Senior-laden Midland Calvary tops Bethany Christian in MACS semis
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
CLARKSTON — Without Travis Woodham, Troy Bethany Christian is like fish out of water.
So when the Bruins had to go nearly 10 minutes with their star point guard on the bench in foul trouble, Bethany Christian could not hang onto the lead in Friday’s Michigan Association of Christian Schools Division I state semifinal.
Woodham picked up two quick fouls with two minutes to go in the first quarter, and Midland Calvary Baptist went on a 17-9 run with him on the sideline for a 29-23 halftime lead. In the second half, the Kings (18-4) built a nine-point advantage and held on for a 53-47 victory at Clarkston Springfield Christian.
Midland Calvary will play in the MACS Division I state championship at 5 p.m. Saturday, also at Springfield Christian. The Kings will face Temperance Stateline Christian, a 55-48 winner over Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian in Friday’s other state semifinal.
“Not having Travis on the floor for almost 10 minutes hurt us,” admitted Jack Walker, Troy Bethany Christian’s head coach since 1985-86. “We’re so used to having him in there. We can get by for a few minutes without him, but not for 10 minutes. That changed the whole game around.”
Troy Bethany Christian (17-6) held a 14-12 advantage after the first quarter, but did not lead beyond the first minute of the second quarter.
Midland Calvary led by six at the break and 44-35 at the end of the third quarter. The Bruins did cut the deficit down to four points on two occasions in the final minutes, but could not regain the lead in falling in the MACS semifinals for the third time in eight years.
Senior-laden Midland Calvary had seven 3-pointers in the contest and each of the five starters scored between six and 11 points. Josiah Kahl had 12 points, Cameron McCorger had 11 points and Aaron Wheeler added 10 points for the Kings.
“They’re really hard to defend because they are senior laden ballclub and they don’t have just one guy you can key on,” admitted Walker. “they shoot the ball really well. They played great against us and they shot the ball well and that made a huge difference. I have to give them credit.”
Troy Bethany outscored Calvary Baptist 12-9 in the fourth quarter but did not have enough in the tank to overcome the deficit.
Junior forward Daniel Sprankle scored a game-high 14 points to pace Bethany Christian. Junior Mark Bishop added 12 points and both Woodham and senior Jono Grono scored eight apiece for the Bruins, who actually have a make-up regular season game to play next week against Rochester Hills Christian.
A win there will give the Fundamental Baptist Athletic Conference Red Division title outright to the Bruins. Rochester Hills must win the contest to earn a title share.
“It’s disappointing that we couldn’t make it to the final. This was the toughest schedule I think we ever played,” admitted Walker. “We were senior-laden, too, but not as many as Midland. We just came up a little short.”
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