On Saturday, Buck92.3, My104.3 & The United Way of Gratiot & Isabella Counties hosted the 2nd annual Buck92 Backyard Brawl at CMU’s McGuirk Arena.
A jam-packed day of basketball between four local Isabella county schools: Beal City vs Sacred Heart boys & girls + Mount Pleasant vs Shepherd boys & girls.
The day got started off at 12:30 on the girls side with Beal City vs Sacred Heart. Coach Andrew Doerr and the Irish came into the day at 4-0, and had beat the Aggies in the previous year at McGuirk Arena. Coach Easton Yuncker and the Aggies were riding a 3-game win streak after an 0-2 start.
The Irish got off to an early lead and held it the entire way to defeat the Aggies 46-35. Sacred Heart was led by star sophomore Karis Terwilliger, who dropped 27 points in the early game – the most by any player of the 4 game Saturday slate. Karis was awarded the JNR Engraving Player of the Game to start the day. Chelsea Lynch also added 8 points for the Irish.
Beal City was led by Bree Locke who had 11 points, and Lydee Salisbury added 9.
The Irish moved to 5-0 and will be back in action on January 7th vs Montabella. The Aggies fall to 3-3 on the season and will be back on January 8th @ Roscommon.
At 2:30 the Lady Oilers of Mount Pleasant took on the Lady Bluejays of Shepherd. More of the same in this one, as the Bluejays came into the game 5-0 led by Coach Cody Hoover. Mount Pleasant entered the contest at 2-2, looking to break a 2-game losing streak.
It was a hard-fought first quarter as through the first 8 minutes, Mount Pleasant led 14-13 over Shepherd. Things would change in the 2nd as the Oilers outscored the Bluejays 18-3 in the quarter as the halftime score was 32-16. This big quarter from the Oilers would will them the rest of the way, as they won 51-31 to capture their 2nd straight Backyard Brawl victory.
The birthday girl Ava Petrino received the JNR Engraving Player of the Game in our 2nd contest, leading the Oilers with 11 points – including a couple triples. Lizzey Laney and Jordyn Egger each added 8 for Mount Pleasant.
Shepherd was led by Morgan Bloniarcyzk and Elise McDonald who each had 8.
The Oilers advanced to 3-2 and will be back in action on January 3rd @ Lapeer. The Bluejays added their first number to the loss column on the season moving to 5-1, and will host Central Montcalm on the 7th of January.
At 4:30 we flipped it over to the boys side, starting with the 2-5 Shepherd Bluejays and 2-3 Mount Pleasant Oilers. Coach Schell and his Oilers came out with a ton of defensive intensity and balanced scoring to get off to a 30-16 lead at halftime. In the 3rd quarter, Coach Fazi of Shepherd dialed up a great defensive strategy himself, holding the Oilers to just 3 points in the quarter and cut the lead to 6 before the final 8 minutes trailing 33-27.
Mount Pleasant found their groove in the 4th however, as they would go on to win 46-38. Our JNR Engraving Player of the Game went to Nick Dise, who had 8 points, dished out a few dimes, and made many defensive plays throughout the game that led to scores. Cam Ivey led the Oilers with 9 points, with Carson Sander & Torry Gagne each adding 7.
The Bluejays were led by TJ Powell who finished with 16, and Ashton Luckhardt added 7.
The Oiler boys move back to .500 at 3-3 and will be back on January 3rd to host Lapeer, which we will be on the call for! Shepherd moves to 2-6 and has one more game before the Christmas break, as they face Alma today on December 23rd.
To close out the big day of basketball, we had Sacred Heart vs Beal City boys at 6:30. The nightcap featured an Irish team that came in at 6-0 and fresh off of their State Title appearance a year ago. Their rival Beal City came in to the game at 4-1 with several impressive wins to start the year over Alma, McBain, and Evart.
This backyard rivalry met expectations, with back and forth action throughout the first 3 quarters, with Sacred Heart leading by a short margin for most of the time, and Beal City taking a 1 point lead at the end of the 3rd, 34-33. These two high powered offenses were grinding it out defensively, and it would be the Irish who pulled away in the 4th to beat the Aggies for the second straight year, winning 53-42.
Our final JNR Engraving Player of the Game went to Brody Cherry of the Irish, who led all scorers with 20. Grady Pieratt was also effective, adding 13 – and Noah Zeien finished with 12.
For Beal City, Austin Small led the way with 13, and Garrison Zuker finished with 9.
The Sacred Heart boys did just like the Irish girls and left Saturday’s event still undefeated, as the 7-0 Irish will be back in action January 4th at Marine City Cardinal Mooney. Beal City finishes their tough 2024 schedule at 4-2, and will start 2025 in Roscommon on January 7th.
We want to once again thank everyone who came out to McGuirk Arena this past Saturday to support our local schools and United Way of Gratiot & Isabella Counties. Another big thanks to Michael McPike and the facilities team at CMU for putting this on, and all of our local athletic directors for making this happen!
Jason McIntyre of Mount Pleasant, Andy Latham of Sacred Heart, Brad Antcliff of Beal City, and Ryan Harkrader of Shepherd. Huge thanks to you guys for everything you do.
Lastly we will once again thank our sponsors for helping raise money for United Way:
Barberi Law Firm
Praedium Realty – Robin Stressman & Associates
Gates Well Drilling
Muskegon Energy Company
Isabella Community Credit Union
The UPS Store
Mt. Pleasant Automotive
Brad Malley Well Drilling
Clark Modular Homes
All Seasons Fireworks
The Fisher Companies
And a special thank you to the Mt. Pleasant Convention and Visitors Bureau, where we Meet Here!
Buck92.3’s High School Basketball coverage will continue starting in 2025 with Mount Pleasant boys vs Lapeer on January 3rd.
Kyle Sandel – Buck92 Sports Director
