Seventh and eighth-grade hoops struggle, but continue to battle on

Stats and scores provided by Varsity coach Zach Neal

Last week’s games proved a challenge for the seventh and eighth-grade basketball teams.

On Monday, the junior high teams traveled to Addison and brought home a 32-9 win for the seventh grade and a loss with a 10-point spread for the eighth graders.

For the seventh grade, Michael Navitskis contributed 20 points and Jayden Johnson eight points.

Eighth-grade coach Niehaus said that the team “struggled with some breakaway layups that we should’ve converted.”

Both teams lost against Napoleon on Tuesday night; the seventh graders by a 32-10 loss, “an improvement from their 50-23 loss in the first Napoleon game,” according to coach Fielder. He was very impressed with the fight his team showed during this game.

The eighth graders played a somewhat less lopsided game, with a 41-30 loss. “We struggled to convert open shots and will be practicing them more this week,” Niehaus said.

On Thursday, both teams suffered crushing defeats at the hands of the Hanover-Horton Comets. No stats are available for these games; the score for the seventh-graders was 43-13, and the eighth grade score was 42-13.

Monday the teams welcome Michigan Center, starting at 5 pm; Wednesday they travel to East Jackson. Keep working hard, Dutch!

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.