By John Raffel
MaxPreps.com
To make it to the small town of Cedarville, travelers have to journey on a roadway not included on most miniature maps.
Travelers crossing the Mackinac Bridge from the Lower Peninsula to Upper Peninsula turn east on a small patch of highway easy not to see on smaller-scaled maps. But 30 mile easts of the Big Mac Bridge, on the border of Lake Huron, is Cedarville, which produces small-town basketball powers.
Dave Duncan's Cedarville team played at Michigan State University's Breslin Center last year in the Class D state semifinals before losing and hopes to get back that far again this season.
Cedarville enters the final week of the regular season with a 17-0 record, hoping to enter next week's districts to start the state tourney undefeated.
"We have four of our top five players coming and some good JV players," Duncan said. "I thought we'd be pretty good but didn't know how good. These kids are hungry to get back to the Breslin Center."
After its first 17 games, Cedarville's closest call was an 82-70 win against another Upper Peninsula school Rudyard.
"We have six guys averaging in double figures. We haven't had this before," said Duncan, in his 17th year of coaching.
Senior Justin Baker leads the team, averaging 16 points game.
"We'd have to rebound by committee," Duncan said. "We're not that big. We try to play an up tempo game. We have a lot of quickness. This group of guys is very unselfish."
Duncan is confident his team can advance out of the Upper Peninsula and advance to the state semifinals. Schools like Pickford, Rudyard and Mackinaw City might stand in the way.
Districts are next week in Michigan, followed by the regionals the following week and the state finals at MSU March 23-24.
Volleyball
It's district championship week and among the state powers bidding for the Class B title that's awarded later this month will be Fruitport, a previous state champ which is ranked No. 5 in this year's poll.
Fruitport, located on the shores of Lake Michigan in the central part of the state, champions of the Lakes 8 Conference has a 38-7 record.
"I would consider us to be a favorite to win our district," said Fruitport coach Dan Potts. "Beyond that, it's way too early to determine how we will do. We'll be at a very challenging regional. But we have a chance. If we can get by a team like Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, then the sky is the limit."
For the team, taking the Lakes 8 trophy "was a good feeling," said Potts. "Our strength has been our serving and having pretty good balance."
Senior captain Jackie Geille has been the team's best offensive player. Autumn Williams, a senior middle hitter, has had a strong season. Danielle Brink, a junior center, has also had a banner season.
Coopersville won the O-K Blue Conference title for the second year in a row with a 23-15-2 record.
"We have had a great season," said Coach Ross Michael. "We've had ups and downs but we've played some good competition. But we're in a tough district with Fruitport."
Hockey
Detroit Catholic Central has been a perennial Michigan hockey power in Division I for the state's largest schools. But coach Todd Johnson admits it won't be easy for his team to advance when it goes into the regional tournament this week with hopes of advancing to the state finals the second week of March.
"It's been kind of a roller coaster season," Johnson said. "We have a lot of young players. We play a very tough schedule. It hurts our win-loss record but we've become stronger as a team. People may have the unreasonable expecation for a better win-loss record."
Catholic Central may not have the powerhouse teams of previous seasons, but Johnson still likes his team's prospects.
"We still have the talent and makeup to make a run," Johnson said. "We're playing good hockey right now. We just have to get the job done."
Catholic Central is ranked in the top 10 of state polls, but Johnson figures on having to beat several state-ranked squads if his team is to win another state title.
Right forward Jeremey Christopher, with 13 goals and 21 assists in 24 games, is among Johnson's top scorers, along with junior defenseman Greg Merrill who has eight goals and 23 assists and his team's second-leading scorer.
"For an offensive team to score that many points is a big thing for us this year," Johnson said.
Catholic Central has been using three goalies including freshman Tyler Marble.
Wrestling
Teams in four divisions go after state wrestling titles this weekend at Battle Creek's Kellogg Arena. The top eight in each division will start action Friday night and end it with semifinals Saturday morning and Saturday night.
Division II power Lowell is among the teams hopeful of a state title. The Grand Rapids area school, ranked No. 3 in the state, edged Greenville 28-24 in the regional semifinals in an exciting match that came down to the last weight class.
"We have unbelievable respect for the Greenville program," said Lowell Coach Dave Dean. "We put our kids through a lot to have them ready."
