By Bruce Rolfe

Responding to challenges with stretches of positive play that ultimately leads to victories is a pattern starting to set in with the Climax-Scotts varsity volleyball team.

While the Lady Panthers went 3-0 by winning all six matches in pool play of the Panther Invitational September 14, the team overcame some trying moments in the gold bracket match and championship match to capture the first place trophy at the Panther Invite at C-S Jr./Sr. High School September 14.

C-S’ first challenge came in the first game of gold bracket play when the team dropped the first game to rivals Galesburg-Augusta 25-18. C-S rallied for close wins in the final two games, 26-14 and 15-13 to advance to the championship match against Kalamazoo Premier.

The Lady Panthers once again faced an early deficit in the championship match, dropping the first game 23-25. But C-S came back to force a third game with a 25-20 win and then finished off the championship match with another close win, 15-13.

C-S coach Angela Gilbert said it has been pleasing to see how her team responds to early losses.

“This group of girls has an innate drive to want to win. Pairing that with determination, these girls almost seem to thrive on a challenge,” observed the C-S coach.

Gilbert was also impressed how her team answered G-A and Kalamazoo Premier runs with their own, refusing to get down and let the other team gain momentum when falling behind in a game. Winning close games is another positive she has seen regularly.

“We have stressed the importance of there is another ball coming, another serve, another point, another game, if we are so blessed. Yes, we are going to have errors, but it is how we are going to respond to them. The game of volleyball is very difficult in the fact that there are six players and there are no two plays exactly the same so we are going to have errors. So what are we going to do about those?

Acknowledge them, fix them and move on. We can’t change what has already happened, but we can focus on what is coming next and do better given the chance,” explained Gilbert.

Throughout the tournament, C-S took the opportunity to secure points through strategical maneuvers, like locating open areas on the floor to hit or tip balls.

“Being that we have so many returners this year, we have been working on seeing the floor and working for those open spots. Especially when we need to side out and get the ball back. We are constantly watching the defense and looking for those spots. Which sometimes gets a little behind, but then we come back stronger because it starts to open up,” adds Gilbert.

The Lady Panther coach was pleased how her team was aggressive at the net, something she said the team has worked hard at all season.

“Always being ready to attack no matter where we are on the floor verses sending over a free ball. That mentality has been huge. Looking at our stats we are sending less and less free balls over which certainly helps in the defense not being able to set up for an easy play,” said the Lady Panther coach.

The Lady Panthers moved through pool play without a loss, downing Heritage Christian (25-18, 25-15), Comstock (25-10, 25-4) and Parchment (25-16, 25-16).

Senior libero Lylah Parrish, junior middle hitter Adalynn Reeves and junior setter Ashlynn Gilbert were selected to the all-tournament team.

C-S had a balanced hitting attack at the net, with Mackenzie Vincent totaling 24 kills, Sophie Braithwaite and Adalynn Reeves each adding 23 and Holly Talbert adding 19. Vincent contributed eight blocks and Reeves added seven blocks.

Lylah Parrish finished with a team high 47 digs, Braithwaite led the team in aces with 12 to go with 23 digs, Holly Talbert had 29 digs, Kendal Reitz added 25 digs and Ashlynn Gilbert totaled a team high 88 assists to go with 27 digs.

The JV and varsity will play at Bellevue September 24 beginning with the JV match at 6:30 p.m. and the varsity will play in the Marcellus Tournament September 28.

Panther Invite - C-S Results
Blue Pool Play
Pool Play
Climax-Scotts Def. Heritage Christian, 25-18, 25-15
C-D Def. Comstock 25-10, 25-4
C-S Def Parchment, 25-16, 25-15
Gold Bracket Play
C-S Def. Galesburg-Augusta, 18-25, 26-24, 15-13
Championship match
C-S Def. Kalamazoo Premier, 23-25, 25-20, 15-13
C-S Stat Leaders
Kills: Mackenzie Vincent 24, Adalynn Reeves 23, Holly Talbert 19
Blocks: Mackenzie Vincent 8, Adalynn Reeves 7
Aces: Sophie Braithwaite 12, Lylah Parrish 8, Kendall Reitz 6
Assists: Ashlynn Gilbert 88
Digs: Lylah Parrish 47, Holly Talbert 29, Ashlynn Gilbert 27, Kendal Reitz 25, Sophie Braithwaite 23

C-S Downs Athens in 4

The Lady Panthers captured a win over Athens in four games September 10 at C-S Jr./Sr. High School.

Three of the four games were decided by five points or less, with C-S taking the first two games 26-24, 25-20 and Athens winning game three, 24-20. The Lady Panthers closed out the set with a 25-11 win in the fourth game.

Sophie Braithwaite finished with 15 kills and three blocks, Holly Talbert had nine kills and seven digs, Lylah Parrish had 18 digs and three aces, setter Ashlynn Gilbert totaled 33 assists and Adalynn Reeves had three blocks.

C-S Def. Athens, 26-24, 25-20, 20-24, 25-11
C-S Stat Leaders
Kills: Sophie Braithwaite 15, Holly Talbert 9, Mackenzie Vincent 7, Adalynn Reeves 7
Aces: Lylah Parrish 3, Kendal Reitz 2
Blocks: Sophie Braithwaite 3, Adalynn Reeves 3, Assists: Ashlynn Gilbert 33
Digs: Lylah Parrish 18, Holly Talbert 7, Kendal Reitz 6

C-S Wins Scrimmage over Union City

C-S defeated Union City in a scrimmage September 12 on the road in four games, 25-17, 15-25, 25-19, 25-23.

There were no stats from the match because it was played as a scrimmage.

By Bruce Rolfe

It’s the time of the season when Climax-Scotts varsity football coach Tyler Langs and the coaching staff are looking for long stretches of good play and good patterns and habits to develop.

Langs saw a lot of those positives and more in a 56-35 win over defending state champions Adrian Lenawee Christian September 13 on the road.

C-S, now 2-1, was especially dominant on the ground, totalling a season high 528 yards, led by the duo of Jackson Bagwell and Luke Lawrence, who combined for over 440 yards rushing.

The Panthers fell behind 14-0 at the 4:34 mark of the first quarter, but instead of getting down, the Panthers responded with great resilience and determination.

C-S also enjoyed a strong game on the defensive side of the ball, with some new faces emerging to make big plays.

“Week one, we didn’t respond to some of the mistakes we made. These last two weeks we responded to the mistakes. So to me, that means you’re just getting better. So that means by the end of the year we’re hopefully making less and less of those mistakes and firing on all cylinders. I’ll tell you this, we’re more physical today than we were the week before. So that, the physicality part, we are definitely moving in an upward direction for sure,” observed Langs.

“The offensive line, the running backs owe them a steak dinner because the offensive line did a phenomenal job. The defense made plays. Chase VanMiddlesworth made some big plays, Luke Lawrence made some big plays when we needed it. And that’s the thing, we’re able to do this and we did not play clean games. So, you imagine this great group of kids when they get it all together. We could be dangerous. Again, our seniors, hats off to them and their leadership. It was awesome,” adds Langs.

Bagwell scored four touchdowns and churned out 242 yards on 20 carries, while Lawrence scored two touchdowns and added 205 yards on 15 carries.

“The offensive line. They made it possible. They blew some big holes open and allowed us to get some big runs and big plays when we needed it,” said Bagwell.

Last year’s 56-16 loss in the first round of the playoffs to Adrian Lenawee Christian ending C-S’ season brought extra motivation for the Panthers.

“Especially how the season ended last year. It was a disappointing loss to them here (in the playoff opener). We definitely wanted to come back and get some revenge,” observed Bagwell.

The Cougars surprised the Panthers by moving in front 14-0 on an 18-yard run (the extra point kick was good) at the 9:35 mark of the opening quarter and a one-yard run (the extra point kick was good) with 4:34 left in the opening frame.

C-S responded with a 17-yard touchdown run by Bagwell with 3:11 left in the quarter (Lawrence ran in the two-point conversion) for a 14-8 deficit after one quarter.

A nine-yard strike from quarterback Logan Gilbert to Hunter LaSala (Gilbert ran in the two-point conversion), and a 67-yard touchdown run by Bagwell (Gilbert passed to LaSala for the two-point conversion), gave C-S a 24-14 lead with 6:58 left in the second quarter.

The Cougars answered with an 18-yard touchdown strike from Brenner Powers to Drew Kirkendall (the extra point kick was good), drawing the home team to within 24-21 with 42 seconds left.

While Adrian Lenawee Christian thought the late touchdown would send the home team into the lockerroom with momentum the Panthers had other ideas.

The offense skillfully moved 73 yards on six plays in 35 seconds to score a touchdown.

A 35-yard pass from Gilbert to VanMiddlesworth put the Panthers on the Cougar one-yard line and Lawrence blasted through the middle for a touchdown with four seconds left (the two-point conversion was no good), sending the Panthers into the lockerroom at halftime with a 30-21 lead.

C-S enjoyed some separation in the third quarter when Lawrence scored a touchdown on a 61-yard run (the two-point attempt was no good), Bagwell scored on a 66-yard scamper three plays after VanMiddlesworth came up with an interception (Gilbert ran in the two-point conversion), and Bagwell scored on a 33-yard touchdown run (the two-point conversion was no good), giving the Panthers a commanding 50-21 lead entering the fourth quarter.

After the defense stopped the Cougars on a fourth down play at the C-S 47-yard line early in the fourth quarter, the Panthers completed their offensive onslaught with a 27-yard touchdown run by Liam LaSala (the two-point attempt failed) with 9:38 left in the game for a 56-21 lead.

The Cougars tacked on two more touchdowns with a 17-yard pass play (the two-point conversion was good) with 6:30 left and a nine-yard run (the two-point conversion failed) with 1:07 left

Gilbert completed four of five passes for 66 yards with one passing touchdown. He added 45 yards on four carries.

VanMiddlesworth had two catches for 44 yards and tight end Hunter LaSala contributed two catches for 23 yards.

Jordan Grove had eight tackles and one quarterback sack, VanMiddlesworth added seven tackles, Bagwell had six tackles including five solo tackles and one tackle for a loss and Lawrence added five tackles including four solos and one for a loss.

C-S will visit the Magic Capital of the world September 20 at Colon at 7 p.m.

Two members of the Climax-Scotts High School cross country team and one member of the middle school team competed in the SCAA meet at Mendon September 11.

Athens, with 25 points, won the mens event and Colon, with 31 points, was the only other team to have enough runners score as a team.

In the 5000-meter mens race, Zachree Roebuck was C-S’ lone runner, running the course in 30:48.94 for a 34th place finish.

C-S had just one runner compete in the 5000-meter womens race where freshman Dalyn Bogard finished in the middle of the pack in 11th place out of a field of 22 runners with a time of 28:08.60.

Pittsford finished first with 23 points, and Burr Oak, with 32 points, was the only other team that had enough runners to score as a team in the womens race.

C-S had just one runner compete in the 1.75-mile middle school race.

Seventh grader Blake Morrison finished ninth out of a field of 59 runners with a time of 12:10.80.

Men 5000-meter
C-S Results
34-Zachree Roebuck, 30:48.94
Women 5000-meter
C-S Results
11-Dalyn Bogard, 28:08.60
Middle School 1.75-mile race
9-Blake Morrison, 12:10.80

________________________

C-S Coed Varsity Cross Country

• 9/25, SCAA Jamboree #1, at Pittsford, TBD
• 10/2, SCAA Jamboree #2, at Athens, TBD

________________________

The Climax-Scotts JV football team earned a 38-0 win over Martin September 12 at C-S Jr./Sr. High School.

C-S coach Tyler Langs said Dane Sattler led the team in tackles, Alex Wurtzel threw three touchdown passes, and Eli Bowron, Lucas Frost, Nyle Sattler each caught a touchdown pass in the win.

Langs adds the offensive line consisting of: Bryce Birkam, Demarion Taylor, Aaden Krick, and Bryce Srackangast led the way for the backfield.

The JVs will host colon September 23 at 6 p.m.

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