Vestaburg High School - Wolverine Yearbook (Vestaburg, MI)

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Jr. High Basketball 7th 8th VHS OPP. VHS OPP. 18- 28 Beal City 22-35 20-19 Sacred Heart 13-44 35-61 Sheperd 38-9 15-32 Montabella 27-59 25-35 C.C.C. 32-33 35-16 Sheperd 33-11 20-19 Beal City 28-54 22-27 Sacred Heart 37-38 Montabella 31-55 Overall: 3-5 Overall: 2-7 !! DRIVING INSIDE. Billy Butler drives past an opposing Shepherd player on the ba- seline in the 7th grade home win against the Bluejays. RIVING TOWARD THE FINISH LINE by Gary Keyes It was silent. Nothing was heard except for the far away murmur of the crowd. The look on the players’ faces was the intensity to win. Even with this intensity of the Jr. High boys did not get a lot of wins, but were fierce competitors. To start off the season, the two teams jumped into the ever-cruciating practice schedule. The seventh graders learned quickly that if they messed up they would be punished with a lot of running. “We had to run a lot,” said Mike Ryck- man. “Some people would constantly screw around in practice; that’s one reason why we ran a lot,” commented Bill Butler. The eighth graders didn’t run as much, but they still remembered their practices. “They were long and boring,” said Tim Throop. “All that I can remember is Pete Scott,” replied Buster Ryckman. The young Wolverines were ready and on a cold January night the two teams 22a ! Junior High Basketball burst onto the court ready for action. The 7th graders fought hard, but lost by 10 points to Beal City 28-18. The 8th graders fared no better while losing 35-22. The 7th grade team discovered a difference in the locker room after the very next game with their first win against Sacred Heart. “If we won it was noisy in the locker room, but if we lost all we could hear was referees and the slamming of locker doors,” said Chris McQueen. The 8th grade experienced the same feeling a game after the 7th graders with a win against Shepherd. “After the games we won we were very excited, but after the games we lost, ev- eryone just dragged around,” replied Bust- er Ryckman. Win or lose the games provided a lot of excitement and controversy. The contro- versy came in the 7th graders last game of the season. The scorekeepers hadn’t put 2 points up for the Wolverines, so when the game ended and the scoreboard showed the Wolverines losing by three, but in actu- ality they only lost by one. “The scorekeepers didn’t keep the right score. They said we lost by three, but the book showed that we lost by one,” said Merv Daily. “Excitement was the name of the game when the 8th grade team had two free-throws,” said Karry Otto. The season wound up with both teams losing in the tournaments. Although the two teams didn’t win a lot of games, they were charged up and ready to win. Vesta- burg High School looks to these young athletes as the future of Vestaburg sports. With the fighting spirit of Jr. high basket- ball team Vestaburg’s future looks brighter with ever dribble of the ball. 1! LEAP FOR THE SKY. Forward Jeff Jan- ofski elects to take the baby jumper instead of driving inside in the home win over Shepherd.

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!! TAKE IT UP STRONG. Freshman center Tim Parrish gets inside the de- fense and goes up strong in an attempt for two in a home game against Monte- bella. The Exhilarator: Good shooting and tremendous teamwork was the fuel as the Freshman sped past Cen- tral Montcalm, 63-57. The Downer: Four quarters of tough p ay was not quite enough for the JV’s in the game against Sacred Heart as the Irish edged them, 59-54. The Exciting Finish: The stage was set for battle, sneakers tied tight, socks pulled up. and what a battle it was! A seesaw game until the final seconds when Belding slipped bp 53- 57. — Ups and Downs — JUNIOR VARSITY — FRONT ROW: Stacey Hull. Brian Bowser. Dave Freeman. Leroy Benavidez. BACK ROW: Kevin VanBuskirk. Corey Ferguson. Sam Wrisley, Chad Palmer. FRESHMEN — FRONT ROW: Bill Kolenda, Tim Parrish. Jay Janofski. Matt Mortensen. BACK ROW: Chris Humphrey. Eric Vitz. Trevor McCormick, Dan Scott. Sports ! 21a

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!! FUNDA- MENTAL- LY SOUND. Nathan Hull pushes the ball up court, and past sev- eral opposing players, on his way to an easy lay-up. The Massacre: In the game against Shepherd the 8th grade I bops sloped them in the aisles and left a path of destruction as thep routed the Bluejaps 38-9. The Squeaker: This term was given new meaning in the game against Beal dtp when it went down to the final seconds, and “fi- j nallp the 7th grade Wolverines edged the Aggies 20-19. One to remember: Four strenu- ous quarters and verp good shoot- ing made it tough, but the Wolver- ines were edged bp Carson dtp 32-33 in what was trulp a game to remember. — Ups and Downs — 7th GRADE — FRONT ROW: David Pumford. Bill Butler, Merv Dailey. BACK ROW: Ryan Hetherington, Jeff Janofski, Mike Ryckman. 8th GRADE BASKETBALL — FRONT ROW. Pete Scott, Karrie Otto. Scott Middleton. Robert Church. Chad Ryckman. BACK ROW: Nathan Hull. Jason Graham, Tim Throop. Jason Bigelow, Buster Ryckman. Chris Nickerson. Sports ! 23a