Category: Featured Articles
STICK’S PICKS: Three area football teams eye district titles
The field has narrowed and now only three football teams with local ties are still alive. Most area football teams found a quick exit last week in the opening rounds of the MHSAA postseason, as seven of 10 local teams were ousted in the pre-district rounds. Clarkston, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep and Rochester Adams all […]
Stoney Creek enjoying best volleyball season to date
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com ROCHESTER HILLS — Sometimes it takes sports programs time to build into a competitive group. After all, Rome wasn’t built overnight. For Rochester Stoney Creek’s volleyball team, the Cougars have reached another benchmark this autumn and are slowly rising up the charts to become a respected program. Stoney Creek […]
Final Four Roadblock: Inter-City continues postseason mastery of Oakland Christian
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com TROY — It’s safe to say that Allen Park Inter-City Baptist has Auburn Hills Oakland Christian’s mark. Not only have the top-ranked chargers defeated the eighth-ranked Lancer three times this season, but are now 4-0 lifetime against Oakland Christian in the state semifinals round. The latest chapter in Inter-City’s […]
All the Russ: Avondale midfielder scores game-winner to lift Yellowjackets into first state title game
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com AUBURN HILLS — As an outside midfielder, Skyler Russ’ job is not normally scoring high volumes of goals or scoring goal at all. The junior midfielder goes about his business on the pitch, marking up other players while helping his team bring the ball in the attack, looking for […]
Avondale-Andover semifinal match has an all-OAA feel
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com AUBURN HILLS — This season there will truly be a new state champion in the Division 2 boys soccer tournament. Three of the four schools that are in the Final Four have never reached this point, having captured their first-ever regional crowns last weekend. A fourth member of the […]
The MIAC tradition: Oakland Christian, Inter-City Baptist enter familiar territory with semifinal matchup
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com AUBURN HILLS — It’s a safe bet to say that a school from the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference will make a run in the boys soccer Division 4 tournament each year. It’s almost a tradition. For the 17th straight campaign, at least one current member school of the MIAC […]
Troy-Grand Haven semifinals match squares off two unfamiliar foes
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com Both Troy and Grand Haven have both had teams make long tournament runs in the past, and have combined for seven Final Four appearances including this season. The two together make for an interesting pairing, when they meet in the Division 1 boys soccer state semifinals Wednesday at 6 […]
VOLEYBALL DISTRICTS: Clarkston opens up tourney play with sweep of Holly; Lakes rolls Jewish Academy
CLARKSTON — Clarkston enjoyed a long stay in the Class A girls volleyball tournament last season, advancing all of the way to the state quarterfinals. On Monday, the Wolves took the first step of trying to repeat that feat with a 3-0 sweep of visiting Holly. Clarkston dispatched the Bronchos 25-10, 25-9, 25-5, to advance […]
Back on top: Faith Baptist rallies past Rochester Hills Christian for MACS soccer title
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com CLARKSTON — Three days after unseating defending state champions Troy Bethany Christian from its throne, Davison Faith Baptist proved that it was no fluke on the soccer pitch on the 2011 season’s final day. The Eagles won their fourth Michigan Association of Christian Schools Division I state title in […]
Oakland Christian wins seventh soccer regional
AUBURN HILLS — After the scoreless first half, Auburn Hills Christian tucked away two goals in the final 40 minutes of play Saturday and defeated unranked Lansing Christian, 2-0, for a Division 4 boys soccer regional championship. The eighth-ranked Lancers, who moved to 18-5-1 on the season, will play MIAC Blue Division league rival Allen […]
Upset special: Adams holds the line to take down Oxford
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com OXFORD — Tony Patritto insists that he had one of the best football players in the state on his side in Tony Annese. The Rochester Adams football coach proved to the state why Friday night that very belief on the opening night of the Division 2 football playoffs. Annese, […]
Adams girls hope to start new streak on cross country trials
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com ROCHESTER HILLS — Some streaks are met to be broken. Rochester Adams had a streak snapped on the cross country course in 2009 and now the Highlanders are trying to start a new one. After 17 straight berths in the Lower Peninsula Class A/Division 1 state finals, the Adams […]
STICK’S PICKS: The second season has arrived for high school football
The second season has finally arrived. The five-week march to Ford Field begins Friday and Saturday for 256 football teams in the MHSAA prep football playoffs. There are nine local schools that are in the hunt for district, regional and possibly a state championship and only two play each other in the first round. There […]
Nothing for granted: Lancers hope to turn tables after being upset victim
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com AUBURN HILLS — Drew Perrin remembers the sweet taste of success. As a freshman at Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, Perrin was a part of the Lancers’ run to the Division 4 boys soccer state championship in 2008 — the Lancers’ first state title in the sport. The Lancers defeated […]
Athens downs Troy to shift rivalry Red Hawks’ way
BY JAKE LOURIM STUDENT CORRESPONDENT j.lourim@comcast.net TROY — Midway through the annual Troy-Troy Athens game on Friday, Athens quarterback Ben Bartnowak missed a screen throw to his running back, who promptly took the poor throw off the bounce in the backfield and took it upfield for a first down. A fitting play amidst a rough […]
In Defense: Tiny Springfield Christian seeking third straight MACS soccer title
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com CLARKSTON — It’s been a numbers game at Clarkston Springfield Christian in recent times. With an enrollment drop during the past decade, the Eagles have not had the pool of athletes it once enjoyed in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. A little more than a decade ago, the […]
Stick’s Picks: League titles, final playoff spots on the line in Week 9
It was two months ago when football teams at nearly 700 schools around the state entered the 2011 season with high hopes. For most, those hopes have dwindled. For a few, league championships have been won and playoff spots have been clinched. For a few others, there is still Week 9 to grab that final […]
AOTW: Halt right there: Holly netminder Ryan St. John emerging as one of state’s best
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com HOLLY — Standing between goalposts, Ryan St. John receives a great view of the soccer pitch. He can see the plays unfolding all over the field. When the ball is played down in his direction, the Holly senior is quick to get into the right position to make the […]
