Petoskey News-Review from Petoskey, Michigan • 13

Northmen win big NORTHMEN Continued from page B1 plus added six rebounds and five assists. had a lot to do with it (victory)," Fitzpatrick said. "'He was able to break down our defense and force us into a help situation." Also for the Northmen, Souza totaled 14 points; Jason Worden, Kyle Swenor and Andrew Meyer, 11 each; Bryce Weston, nine; and Fralick, eight. Souza led the rebounding with seven, while Brandon Munson, Swenor and Worden all had six. In addition, Travis Jonker blocked three shots, Joe Carlson had four assists; and Weston had three steals.

For Boyne City, Jeremy Peck and Tyson Johnecheck scored 10 points each, while Josh Hall and Mike Sero finished with nine. Hall and Johnecheck both came up with five rebounds, Luke Reinhardt, five assists; and Peck, two blocks. post players held their own, but, really, it was the perimeter that took it to us Fitzpatrick said. As far as Petoskey is concerned, maybe the corner has finally been turned with two regular season games remaining. "It's never to late to get on a roll," Starkey said.

"Maybe now is our time." Petoskey's JV improved to 16-2 and won for the 13th straight time by taking Boyne City, 67-58. Petoskey led at the half, 40-29. For Petoskey, Matt Meyer scored 19 points and Chad Wilson, 18; while for Boyne City, Ryan Amesbury scored 15 points, Jason Rostar, 13; and Kellan Smith and A.J. Spaay, 11 each. Petoskey will play its final home game Friday, Feb.

26, against Cadillac, while Boyne City plays at Harbor Springs the same night. Boyne City 17 10 10 20--57 Petoskey 21 27 22 25--95 BOYNE CITY (57): Grice 3 1-2 7, Reinhardt 2 0-1 4, Hall 4 1-2 9, Bouthers 00 0-2 0, Peck 4 0-2 10, Stanek 2 0-0 4, Johnecheck 3 4-10 10, Wolf 0 0-0 0, Sero 2 5-5 9, Metzger 0 0-0 0, Bush 0.0-0 0, Bobowski 2.0-3 4. Totals: 22 11-27 57. Three-pointers: Peck, 2. Fouls: 10.

PETOSKEY (95): Munson 1 0-0 2, Worden 5 1-1 11, Souza 5 0-0 14, Palk 76-6 21, Fralick 3 0-0 8, Swenor 5 0-0 11, Weston 4 0-0 9, Hausler 0 0-0 0, Meyer 5 1-1 11, Jonker 2 0-0 4, Carlson 0 0-0 0, Bleyaert 2 0-1 4. Totals: 39 8-9 95. Three-pointers: Souza, Fralick, Palk, Weston, Swenor, 1. Fouls: 19. Comets, COMETS Continued from page B1 first quarter, so we moved Tim Nelson on him and he held him down some the rest of the way." Engle finished with 23 points and Mike Collins had 17, as each hit four 3-pointers for the Trojans, now 10-7.

For the Comets, Travis Vartanian finished with 18 points and six assists; Eric LaChapelle had 18 points and seven rebounds; Scott Allen, 13 points, six boards; and Tim Nelson, 12 points, eight boards. Balyo also mentioned the strong play of Jacob Brey off the bench. "We took care of the ball a little bit better and made our free throws," Balyo said of getting the win in a close contest. "The kids played real hard." Mackinaw made four 3-pointers among its 25 field goals and was 17- of-23 from the free throw stripe. Cedarville made 24 field goals, including nine 3-pointers, and was 10-of-15 on free throws.

Cedarville won the JV game, 64- 46, despite 22 points from Mackinaw's Daniel Nelson. The Comets host Pickford Friday. Cedarville 22 14 13 18--67 Mackinaw 9 21 26 15--71 14 091200 Petoskey's Andrew Meyer gets his the arms of a partly hidden Boyne day. Watching are Boyne City's Wolverines Bellaire 65, Ellsworth 50 BELLAIRE Nathan LaPointe, Ricky Somers and Brad Watrous combined to score 50 points Tuesday, as Bellaire registered the nonleague win over Ellsworth. The Eagles, 15-2, took a 34-26 lead to the halftime break and controlled the game much of the second half.

For Bellaire, LaPointe led the way with 20 points and Somers and Watrous had 15 each. Jason Strange finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists and Brent VanStedum had 11 points, nine boards and four assists to pace Ellsworth, 8-10. The Eagles made 24 field goals, including six 3-pointers, were 11-of17 from the free throw stripe and committed 10 fouls. The Lancers made 23 field goals, were 4-of-11 on free throws and committed 11 fouls. Bellaire won the junior varsity game, 59-44.

Ellsworth 12 14 13 11--50 Bellaire 16 18 15 16--65 Vanderbilt 78, Jo-burg 58 VANDERBILT In one of the season's biggest upsets, the Yellowjackets from the Northern Lakes Conference upended Johannesburg, the league leader in the Ski Valley's North Division. Vanderbilt, which held a slim 28- 26 lead at halftime, opened things up Is Tigers rookie ready to LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) The biggest question facing the Detroit Tigers when the full squad reports Wednesday will be whether Gabe Kapler is ready to skip Triple-A and take the starting centerfields spot from Brian Hunter. Kapler, 23, was chosen 1998's minor league player of the year by the USA Today, The Sporting News and Baseball Weekly. He made believers of just about everyone when he knocked in a Southern League record 146 runs at Double-A Jacksonville, led that league with 28 Petoskey News Review Wednesday, February 24, 1999 PAGE B3 Cheboygan holds off Rayders, 88-76 CHEBOYGAN Charlevoix and Cheboygan -second-place teams from the respective Lake PREPS Michigan and Big North conferences were locked in a close battle Tuesday before the Chiefs made the key plays down the stretch to including five 3-pointers, and were post a 88-76 non-conference bas- 29-of-36 from the foul line.

The ketball victory. Rayders made four 3-pointers Charlevoix, 13-4, cut the lead to among their 27 field goals and were three points with less than two min- 18-of-29 on foul shots. utes remaining on two Jim Kanine Brian Kujawa finished 29 points free throws after a technical foul. and Bill Johnson had 20 for The Rayders then turned the ball Cheboygan. over on the ensuing possession.

For Charlevoix, Kanine led the Cheboygan, 13-4, scored on its way with 15 points; Matt Dennis next possession and pulled away for had 14 points and eight rebounds; the victory. Adam Wood, 12 points; and Colin "They're probably the best team Carr, nine points. we've played this year," Charlevoix The Rayders won the JV game, coach Keith Haske said. "I thought 74-71, behind 20 points from Scott we played pretty well. Parrish.

"The real disappointing thing Charlevoix travels to St. Ignace was our rebounding in the second Friday, Feb. 26 for a non-league half. If we could have rebounded contest. better, we might have beaten them." Charlevoix 15 24 17 20--76 The Chiefs made 27 field Cheboygan 26 21 15 26--88 Five area college skiers to compete in nationals MARQUETTE Nine skiers from the area took part in the U.S.

AREA SPORTS Collegiate Alpine Skiing Regionals with the rest of their college teammates Feb. 20-21 at Marquette Springs, Western Michigan, 46th Mountain. slalom, 54th GS; Jessica Erber, HarFive of those skiers will bor Springs, Michigan Tech, 13th continue on with their teams to the GS, 54th slalom; and Carrie Dodge, Nationals, as their schools qualified Harbor Springs, Western Michigan, by placing in the top three places at 80th GS. Regionals. The three men's teams Michelob race league that qualified were St.

Olaf in Min- BOYNE FALLS Michelob nesota, first; Michigan Tech Univer- Wednesday Night Race League sity, second; and University of Min- results following week No. 6 at nesota, third. The three qualifying Boyne Mountain: women's teams were St. Olaf, first; 1-Riverside Tires, 131 points; 2- Michigan State, second; and Min- F.O. Barden Sons, 124.5; 3-Jake's nesota, third.

Place, 124; 4-Punctuality Vending, The top area skier was Petoskey's 118.5; 5-Red Mesa Grill, 114; 6-TanAdam Olsen, who races for St. Olaf. nery Saloon, 113.5; 7-Boyne I River Olsen finished third in the slalom and Inn, 112.5; 8-Sunburst Marine, 107; fifth in the giant slalom. Troy Casteel 9-Wild, Wild Women, 99.5; 10- and George Peet, both of Harbor Skidmarks, 96; 11-East Jordan Iron Springs and skiing for Michigan Works, 95; 12-Raoul, 87.5; 13-Ski Tech, also skied well. Casteel fin- Dawgs, 79.5; 14-McKeown Ford, ished 19th in the GS and 31st in the 59.5; 15-Terminators, 58; 16-Huntslalom, while Peet was 25th slalom ington Bank, 55.

bE 10SKEy 32 arm in between Fralick (14), Tyson Johnecheck (42) and Justin City player Tues- Souza (32) Petoskey won, 95-57. (NEWS REVIEW Josh Hall, Gavin photo by Eric Gaertner) both post in the third and fourth quarters, outscoring the Cardinals 50-32 in the second half. "It was in the top ones we've played this year," Vanderbilt coach Douglas Waclawski said of his team's performance. "Everything just clicked today. We were confident coming in." The Yellowjackets, 5-12, made 29 field goals, including two 3-pointers, and were 18-of-32 from the foul line.

The Cardinals, 13-4, made 18 field goals, including three 3-pointers, and were 19-of-29 on foul shots. For Vanderbilt, Adam Bunker finished with 17 points and 22 rebounds, Dustin Musall had 32 points and five steals and Justin Loshaw, 13 points and seven boards. For Jo-burg, Marcus Ewing dropped in 20 points and John Neuenfelt had 14. Led by Joe Robinson's 23 points and 21 rebounds, Vanderbilt won the JV game, 61-57. Jo-burg 9 17 15 17--58 Vanderbilt 13 15 23 27--78 NORTHERN LAKES Wolverine 79, Alba 18 WOLVERINE It was all Wolverine Tuesday against winless Alba.

Brandon Thomas, Dennis Micoff Jason Varney scored 15 points each and Derek Bolinger had 10 to pace Wolverine, 11-6, 6-4. challenge Hunter in the offseason. He looked real good. Real good." Kapler is considered the top defensive outfielder in the farm system, but has played only left and right with the exception of a few games in center. Parrish wants him to give center a try, and plans to rotate starts between him and Brian Hunter during Grapefruit League games.

Hunter struggled last year, and is the most vulnerable outfielder. Bobby Higginson is set in right and Juan Encarnacion was so impressive last al8 victories For Alba, 0-17, 0-10, Ryan Secor finished with eight points. Wolverine made 38 field goals, including one 3-pointer, was 2-of-6 from the foul line and committed 11 fouls. Alba made one 3-pointer among its seven field goals, was 3- of-7 on foul shots and committed four fouls. Alanson's freshmen defeated the Wolverine junior varsity, 46-40, in overtime.

For Alanson, Mark Turnbull scored 15 points with seven rebounds; Todd Magill, 12 points, six steals; and Tom Kilpatrick, 10 points, 14 rebounds. Raymond Palmer scored 22 points for Wolverine. Alba 3 5 8 2--18 Wolverine 11 22 22 24--79 MIDDLE SCHOOL BASKETBALL Vikings split ALANSON Alanson split two games Tuesday with the Cheboygan teams Tuesday. They were the final games for Alanson this season. In seventh-grade, Alanson beat the Cheboygan team, 29-20.

Nick Stead scored 17 points and John Temple had eight for the Vikings. The Cheboygan team beat Alanson, 40-38, in the eighth-grade contest. For Alanson, Steve Cousineau scored 16 points and Brandon Shorter had 14. in center? season that he'll be hard to knock out of left. But don't rule out Encarnacion playing center and Kapler going to left if Hunter doesn't produce and Kapler isn't a natural in center.

"We're trying to create other options," said Parrish, who added that he's pulling for a big turnaround by Hunter. "But, Kapler would have to light it up to make Parrish doesn't intend to take Kapler north unless it's as a starter. He needs plenty of at-bats, and has yet to play Triple-A at Toledo. and 44th GS. Area skiers Sara Stertz of Harbor Springs, and Erika Hofstetter of Petoskey, helped the MSU women's team qualify.

Hofstetter placed 11th in the slalom and 25th in the GS, while Stertz was 18th GS and 29th slalom. The three qualifying teams will compete in the 21st annual U.S. Collegiate Skiing Championships on March 10-13 at Mammoth California in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The four other areas skiers who raced at the Regionals were: Tim Stedman, Harbor Springs, Western Michigan University, 32nd slalom, 103rd GS; Marc Green, Harbor Fastest men: Aude, Ski Dawgs; 2-McCllelan, Riverside Tires. Fastest women: 1-Scharfelter, Boyne River Inn; 2-A.

Byberg, F.O. Barden Sons. VOLLEYBALL Lancers fall ELLSWORTH Ellsworth, 8-3, fell to the Petoskey JV 15- 15-8, 15-7. For Ellsworth, Amber Chellis finished with eight points, three aces and eight kills; Annie Boss, five points, three aces, six kills; Stephanie Rubingh, seven points, six kills; and Jamie Wieland, 100 percent serving, two kills, and 26 digs. A Gator You Won't Have To Wrestle With It's Clearance Sale Priced.

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Parrish happened upon Kapler Tuesday outside the Marchant Stadium clubhouse, where he was improving wrist action, strength and grip by flicking a bat attached to the fence by a bungee cord device. "That's really great," said Parrish, who was beaming. Inside the clubhouse, Parrish said, "I've been watching Gabe in the cages and he's done what I wanted.