Maple Valley News

10/29/2024

Five individual state qualifiers ran their last race before heading to Michigan International Speedway for the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals on Monday afternoon at the Barry County Meet hosted by Hastings at Charlton Park.

That group included three seniors: Jacob Draaisma and Ava Crews from Thornapple Kellogg who won individual county championships and helped their Trojan teams to titles too, and Hastings’ Brandon Simmons who was the runner-up to Draaisma on the day. For 17 other seniors, it was their final varsity cross country race and Hastings athletic director Mike Mohn and the local varsity coaches took time to honor those seniors as the sun began setting behind the historic Charlton Park village.

Crews is now a three-time Barry County individual champion, and a four-time state qualifier. She won Monday’s race in 19 minutes 15.0 seconds. The only girl to ever beat her in a Barry County race, Hastings sophomore Caroline Randall who is a two-time state qualifier herself, was the day’s runner-up with a time of 19:44.1

The Thornapple Kellogg girls’ team put nine girls among the 14 All-Barry County honorees including first-teamers Crews, Peyton Hardy (third), Madison Kietzman (fourth), Meghan-Jane Skidmore (sixth) and Alaina McCrumb (seventh), and second-teamers Carmen Reynolds (eighth), Amya Gater (ninth), Hailey Lee (tenth) and Avery Hagemann (13th).

The TK team finished the day with 21 points followed by Hastings 59, Delton Kellogg 63, Lakewood 99 and Maple Valley NTS.

Randall and the top five Trojans were joined in earning all-county first team honors by Delton Kellogg senior Kylie Main who was fifth overall. The rest of the top 14 also included Delton Kellogg senior Jillian Leclercq (11th), Lakewood freshman Raelin Schrock 12th and Hastings junior Berta Fabrega Vivas (14th). The Maple Valley team was led by senior Isabel Emerick who was 19th overall.

The Thornapple Kellogg girls have won the Barry County Championship for as long as anyone can remember. The TK boys’ victory Monday snapped a three-year winning streak by the Hastings boys. TK last won the county meet in 2020.

The TK team had six of the top 14 finishers in the boys’ race. Draaisma had a winning time of 17:06.2. Senior Hunter Tietz was TK’s number two with a sixth-place time. The Trojan team had sophomores Grady Galaviz and Elijah Frazer place eighth and ninth and senior Case Dykhouse and junior Noah Donker 13th and 14th.

The Trojans won with 37 points ahead of Hastings 58, Lakewood 67, Delton Kellogg 77 and Maple Valley 110.

Saxon senior Micah Johnson was third in his final race.

Lakewood and Delton Kellogg both had three guys among the top 14 including DK sophomore Landon Madden who threw out an impressive PR at his team’s MHSAA L.P. Division 3 Regional in Allendale to qualify for the state finals in his first varsity cross country season. Madden led the DK team Monday with a fifth-place finish and the Panthers had junior Nick Muday 11th and freshman Jace Hilton 12th.

Lakewood was paced by senior Riley Johnson who was fourth overall. The Viking team had sophomore Bryce Goodemoot seventh and sophomore Kaden Rohrbacher tenth.

Maple Valley sophomore Tyler Curtis led his Lion team and was just 3.5 seconds behind the last of the all-county honorees in 15th place.

The Lion boys’ team also had sophomore Quincy Page 21st, senior Doug Smalley 23rd, sophomore Cameron Murray 27th, senior Jeremiah Penny 28th and sophomore Brayden Joseph 37th.

Behind Isabel Emerick for the Lion ladies, freshman Lydia Emerick was 28th, senior Brianna Gurd 36th and senior Arial Coleman 37th.

09/14/2024

The Maple Valley varsity football team rallied from a 16-0 halftime deficit, scoring 27 points in the fourth quarter alone, to earn a 33-16 win at Quincy for its first ever Big 8 Conference football victory.

Jimmy Wiggs returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the second half, capping both ends of the Lions’ comeback. He intercepted a Quincy pass in the end zone and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown to finally spark the Lions int the second half, getting his team within 16-6 at the time in the third quarter, and then picked off another one and took it back 37 yards for a score with just under two minutes left in the game.

In the fourth quarter the Lions dominated. They pulled within 16-13 thanks to a 37-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jakeb McDonald to Skyler Cook and kicker Kelvin Nevins-Davis’ extra-point kick. Maple Valley took its first lead of the ballgame with 2:15 to play on a one-yard TD run by McDonald and another Nevins-Davis e.p.

Back Carson Milbourn powered the Maple Valley offense with 19 rushes for 76 yards.

Wiggs was stellar on defense adding a team-high 12 tackles too. McDonald and Chris Mock had eight tackles each for the Lions. McDonald and Alex Shepard also picked off Oriole passes, and McDonald and Cook recovered fumbles.

The Lions are now 2-1 overall this season and 1-1 in the Big 8 Conference.

09/07/2024

Maple Valley was bested 34-6 by visiting Springport in its first ever Big 8 Conference football game.

The Lions got an 8-yard touchdown run from Jeremiah Penny at the end of the first quarter to get their team within 7-6 of the Spartans, but Springport tacked on two more touchdowns before the first half was through to take control.

Springport quarterback Gibson Overweg was 14-of-15 passing for 194 yards and one touchdown and ran for a TD too. Daniel Dyster scored three times for the visitors.

08/30/2024

Kelvin Nevins-Davis drilled a 32-yard field goal as time expired to give the Maple Valley varsity football team a 9-8 win in its return to 11-player football Thursday.

It was a 9-0 run for the Lions in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to come out victorious.

The Lions scored with just under three minutes to play in the fourth quarter to pull within 8-6 of the visiting Potterville Vikings. Quarterback Jakeb McDonald connected with Eli Wright on a ten-yard touchdown pass and the Lions just needed a two-point conversion to tie the game. The Lions were certain that McDonald got across the goal-line on his two-point try, but the officials disagreed leaving Maple Valley still down two points with 167 seconds left on the clock.

An on-side kick attempt was unsuccessful, but the Maple Valley defense came up huge driving the Vikings backwards and then getting a hand on the Potterville punt to make the Lion offense's last chance a little more hopeful.

Jakeb McDonald and the Lion offense managed just enough to get Nevins-Davis in range for the game-winner. Reciever Teegen McDonald drew a facemask penalty and Wright had a big 25-yard catch on the final drive.

“The kids never quit. I am so proud of them,” first-year Lion head coach Trent Harvey said.

Potterville had held an 8-0 lead for more than two quarters after getting a four-yard TD run form Ezzy Taylor midway through the second quarter.

Both teams turned the ball over twice. Tyrese Robinson recovered two fumbles for the Lions' defense while Taylor picked off two Jakeb McDonald passes. The Lions went to the air more often in the second quarter as the Viking defense stuffed the box to stop the run and eventually it paid off.

Wright finished the game with four catches for 59 yards and Teegen McDonald had five receptions for 54 yards. Jakeb was 10-of-27 passing for 125 yards. Jeremiah Penny led the Lions on the ground with 13 rushes for 53 yards., and coach Harvey was really happy with the way his backs blocked in the passing game too.

Skyler Cook led the Lion defense with nine tackles Jackson Burpee had seven and Penny six.

Read more about the season opener in the Sept. 7 edition of the Maple Valley News …

08/28/2024

Former President Donald Trump will be visiting Potterville Thursday turning the Vikings into visitors themselves. The season opening varsity football game the Potterville team was supposed to host against the Lions is being moved to Maple Valley High School. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.

Attention: Varsity Football Schedule Update

08/16/2024

New Maple Valley varsity football coach Trent Harvey and the Maple Valley High School football program began their first official practices in preparation for a return to 11-player football this week.

The 2024 MHSAA sports season kicked off Monday with the first practices of the “fall” sports season. Maple Valley athletes opened practice in football, volleyball, cross country and boys' soccer.

The first contest of the Lions’ fall is slated to be a varsity boys’ soccer game at Laingsburg this afternoon. Those Lions host Dansville at the high school Monday. The Lions plan to play all their soccer games at the high school moving forward.

Cross country and soccer teams are allowed by the MHSAA to begin competition today. The first day of volleyball competition is set for Wednesday, Aug. 21, with the Maple Valley varsity heading to Dansville for a quad.

The varsity football team (pictured along with the JV at practice Wednesday evening) opens the season on the road at Potterville Aug. 29.

06/14/2024

They won more baseball games than any varsity baseball team in Maple Valley history.

But like those guys before, the 1975 state runner-up team, then ballplayer/now head coach Bryan Carpenter’s 1993 district championship team, and all the rest - just not the last one.

The pin-striped, powder blue, blonde-haired magic the Maple Valley boys wielded through their state tournament run finally ran out inside Michigan State University’s McLane Stadium in East Lansing Friday.

The Lions (29-8) were bested 5-1 by number one-ranked and defending champion Beal City (31-7) in the state semifinals, after three straight come-from-behind, late-inning victories to claim their program’s first regional championship in 49 years and a spot in the MHSAA Division 4 final four.

The Lions’ couple best chances to catch the Aggies, after the Beal City boys built a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, ended in the glove of Aggie second baseman Cuyler Smith.

Maple Valley seniors Connor Joseph, Ayden Wilkes, Callan Hoefler and Cam Carpenter all took one of their last varsity at-bats in the top of the fifth inning, and the Lions couldn’t have really hoped for more as they tried to dig out of a 4-1 hole. But Beal City made the plays that state champions make.

Right fielder Bennett Glide lunged toward the right field line to make a catch an inch above the grass keeping Joseph from a leadoff single. Wilkes beat out an infield single and Hoefler walked to put two on with one out, and it looked like more late-inning heroics were coming from the Lions.

Beal City pitcher Josh Wilson, who went the distance to save Aggie ace Cayden Smith for Saturday’s state championship game, struck out Lion junior Jakeb McDonald on three pitches for the second out of the inning, leaving Cam Carpenter as the potential tying run at the plate with two out.

Cam took a ball, watched a strike go by and then fouled one off down at his feet. He hit a little liner on the 2-2 pitch towards right centerfield.

McDonald said he doesn’t always keep a close eye on the field from the dugout when his team is down, but he did jump up to get a view when he heard the ting off Cam’s bat.

“I just see [the second baseman] jumping up and thought that might have a chance to go over, and then they might have to put in their ace to pitch, and we’ll have a rally going, but he barely caught it.”

“I can’t believe that kid caught that ball,” Cam said. “I was trying to battle with two strikes and I hit one over the kid’s, well I thought I hit it over his head, and the kid made an amazing play. You can’t be mad. I was hoping to score a run. There is only so much you can do.”

The Lions’ one scoring rally, in the top of the fourth, started with a ball the Aggies should have caught, but didn’t. Cam hit a pop-up down the left field line with one out and raced safely into second base as the ball dropped in off the Aggie shortstop. Two pitches later, freshman Teegen McDonald doubled into left to score Cam from second.

Senior Andrew Shepard was hit by a pitch with two out and Teegen McDonald still on second, but Carson Milbourn gounded out to Caylen Smith at second for the final out of the inning.

The Aggies answered right back with a run in the bottom of the fourth and then added another in the bottom of the fifth.

Beal City will play in the MHSAA Division 4 State Final for the third consecutive season Saturday. The Aggies were the state runners-up in 2022 and won the whole darn thing in 2023.

The Lions were just the third team to score against Beal City this postseason. The Aggies have shut out four foes and forced three mercy rule shortened ballgames this postseason.

The Lions didn’t cower in the face of the defending champs, and there weren’t any heads hanging and not many tears (among the players at least.) There was pride.

Jakeb McDonald pitched the the Lions allowing five runs on six hits and three walks. Hoefler threw the sixth inning allowing one hit.

Jakeb said he felt like he had a better grasp of how to handle the talented, top of the Aggie lineup after it hit him hard in that first inning.

Wilson got the complete game win on the mound for the Aggies. He struck out eight and walked two.

Maple Valley had three hits, two singles from Teegen and one from Wilkes.

Wilkes got one more at bat after that fifth-inning single. He came up after two quick outs in the too of the seventh. He popped the first pitch he saw up to Aggie first baseman Owen Mckenny. Beyond the bag at first, Wilkes dropped his helmet and held his head with his fingers in his bleach blonde hair before being gathered in by his teammates.

Coach Carpenter hopes for more good things to happen for Maple Valley baseball in the future.

“We are definitely senior led, but you saw some of the little kids here that have blonde hair,” coach Carpenter said. “That is our best recruiting tool right there is what those guys just did this year. We have a great group of seniors that we’re going to miss like crazy, but we’ll go at it again next year.” …

Read more in the June 22 edition of the Maple Valley News …

06/14/2024

MHSAA Division 4 Baseball State Semifinal: Beal City 5, Maple Valley 1.

More to come …

06/08/2024

It started to rain right before the trophy presentation.

That didn't stop Cam Carpenter, Ayden Wilkes and their teammates from furiously searching every nook and cranny of the first base dugout and surrounding area for every water bottle they could find inside Cornerstone University's Dewitt Stadium in Grand Rapids. There wasn't a big Gatorade jug in sight, but one way or another they were dousing the winningest head coach in Maple Valley baseball history, Bryan Carpenter.

Mission accomplished - in more ways than one. The Lions got to soak their head coach and the last goal on the preseason list, earning a spot in the final four at Michigan State University, has been completed.

Maple Valley came from behind in the sixth inning or later for the third straight time in the MHSAA Division 4 state tournament to score a 4-2 win over 16th-ranked Hackett Catholic Prep Saturday afternoon in the state quarterfinals. The Lions also came from behind to score a 5-4, eight-inning win over Adrian Lenawee Christian in their regional final Saturday morning at Cornerstone, and they scored the tying and go-ahead runs in their regional semifinal in the bottom of the sixth at Concord Thursday.

For the third straight time senior Andrew Shepard was in the middle of the late rally. He dropped down a squeeze bunt with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the sixth against Hackett, bringing Jakeb McDonald home from third, to tie the game at 2-2.

That RBI sacrifice bunt left the Lions with Cam Carpenter at third and Noah Musser standing on second base.

With his knees shaking, the Lions' Carson Milbourn swung and missed at two pitches from Hackett reliever Tyler Brand. Milbourn would say later that Brand was the hardest throwing pitcher the Lions have seen yet in the postseason. Down in the count 1-2, Milbourn got ahold of one. His RBI single into center scored Cam and Musser to give the Lions' their two-run advantage.

The Fighting Irish pushed across single runs in the first and second inning against Lion starter Teegen McDonald, but he kept pitching his way and kept getting outs. He got the win throwing six innings in which he gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks. He struck out four.

Callan Hoefler got the save in relief. He threw a perfect top of the seventh striking out the first guy he faced on three pitches and then getting a couple groundouts on the infield to clinch it.

The 29-7 Lions will face 30-7 Beal City in the MHSAA Division 4 State Semifinals Friday, June 14, at 9 a.m. inside Michigan State University's McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field. Beal City, ranked number one in the state in Division 4, beat Lansing Christian 12-0 in its regional final Saturday in Muskegon and then beat the quarterfinal host Western Michigan Christian 10-1 to earn its spot in the semi's.

A few of the Lions wondered aloud on the turf at Cornerstone Saturday if they might finally earn a spot in the state's top 20 rankings now that they're among the final four teams left playing Division 4 baseball in the state of Michigan.

The last time the Lions won a regional championship was 1975. That team reached the Class C State Final where it fell to Bronson 8-1.

The Lions' sixth-inning rally against Hackett started with singles by Jakeb McDonald and Cam Carpenter. Teegen McDonald struck out after failing to get a bunt down, but Musser walked behind him to load the bases for Shepard's and Milbourn's clutch at-bats.

Maple Valley got its first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth. Cam blasted a leadoff triple over the Fighting Irish centerfielder. Teegen McDonald walked to put runners on the corners with nobody out.

Once Hackett starting pitcher Brooks Basler got set up back on the mound, Teegen started a slow trot towards second. The Fighting Irish bit, running slowly towards Teegen at first, but then they started throwing the ball around. Teegen kept the pickle alive long enough for Cam to see an opening, and he broke for home. Cam slid in safe, the ball got away, and Teegen wound up on third. He was stranded there though.

The Lions weren't quite perfect on defense either. Hackett started the top of the sixth with its 3-4-5 hitters coming up. Andrew Rann put a ground ball at Musser at third and it bounded through his legs. Next up was Noah Emmer, who grounded into a fielder's choice taking Rann's spot at first. Tyler Beech stepped into the batter's box and belted the ball to deep left field. Shepard, the Lions' left fielder, broke in first and then tried to leap up and snag it as it sailed over his head. Luckily for the Lions Christian Willis, who was in running for Emmer, didn't get a good read on the play and was held up at third.

Teegen got an infield pop up and a strike out to get out of the jam without allowing a run.

For the game, Cam Carpenter was 2-for-2 at the plate with two runs scored and he was intentionally walked once. Wilkes was 2-for-3 with a walk out of the leadoff spot. Hoefler, Jakeb McDonald and Milbourn had the only other Lion hits.

Renner had an RBI single for Hackett in the first inning and Kyler Higgins had a two-out RBI triple in the second inning.

Basler went 4 1/3 innings on the mound for Hackett. He was charged with one run on four hits and two walks. He struck out four. Brand took the loss allowing three runs in 1 2/3 innings. He gave up three hits and walked two while striking out one …

Pick up a copy of this week’s Hastings Banner to read more before Friday’s state semifinal, or look for more in next weekend’s edition of the Maple Valley News …

06/06/2024

Andrew Shepard hit it.

Concord left fielder Collin Thompson twisted and dove for it, but with the wind helping push the ball a little further towards the line he just couldn’t get there.

The ball hit the warning track in the corner.

Maple Valley varsity baseball coach Bryan Carpenter kept waving guys around third base. Teegen McDonald scored easily from second base. Noah Musser scored from first. The throw in to try and catch Musser got away behind the plate and Shepard kept trucking around second and into third, where his celebratory screams were that much louder to his teammates in the third base dugout and where coach Carpenter was standing to offer a hearty high five.

Shepard hit a two-out, two-run double that brought home what would prove to be the game-tying and game-winning runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Lions finished off a 3-2 win over the the Concord Yellow Jackets in the MHSAA Division 4 Regional Semifinal at Concord High School Thursday afternoon by putting them down 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh.

The whole go-ahead rally for the Lions started with two outs and a 1-2 count on McDonald. He hit a pitch into left field for a single and then Musser did the same. It was the first time the bottom half of the lineup for either team had caused a problem for the opponent all game.

The Lions head to Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids Saturday morning looking to win their first regional championship since 1975 (the year coach Carpenter was born). A regional victory would also mean they play in the state quarterfinal ballgame Saturday afternoon …

Read more in this weekend’s edition of the Maple Valley News …

06/02/2024

Lion senior Evan Brandenburg had his best sprints ever to qualify foe the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 State Finals.

He wasn’t too far off his PRs in the 200-meter and 100-meter dash at the the state finals at Hudsonville’s Eagle Stadium at Baldwin Middle School Saturday, and he had his second best long jump distance ever.

All that earned him two state medals. Brandenburg placed third in the long jump with a leap of 21 feet 4.75 inches and finished eighth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.35 seconds.

A time of 11.76 left him 13th in the prelim’s of the 100-meter dash.

Brandenburg was joined at the state finals by a pair of Maple Valley pole vaulters. Senior Nic Martin got over the bar at 11-0, but couldn’t quite match his 11-6 PR from earlier this season. Lion sophomore Athena Morehouse gave it her best shot at the girls’ opening height, 7-3, a mark that would have required she best her PR by nine inches.

05/11/2024

Ken Beardslee would be proud.

8 innings.
0 runs.
9 Ks.
1 hit.

Those were the combined pitching stats for Maple Valley’s Cam Carpenter and Teegen McDonald as they swept their way to the championship at the Lions’ annual Ken Beardslee Memorial Wood Bat Tournament on Griswold Field at Roger Corey Diamond in Vermontville Saturday.

Carpenter tossed a three inning perfect game, striking out five, as the Lions beat Lansing Eastern 15-0 in the tournament opener. McDonald threw five shut out innings in the championship game, a 10-0 victory over the Hastings Saxons.

Lead-off hitter Ayden Wilkes trotted home from third on a walk-off balk in the bottom of the fifth against the Saxons, celebrating with Carpenter at the plate before the Lions were presented with the championship trophy for the second season in a row by athletic director Landon Wilkes.

Ayden had a big day with the wood bat. In the two games combined, he went 5-for-5 with five runs scored, three RBIs, two doubles, two walks and three stolen bases.

Cam Carpenter and Andrew Sheperd both drove in two runs in the championship game against Hastings. Sheperd was 2-for-3 including an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth inning. Callan Hoefler and Jakeb McDonald had the other two Lion hits in the championship game.

The Lions had ten hits in game one against Lansing Eastern including six doubles. Cam Carpetner, Hoefler, Connor Joseph, Jakeb McDonald, Noah Musser and Wilkes each doubled once. Wilkes had two singles and Musser and Sheperd had one apiece. Joseph, Musser, Cam Carpenter and Jakeb McDonald had two RBIs apiece and Teegen McDonald drove in one.

That victory over Eastern to start the day was the 300th for Lion varsity head coach Bryan Carpenter, as Cam points out “ the winningest coach in the history of Maple Valley baseball.” Coach Carpenter would of course respond to that with the fact he’s never swung a bat or thrown a pitch or made a play to record any of the 301 wins. It has all been the ball players who have bought in to the program he says.

As exciting as that milestone is, the Lions single season goals that are more important at the moment. They took two from Reading Friday afternoon to move to 9-1 in the Big 8 Conference. They have this week off from conference play and will close out the league season with two against Quincy May 21. The Orioles are currently their closest competitors in the conference standings at 6-2. Cam is also excited to chase the single season Maple Valley wins record with his teammates the rest of the way. The current mark is 25 and this 2024 Lion team is now 18-6 …

Read more in next weekend’s edition of the Maple Valley News ….

05/04/2024

The 66 Unique Antique Festival is going strong in downtown Nashville until 4 p.m. today. This year's event, blessed with beautiful weather, is even bigger than last year. Check out our coverage in the Maple Valley News and The Hastings Banner.

04/27/2024

Day two of the Vermontville Maple Syrup Festival is in full swing with the event concluding tomorrow.

04/27/2024

Lion head coach Nick Blakely goofed around with Calleigh Koontz as they headed off the diamond following her ground out to the right side that brought an end to their team's non-conference doubleheader with visiting Pennfield Thursday.

There were more smiles on the faces of the Lions than not in the handshake line. The Lions are happy softball is back at the Valley.

“We're really happy right now,” Lion freshman Payton Morowski said. “It is amazing to come back after having no team for two years, and we finally have a team. It is a rough start, but we're getting better. We're improving every game.”

The Maple Valley program ended the 2022 spring season with a 17-0 loss to Springport in the opening round of the MHSAA Division 3 Softball Tournament in Saranac, and there weren't enough girls at the high school in 2023 who wanted to play softball to be able to field a team.

Blakely was hired in between the 2022 and 2023 seasons and worked out with a few girls throughout the spring who had hoped the team would return. He said he had three freshmen a year ago who just loved softball, but as things worked out none of them are competing with the team as sophomores this spring. A new freshmen class, a couple seniors and a couple foreign exchange students have helped fill out the roster.

“There are a lot of young ones. A lot of young ones,” Blakely said of his girls. “Which is nice. Some haven't played since they started. Some haven't played at all and some haven't played in two or three years, but they're building and they're getting better every day.”

The Lions' rough start to 2024 continued Thursday as the Pennfield girls took 16-0 and 19-1 victories, but the Lions got to celebrate a couple victories of their own already this season. They took 18-9 and 13-6 wins at Lansing Eastern last Friday, April 19.

Maple Valley had eight different girls score runs in that 18-9 win at Eastern. Alayna Pahl and Morowski led the way with three runs scored each. They both walked twice. All nine Lions scored in their 13-6 win with Aubree Roth singling and scoring a run.

“They were all hyped, pumped and of course we had to go to McDonald's on the way home after. They were just having a blast,” Blakely said of the victory celebration. “It was fun. It was fun to see them smiling and all that. It was worth it. It has been a while since they had that, so it was good to see it.” …

Read a lot more in today’s edition of the Maple Valley News …

02/29/2024

The Lions just stuck to the smallish goals.

Cut the Potterville lead in half. Then cut it in half again. And finally wipe it away all together.

The Maple Valley varsity boys' basketball team trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half of its MHSAA Division 3 District Semifinal at Potterville High School Wednesday and rallied for a 72-68 win over the host Vikings. The Lions will face 14th-ranked Pewamo-Westphalia in the MHSAA Division 3 District Final back at Potterville High School Friday.

Trailing 24-10 at the start of the second quarter, the Lions just wanted to cut the Viking lead to seven by the half. A three from senior guard Ayden Wilkes got things started for the Lions, sparking an 8-0 Maple Valley run over the final couple minutes of that first half.

Senior forward Cam Carpenter had a put-back, freshman guard Teegen McDonald drilled a couple free throws, and a free throw by junior guard Jim Wiggs had the Potterville lead down to 32-25 by the half – just what the Lions were looking for.

A 10-0 run in the middle of the third quarter helped the Lions cut what grew back to a 12-point Potterville lead down to two, and Maple Valley was as close as one before finishing the third down 47-44.

McDonald hit a couple free throws with 6:47 to go in the game to get the Lions within 49-48 and then attacked the basket for a bucket that put the Lions in front 50-49 as the clock ticked under six minutes to go. His team never trailed again.

A free throw by Potterville star guard Kaleb Betterham momentarily tied the ballgame at 50-50, but eventually McDonald made an outstanding dish to Carpenter for an open jumper that he knocked down to put the Lions in front 52-50. A three by McDonald pushed the Lion edge to 55-50.

The Maple Valley lead went to six, then nine, then 11 before Betterham hit a three with 3:02 to go to stymie the Lion surge momentarily. Maple Valley was up by double figures for the next two minutes before another Betterham three with 1:01 to go cut the Lion lead to 68-60. Yet another Betterham three had the Vikings back within 70-65 with 29 seconds left.

A steal and then two free throws by Lion senior guard Connor Joseph was enough to seal the win in the final half minute.

McDonald finished with 25 points and Wilkes had 24 for the Lions. Jakeb McDonald chipped in nine points and Carpenter had eight.

Betterham had a game-high 32 points. He had five threes. The Vikings also got ten points from Isaiah Woloszyn, 13 from Reid Jackson and eight from Diego Vasquez.

The only three Betterham hit in the first half was a buzzer be**er from about three-quarter court to close the first quarter. Despite his inflated point total, Lion head coach Ryan Nevins was exceptionally pleased with the efforts of senior guard Callan Hoefler defensively trying to keep him in check.

The Lions are now 10-13 overall this season. Potterville falls to 7-16 with the loss.

Pewamo-Westphalia knocked off Saranac 64-40 in the second district semifinal in Potterville. The Pirates moved to 21-2 with that semifinal win. Their only two losses this season have come against eighth-ranked Laingsburg …

Read more in this weekend's edition of the Maple Valley News ...