The Parchment Panthers came into the Golden Eagles gym with a 10-7 record hoping to knock the Eagles off their 13-game winning streak. The Eagles, with a 16-3 record, were defending their home court on senior night. It was also Hall of Fame night where several individuals were inducted into the Schoolcraft Hall of Fame, along with the 2011 undefeated state championship boys basketball team.
Both teams played strong defense, but the Panthers were able to break through and take an early lead. At the end of the 1st period, the Panthers had the advantage, up 10-4. During the 2nd period, the Panthers’ offensive success continued while Schoolcraft struggled, allowing the Panthers a 13-point lead at the half, 23-10.
During the 3rd period, the teams swapped basket for basket with Parchment still holding an advantage. Schoolcraft’s Tucker Walther was fouled as the buzzer sounded giving him a chance to shoot 2 from the line. He sank both, closing the gap to 9 at 27-36.
Tucker Walther took the first shot in the 4th, hitting from beyond the arc, knocking down the three. The home crowd came alive. Shane Rykse’s free throws brought the Eagles within 2, 36-38. Then a driving layup by Rykse brought the crowd to life and tied the score, 38-38, with 4:35 left to play.
At the 2-minute mark the score was still knotted at 40. After a basket along with a foul, Collin Huttrum went to the line, missing his first attempt but making the second, giving the Eagles their first lead of the night, 44-43, with one minute left to play. Tucker Walther dropped a 3 pointer from the corner, extending the lead to 4, Jaden Vanderwiere drew a foul during a rebound, sending him to the line at the opposite end. He made both and gave the Eagles a bigger lead. After the final buzzer sounded, the Eagles emerged victorious, able to defend their home court and take the win, 51-43, extending their winning streak to 14. The 17-3 record also secured outright the SAC Conference Championship.
After a 3-3 start to the season, the Schoolcraft boys’ basketball team rattled off 15 straight wins as it came into the final part of the season.
The Eagles have impressed, defeating some talented teams this season. Their most recent wins came against Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian, Parchment, Battle Creek Lakeview, and Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep. All those teams have double-digit wins on the season.
Schoolcraft started off February by spoiling Lawton’s winter homecoming on the road in an 80-46 contest that was never really in question. The Eagles held the Blue Devils to just four points in the opening quarter and 15 in the first half. The game was in the middle of a brutal six-game stretch on the road against some tough opponents.
“We followed our scouting report really well, but, you know, being the third game in four days and I think we were just really mentally fatigued,” Head Coach Derrick Small said. “I like that we play hard to compete, but we’ve got to be on both sides of the basketball. I think overall if we continue to do those things, good things will happen.”
Schoolcraft certainly had no issues scoring against Lawton. Senior Shane Rykse led the charge for the Eagles, dropping 25 points on the Blue Devils, including four three-pointers. Tucker Walther helped complicate things even more for Lawton’s defense, putting up 18 points of his own. Jaden VanderWiere was the third-leading scorer for Schoolcraft with 13 points. Luke Rykse had nine points, and Colin Hotrum had seven. Tyler Perez had a single three-pointer, while Jaden Reiber and Brody Epple each had two points.
Even though it was a dominant performance, Small still saw some things that he wanted to see tightened up on both sides of the ball. Especially with tournament play starting soon.
“I think as we get into the end of the season, it’s more important that we continue to dial in and be very intentional on what we’re doing from an offense and defensive standpoint,” Small said.
“This week’s been a really tough, long week for us, and it showed a little bit at times,” Small said after the game. “But I think as we go forward, we’ll have a little bit of rest going into the tournament, and it should make it a little better.”
Schoolcraft followed up that victory with a 79-54 win over Centreville and a 65-26 win over Parchment in a make-up game. The team starts postseason play on February 28.
On senior night, members of the Schoolcraft girls basketball team were honored along with their parents. Senior members of the team are Livia Ellison, Lauren Evens, Mia Mulder, Clara Ledlow and Natalie Glerum.
The girls were ahead of the visiting Panthers at the end of the first period, 12-8. During the first 5 minutes of the 2nd period, the Eagles started to hit their stride, opening up a 10-point lead on the Panthers 20-10. That stride stalled in the last 3 minutes of the half, with the Eagles only adding a single bucket to go into halftime with a 22-15 lead.
Coach Kulchyk must have delivered some good words of encouragement for his players. In the first minute of the 3rd period the Eagles dropped two 3 pointers and a 2-point bucket to stretch the lead to 30-15. At the 5-minute mark, Parchment called a timeout to give players a breather since the Eagles just kept putting the ball in from outside the arc, taking their lead up to 35-15. At the end of the 3rd period, the Eagles really opened the lead with a 30-point advantage, 47-17.
With 8 minutes remaining, the Panthers had a steep hill to climb if they wanted to knock the Eagles off their perch. With 2 minutes remaining in the game, the Schoolcraft seniors walked off the home court they played on for so many years and hugged their teammates and coaches. The underclassmen finished out the game. Addison Sziede stole a Panthers pass and scored a layup as the buzzer sounded, marking the end of the game with a score of 58-25.
It’s been a roller coaster of a season for the Schoolcraft varsity girls’ basketball team, but the Eagles find themselves on a three-game winning streak coming into the final stretch.
Schoolcraft has stayed competitive in most of its contests this year on the way to a 9-9 record. One of the more exciting contests in February was a 35-30 spoiling of winter homecoming on Lawton’s home courts. It was an incredibly scrappy contest where the two teams traded the lead back and forth several times. The game came down to the final seconds of play before the Eagles could seal the win.
“We pride ourselves on defense. That’s what it was tonight,” Head Coach Max Kulczyk said. “I was really proud of our girls with the ball pressure. We’re kind of preaching that you know, just apply ball pressure, see what happens. And I thought the effort was there tonight.”
Schoolcraft trailed for much of the contest. The score was 9-6 in Lawton’s favor in the first, and 15-13 at the half. The Eagles were finally able to pull ahead 20-19 with just 2:27 left in the third. The two teams then went back and forth with the lead several times after that.
Mia Mulder led the scoring on offense with nine points. Addison Sziede had eight. Natalie Glerum had seven. Lauren Evans scored five points. Liv Ellison and Clara Ledlow rounded out the scoring for the Eagles with three each.
The end of the game ended up being a thriller as the Blue Devils just kept hanging on, cutting the lead to 29-28 with 51 seconds left in the game. However, the Eagles were able to close it out thanks to some excellent ball control that burned through the rest of the clock.
“You know, we haven’t been in that situation a lot, but I was really proud of my girls,” Kulczyk said. “They didn’t panic. In the past, we’ve panicked sometimes under suppression. But it was a really good job of just utilizing the ball fake and identifying the open person.”
Kulczyk said it’s been an up-and-down season for the team. But this win came at the right time for the Eagles late in the season.
“They beat us on our home court earlier in the year by one. We knew it was going to be a battle tonight. All the girls wanted it,” he said. “We’ve had adversity throughout the year whether it was injuries or sickness or whatnot. But the girls came to play tonight and they played hard for 32 minutes, so I’m really proud of them.”
U Avenue in Schoolcraft Township from Portage Road to 23rd Street will be repaired this summer and a roundabout at East TU and 23rd Street is scheduled for completion in 2025.
Those were two items in a presentation from the Road Commission of Kalamazoo County at a February Township Board meeting.
Mike Worden, the agency’s engineering and public relations director, showed trustees a map of the township with color coding rating the condition of its roads: green roads are in good condition, yellow roads are fair and red roads are poor. U Avenue is rated as in poor condition. The road is scheduled to be pulverized, rehabilitated with a structural overlay, and its shoulders widened, all at a cost of $1,050,000.
Worden also explained the pavement surface evaluation and rating and the training required to be able to rate the roads, noting that the system is standard across the state.
Area residents have spoken against the planned roundabout at East TU and 23rd Street. One resident again objected to the roundabout, saying, “I’ve lived there 25 years. I don’t think you know more about that intersection than I do.”
Worden said that the state has told the commission that the money must be used for the roundabout at that intersection. The agency has said work on U, 23rd Street, East TU, and the roundabout are needed to accommodate anticipated east-west traffic between W and Centre.
He acknowledged that the Commission has listened to people’s objections but added that the roundabout is the right thing to do since data show that roundabouts reduce the severity of accidents.
New board trustee Jennifer Sportel questioned Worden about how the Commission deals with trees along the roads. Worden explained that trees within 10 feet of the road will be removed. Residents will then get a letter asking what they want to do with the wood – whether or not they want to keep it for their own use.
Trees with branches arching over the road are pruned and a spray is used to stunt the growth of vegetation, said Worden.
During public comment time, Schoolcraft resident Ted Lupina spoke out against plans for a sewer in the Village of Schoolcraft due to the high monthly costs for the individual homeowners and thousands of dollars in assessments.
“It’s not going to help me at all,” he said. In comments after the meeting, Lupina noted that having his septic tank pumped out every few years is a lot less expensive than the costs he would pay for a sewer line.
Township Supervisor Don Ulsh explained that the sewer is not the Township’s project. It’s being considered by the Village of Schoolcraft.
“We are working with the water project,” said Ulsh.
At the January meeting, the Township Board approved a $5,000 expenditure for a formal engineering study about supplying water along the U.S.-131 corridor from Lockport Township in St. Joseph County to Schoolcraft Township.
In other public comments, board trustees heard from John Spencer, district manager for State Rep. Matt Hall who represents the 42nd District. Spencer said they are holding meetings for constituents at various locations in the district. On the fourth Tuesday of each month, a meeting will be held at the Vicksburg District Library. The meetings run from 11 a.m. to noon.
In business items, the Board approved the Barton Lake weed control contract. Treasurer Teresa Scott noted that the costs have not increased substantially for this service since it was first implemented in 2008. At that time, it was about $10,000. Now it’s about $11,500.
During member time, Sportel spoke about the new digital sign which is being researched for placement outside the Township offices. She noted that the sign would be seen only by those who drive by which would limit its usefulness. She suggested that they once again consider TextMyGov.com, which allows governmental entities to communicate with residents who have opted in to get text updates about Township events, reminders about taxes, or emergencies, for example.
“I don’t disagree with you,” said Treasurer Scott, who said she had gotten quotes on the service but wondered if it might be cost prohibitive.
The Board had previously discussed TextMyGov at its November meeting, but now-retired trustee Steve Fryling thought it was a bit pricey and suggested waiting and checking with Vicksburg to see how much use the village is getting out of it before moving forward.
Township Clerk Virginia Mongrieg reported on the training township clerks have been given to work with Michigan’s new early-voting law. She also noted the various locations where people can go to vote early.
“I don’t like it,” she said. “It’s costing us a lot of money.”
