not

ranked 12th in the state if

youre not. I think its impor-

tant to challenge your play-

ers and that makes them

hockey players.

The Chiefs gave it a valiant

effort in both games, Coxe

said, but were simply over-matched by the Chargers.

The effort but not the

breaks was there against

Bay Area as well, he said.

The game on Friday

against Bay Area, we defi-

nitely outplayed them, said

Coxe, whose team outshot

the Thunder, 27-20. It was

one of those games where

you outplay your opponent

and unfortunately dont win.

Both of their coaches came

up to me, at separate times,

and said they didnt deserve

to win, that we outplayed

them.

There were times wherewe got the puck in the front

of the net and the bounces

didnt go our way, we just

couldnt get the puck across

the red line.

The guys played well. We

hit a couple of posts.

Sometimes you work hard

and it just doesnt go your

way. Its unfortunate.

I feel bad for the kids that

they work that hard and end

up losing the game. One of

those things where youve

just got to keep working hardand good things will come.

Nate Stempky and Ramsey

Villarrea l scored for the

Chiefs in their loss to Bay

Area. Zack Schley picked up

an assist. Quaid Brooks

made 16 saves in goal for the

Chiefs.

Parker Beauchamp and

Dakota Bell scored the

Chiefs goals against Dow.

Gavin Armstrong, Stempky,

Bell and Austin Christie each

had an assist. Cheboygan

netminder Kaleb Wood

made 28 saves.

The goals for Bell and

Villarreal were the first oftheir respective varsity

careers.

The Chiefs are 5-9 and

have lost four straight. Coxe

said they expected to get at

least two of the injured,

Adam Jeannotte and DJ

Sayers, when they go this

weekend to the New Years

Tournament at Michigan

Tech in Houghton. The

Chiefs are scheduled to play

Escanaba on Friday, Jan. 3,

and Painsdale Jeffers on

Saturday, Jan. 4. Escanaba isranked eighth in Division II.

Weve lost some games,

but were playing well, Coxe

said. Its going to turn

around. Thats what I tell my

guys. dont get frustrated. Its

hard not get frustrated when

youre playing hard and not

winning , but itll come

around. Bad luck or bad

mojo or whatever you want

to call is isnt going to last all

year. Its something youve

got to work through.

They keep working hard

and working hard in practice

and as far as a coach, I cant

ask for anything more.Theyre sticking together

and still working, keeping a

good a ttitude.

Long trip to Michigan Tech next for Cheboygan

Short-handed Chiefs drop twoin challenge

By Doug Derrer

TRAVERSE CITY The Bay

Area Reps participated in the

Traverse City Central Scott

Miller Memorial Holiday

Tournament during their

Christmas break and went

toe-to-toe with some of the

states top-ranked teams.

In their Dec. 26 match the

Reps took on Salem, the

11th-ranked team in Division

I, and used stellar defense

and outstanding goal tending

in taking down the Rocks 1-0.The game was scoreless

through two periods as the

Reps managed 13 shots on

net and Salem just 7, but 31

seconds into the third period

Travis Kirk scored a power

play goal to give the Reps

their only goal in the 1-0 vic-

tory. Zack Bargy and Trevor

Apsey assiste d on what

proved to be the only goal of

the well-played contest.

Salem came to life after the

Rep goal and fired 13 shots at

goalie Jay Jones, but he was

impregnable, keeping them

all out of the net to earn the

amazing shutout win.

Looking to advance to the

finals, the Reps would have to

get by Saginaw Heritage,

ranked No. 17 in Division II,

in the second round of the

tournament.

The Hawks took a two-goal

lead late in the first period

before Chase Joppich scored

for the Reps with 2:19 to go in

the opener to get the Reps

within a goal.

Dangerous Andrew

Dzierwa, who assisted on the

Joppich goal, then tied the

score at 2 when he beat the

Heritage netminder with a

sizzling slammer with 3:54

left in the second period. R.J.

Deneweth assisted on the

tying goal.

After a scoreless third peri-

od the teams headed to over-

time and the Hawks scored

just 1 minute and 31 seconds

into OT when a shot deflect-

ed off a skate in front of the

Reps netminder and foundits way into the goal to give

Heritage an exciting 3-2 win.

With their OT win,

Heritage advanced to the

tournament finals to take on

University of Liggett and the

Hawks would take home the

tournament championship

with a 5-4 win.

Toledo St. Johns Jesuit, the

third-ranked team from that

state, would be the Reps

third-round opponent. After

taking a 1-0 lead after one

period, the Titans would

jump all over the Reps in the

middle period and score four

goals on their way to a 5-0

win.

Despite their 3-6 record

the Reps have shown steady

improvement against some

of the best teams in the state

and they start the New Year

with a pair of home games on

Friday, Jan. 3, against

Cadillac and Saturday, Jan. 4,

versus Grandville.

Reps shockSalem in Miller

tourney!Kirks cannon blast is only

goal as Reps take 1-0 win intourney opener; Jones is

masterful in nets

Hockey

photomichigan.com

Your photos on the web

Bob Gingerichbob@danishlanding.com

989-348-5355

By Mike Dunn

SAULT STE. MARIE

Johannesburg-L ewiston

graduate Stephanie Fisher, a

red-shirt junior for the Lake

Superior State womens bas-

ketball team, found her

range at the perfect time to

help the Lakers earn their

first and only win of the sea-

son so far.

On December 12, the

Lakers traveled to the court

of Malone University in

North Canton, Ohio for a

GLIAC clash and left town

with a stunning 73-71 victory

in hand. Lake State went into

the game with an 0-6 record

and 0-2 in the conference

while Malone brought a 4-2

record to the floor and 0-2 in

the GLIAC.

The 5-foot-7 Fisher started

and played 30 of 40 minutes

in the contest and drilled the

nets for a career-high 27

points to lead all scorers. Not

only that. She came back

into the game with 4:29

remaining and her team

trailing 64-60 and scored

nine of her teams final 13

points.

Fisher, a former All-State

Cardinal prep star known for

her sweet scoring touch and

electrifying play, was locked

in like radar from beyond the

arc, draining two straight 3-

pointers to tie the score at 66

with 3:36 left. Her free throw

with 15 seconds remaining

put the visiting Lakers on top

71-68. The Pioneers came

back to tie the score, howev-

er, when Selana Reale was

fouled while scoring a lay-up

with 5 seconds to go and

then hit the bonus shot.

The Lakers brought the

ball out with 5 seconds left,

moved it up the floor and got

it to Fisher, who had the hot

hand. The junior launched

her shot at the buzzer and

found nothing but the bot-

tom of the net, giving LSSU a

dramatic road triumph.

Fisher was on the floor for

39 minutes in the Lakers

next game, a tough overtime

loss to Walsh on December

14, and she scored 18 points

with five rebounds, two

assists and two blocked

shots.

Through 10 games, Fisher

is leading the Lakers with

11.5 points per game and she

is averaging 24.4 minutes.

Two outstanding 2013

graduates, guard McKenzie

Edwards of Gaylord and for-

ward Kelsey Ance of

Petoskey, are also playing for

the Lakers. They are making

the formidable transition

from high school to the

speed of the college game as

true freshmen and both are

seeing playing time and con-tributing as reserves.

Lake State, which returned

recently from a two-game

tournament in Hawaii, plays

again on Thursday, Jan. 2,

against Lake Erie.

Fisher finds range in LakeState victory

Stephanie Fisher

8/13/2019 Weekly Choice - Section B - January 03, 2014

4/6

4 WHEEL DRIVE

2004 # <

8/13/2019 Weekly Choice - Section B - January 03, 2014

5/6

8/13/2019 Weekly Choice - Section B - January 03, 2014

6/6

Page 6-B Tell our advertisers you saw their ad in the Weekly Choice January 3, 2014

By Jim Akans

Nestled on a rise overlooking the Cheboygan

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weeklychoice.com

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1738 S. Otsego Ave., P.O. Box 641 Gaylord, MI 49735

OLDY BUT AGOODY

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ACROSS

FROM

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CLOSE

TO

TOW

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AREA

Featured HomeOn the Market

428 Riverside Drive, CheboyganContact; Roger Kopernik, Exit Realty Paramount, Cheboygan, (231) 597-8000

Spacious custom home onlarge lot features Cheboygan

River frontage

Real EstateBuying a Home

with Resale

ValueCompliments ofEd Wohlfiel

Part 1 of 2

Buying a Home with a ViewHomes with a pleasant view of

the horizon often sell at a premi-um above similar homes with-out the view. However, if a viewis important to you, buy it most-ly for your own pleasure and notas an investment. Though youmay place a considerable dollarvalue on the view, future buyersmay not be so like-minded. Itmay take you longer to find abuyer when it comes time toresell the house. Or you may endup dropping your price to morenearly match other sales pricesin the neighborhood.

In short, if you are buying ahouse with a view, try to pay aslittle extra as possible.Otherwise, you might not getyour money back.

Lot and LandscapingEven though most real estate

value is usually concentrated inthe building, the lot is impor-tant, too. Obviously, it should beas level as possible. Assuming

the property is in a typicalneighborhood, the lot should berectangular no odd shaped lotsor oddly situated lots.

Yard sizes are smaller in mod-ern homes than in older homes,but there should still be adecently sized front and backyard. Do not buy a house wherethe entire back yard is taken upby a swimming pool, for exam-ple.

Do not purchase an over-landscaped property, either. Youwould normally pay a premiumfor that, which you may not beable to recover when you sell.You will get your best value if thehouse is moderately landscaped

or under-landscaped for thearea. You can always i mprovethe landscaping during yourownership by improving thegrass and adding bushes andtrees. Just do not spend toomuch.

House SizeIn each residential neighbor-

hood, houses will vary in sizeand rooms, but they should notbe too different. If resale value isan important consideration, youshould not buy the largestmodel in the neighborhood.When determining marketvalue, the homes nearest toyours are most important. Ifmost of the nearby houses aresmaller than your house, they

can act as a drag on apprecia-tion.

On the other hand, if you buya small or medium house for theneighborhood, the larger homescan help pull up your value. Thisis one of those times wheredetermining your wants versusyour needs can be extremelyimportant. Buying what youneed in a more prestigiousneighborhood may providemore financial reward than get-ting what you want in a lessdesirable neighborhood.