TRAVERSE CITY — Wednesday provided a preview of next year’s West Michigan D conference play as Grand Traverse Academy hosted Marion in varsity girls basketball action.
GTA is headed to the WMD for the 2025-26 school year as the Mustangs join a conference for the first time since they were a part of the now-defunct Cherryland Conference until 2016. The Mustangs improved to 4-2 with a 44-9 victory over the Eagles, who drop to 1-3.
“I’m excited,” GTA head coach Amy Dix said. “I love these girls. I love coaching these girls. They’re amazing. We have a young team, but we have a fast young team; so it’s been a lot of fun.”
Dix said that fast-paced play has been enjoyable to watch and one of the reasons for their early season success.
“I want to come out pressing. I want to come out fine-tuning the small things to cut down on turnovers and focus on the basics,” Dix said. “I want to be strong in the basics so we can just run and gun.”
The Mustangs built a big lead early, going up 18-4 three minutes into the second quarter. GTA kept the Eagles off the board the rest of the first half for a 23-4 lead at the break.
The third quarter was low-scoring on both sides, but the Mustang defense blanked the Eagles again for a 31-4 lead after three. The offense picked up in the fourth, but GTA stopped Marion from reaching double digits.
“I absolutely love being on the court with them,” Dix said. “A lot of that is because of the family atmosphere and because I’ve known them for a long time. It’s a small school, and you have that community feel.”
Megan Pavwoski led the Mustangs with a double-double, scoring 17 points and hauling in 12 rebounds to go along with four blocks.
Cali Bilderback chipped in with eight points, three rebounds and three steals. Piper Shumar had seven points, five boards, two blocks and two steals, and Jill Hoedel finished with seven points and five steals.
“We’ve been gelling pretty good,” Pavwoski said. “It’s a younger team, so I haven’t been playing with a lot of them for a while, but we’ve all had really good teamwork this season. I feel like we’ve been working well together so far.”
The Mustangs are next in action Dec. 26 when they battle Bear Lake at the Central Lake Holiday Tournament.
“As long as we keep having good teamwork and hustling the whole game every game, it’ll be good,” Pavwoski said.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Glen Lake 71
Harbor Springs 63
Glen Lake: Benji Allen 28 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds; Jacob Plamondon 21 points, 21 rebounds, 2 assists; Toby Bradford 9 points; Max Lamerson 7 points, 3 assists; Michael Houtteman 3 points.
Harbor Springs: Rider Bartel 32 points; Braeden Flynn 29 points.
UP NEXT: The Lakers (4-0) travel to Frankfort on Friday. The Rams (5-1) play at Sault Area on Jan. 3.
Central Lake 58
Forest Area 56
Central Lake: Riley Shafer 17 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals; Nolyn Whisler 17 points, 11 rebounds; Grant Miller 15 points.
Forest Area: T. Singer 17 points; J. Erickson 17 points; D. Johnson 14 points.
UP NEXT: The Trojans (1-3) travel to Bellaire on Thursday. Forest Area (1-3) hosts Gaylord St. Mary on Thursday.
Bellaire 63
Pellston 30
Bellaire: Jayden Hanson 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 6 blocks; Drake Koepke 10 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block; Dawson Derrer 10 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks; Damon Fox 10 points, 5 rebounds; Corperryale Somers 9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals.
UP NEXT: The Eagles (5-0) host Central Lake on Thursday.
Grayling 67
Roscommon 46
Grayling: Tristan Demlow 21 points; David Neal 15 points; Cameron Baker 14 points; Austin Schwartz 9 points; Myles Mead 6 points.
UP NEXT: The Vikings (4-2) host West Branch Ogemaw Heights on Friday.
Lake Leelanau SM 37
McBain NMC 26
Lake Leelanau St. Mary: Luke Bramer 5 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists; Josh Bunek 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals; Cody Couturier 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, James Bunek 9 points, 3 rebounds.
McBain Northern Michigan Christian: Eli Bowden 9 points; Blair DeZeeuw 8 points; Jack Villwock 6 points; Colton Winkle 3 points.
UP NEXT: The Eagles (5-0) play in the Carleton Airport Showcase Dec. 27-28. The Comets (3-5) head to Manton on Jan. 7.
East Jordan 66
Joburg 33
East Jordan: Korbyn Russell 19 points, 4 rebounds; Max Beal 15 points, 4 rebounds; Ellis Malpass 14 points, 5 rebounds.
UP NEXT: The Red Devils (2-2) head to Boyne City on Friday. The Cardinals (0-5) travel to Hillman on Jan. 6.
WRESTLING
Titans compete at Coopersville quad
COOPERSVILLE — Traverse City West went 1-1 at the Coopersville quad Wednesday, defeating the host Broncos, 57-16, and falling to Division 2 sixth-ranked Greenville, 60-17.
Picking up two wins for the Titans were Marcus Wilkerson and Matthew Quigley. Those earning one win for West included Zachary Brinkman, Finn O’Brien, Caleb Thomas, Gabe Frost, Bodyn Holmes, Gavin Brown, Phil Lemcool, Trapper Holmes, Drew Esper and Sawyer Caldwell.
The Titans take part in the Macomb Tournament on Saturday.
Vikings improve to 9-0
CADILLAC — The Cadillac Vikings went 2-0 at their home tri Wednesday, moving to 9-0 on the season with a 41-33 win over Division 2 ninth-ranked Cedar Springs and a 69-4 win over Charlevoix.
Wrestlers who went 2-0 for the Vikings were Charlie Schafer (113 pounds), Joey Schafer (120), Westyn Haslett (138), Dominic Serafano (144), Payton Sampson (150), Max Narovich (157), Luke Phillips (190) and Shawn Paszkowski (215).
Serafano stepped up to varsity for his two wins, and Phillips’ pin over Cedar Springs gave Cadillac the victory
The Cadillac gold team heads to Sault Ste. Marie while the Vikings’ blue team will be at Boyne City this weekend.
Rangers go 1-1
MANTON — The Manton Rangers bested Lake City, 53-18, but lost to Glen Lake, 45-30, in varsity wrestling Wednesday.
Collecting two wins for the Rangers were Azrael Horvath (113 pounds), Kennedi Wahmhoff (138), Caleb Weathers (157), Todd Cole (215) and Mark Mullin (215). Tallying one were Hailey Strickland (106), Ava Coleman (132), Jaxon Ely (144), Curtis Neihardt (157) and Kayle Gibson (215).
The Manton boys team is off until the new year, but the Manton girls compete in Traverse City West’s holiday tournament Dec. 27.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Charlevoix 41
Alcona 38
Charlevoix: Ayla Kemp 11 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds; Maggie Sheaffer 10 points, 7 steals, 3 assists; Emma Meadows 7 points; Sarah Wyglendowski 6 points.
UP NEXT: The Rayders (1-4) host Petoskey on Jan. 3.
BOYS ICE HOCKEY
Petoskey 6
TC West 1
UP NEXT: The Northmen (8-1) head to Cadillac on Jan. 3. The Titans (1-5) host Alpena on Saturday.
Cadillac 4
Gaylord 2
UP NEXT: The Vikings (5-5) travel to the Lakeshore Badgers on Friday. The Blue Devils (0-9) head to Negaunee on Friday.