Leelanau Sports Guy at sportspig.com

Boys Soccer: Leland opens with shutout
Matt Larsen scored two goals to lead the Leland Comets over Boyne City 3-0 in the season opener. Adam Nedow scored the other goal and Tyler Kenney was the winning goalie.

Boys Golf: Eagles finishes 7th at Benzie
Lake Leelanau St. Mary shot a 348 to place 7th in the nine-team Benzie Central Invitational. Traverse City St. Francis captured the tourney with a school-record 295.

Read St. Francis golfers set record in win in the Record Eagle

Suttons Bay’s Nate Kelly shot a 68 to tie for the individual lead and helped lead the Norsemen to 2nd place and a team score of 299 after the first day of the Traverse City Tee-Off Invitational. Hudsonville leads the tournament with a 296. Josh Schaub carded a 76, Charlie Olson 77 and Drew Palmer 78. The first round was played at The Wolverine while the tournament will finish on the Spruce Run course.

St. Mary/Leland falls to Kingsley
Lake Leelanau St. Mary/Leland lost to Kingsley 162-182. The Eagle/Comet co-opteam was led by Adam Peplinski’s 41.

Read Strong finish sparks Suttons Bay in the Record Eagle

Sorry, a little late with this…

St. Mary’s senior Krystal Lingaur was named to the first team Division IV All-State girls softball team. Lingaur plays first base. She also was selected to participate in the annual girls high school All-Star softball game July 22 at Michigan State University.

Glen Lake’s Lauryn Pleva was named honorable mention.

View the entire team at MHSSCA.com

In boys baseball, Glen Lake’s Wes Buchan was named to the Division IV All-State second team.

View the entire team at MHSBCA.org

The Record Eagle has the lowdown on the upcoming area softball/baseball regionals, plus an article about Lake Leelanau St. Mary capturing the Cherryland Softball Crown.

Area Softball Regional Preview
Lake Leelanau St. Mary squares off against Frankfort in the opening game of the Division 4 regional at Frankfort…

Area Baseball Regional Preview
Glen Lake goes up against Frankfort in the second game of the Division 4 regional at Frankfort…

Angie Schlueter finished 5-5 including a double in the ninth inning that scored 2 runs to give Lake Leelanau St. Mary the lead for good as the Eagles defeated the Glen Lake Lakers 9-4 to capture the Division 4 Softball District title at Leland. St. Mary had advanced to the final with a 17-1 win over the host Comets.

Read Eagles fly past Glen Lake in nine in the Record Eagle

The Record Eagle has a nice article on the Traverse City Alliance, a club rugby team made up of players from seven area schools. Glen Lake, Suttons Bay and Lake Leelanau St. Mary are all represented on the team. The Alliance are 4-0 on the season as they get ready to compete in the Midwest Tournament in Elkhart, Indiana this weekend.

Read Traverse City rugby club drubs Lowell in the Record Eagle

The Traverse City Alliance Rugby team opened it’s fifth season of play behind strong performances from Elliott Gallagher and Daisy Dalzell for a 41-0 win over Grandville. The team consists of students from the Traverse City High Schools, as well as Suttons Bay, Glen Lake and Lake Leelanau St. Mary.

Read T.C. Alliance 41, Grandville 0 in the Record Eagle [you will have to scroll down]

Haley Korson had 4 hits in Game 1 and Mary Lingaur had 3 hits in Game 2 as Lake Leelanau St. Mary posted a doubleheader sweep of Manistee Catholic 10-0 and 13-5.

Glen Lake swept Benzie Central 13-3 and 16-6 behind the pitching of Danielle Noonan who picked up both wins. Noonan struck out seven in the first game. Leading the Lakers offense was Chelsea Klumpp and Jessica Odziana.

Sarah Allington hit a grand slam, among her three hits to help Leland defeat Forest Area 24-14. Ashley Maleski picked up the win for the Comets.

Read Lake Leelanau St. Mary’s sweeps softball twinbill in the Record Eagle

Northport has announced that it will not field a baseball or softball team this spring, but will offer a co-ed tennis team. The Cherryland Conference is now left with just three teams – Leland, Lake Leelanau St. Mary, and Traverse City Christian.

Read Ball teams are shut out in the Enterprise

Northport survived a furious St. Mary rally and held on for an exciting 53-47 win over the Eagles. Northport led by 14 at the half, but St. Mary used a 15-5 run in the third quarter to close within 1, but couldn’t get over the hump. This was a great basketball game to watch, with both teams playing hard. Cody Brown scored 19 for the Wildcats, Drew Mitchell added 15. St. Mary was led by Adam Koniezka’s 20.

T.C. Christian used a team effort to defeat Leelanau School 63-51 in a score that didn’t reflect how the Sabres controlled the game. They held a 25 point lead going into the 4th before the Thunderbirds mounted a late rally. George Wilkinson scored 39 points to lead Leelanau.

Read Rayders win 3 OT thriller in the Record Eagle

My View: Lots of teams could learn a lesson by watching how hard St. Mary’s played, especially in the second half. They never quit and left it all on the floor. A credit to their coaches and players.

Here’s the schedule for the Class D Boys Basketball District at Traverse City Christian. All the Cherryland Conference team, except Buckley, will be going head to head for the district crown.

Monday, March 6
T.C. Christian vs. Leland, 7 PM

Wednesday, March 8
Game 1: Northport vs. Lake Leelanau St. Mary, 6 PM
Game 2: Leelanau School vs. T.C. Christian/Leland winner, 8 PM

Friday, March 10
District Final, 7 PM

My Pick: A district final of Northport vs. Leland looks like a distinct possibility. T.C. Christian is tough and will have home court advantage so they could actually be the favorite. St. Mary is a darkhorse having played better as of late. Official Prediction: Northport 71, T.C. Christian 64.

The Glen Lake girls ski team qualified for the Class B-C-D state meet with a second place finish at the regional at Crystal Mountain. The Lakers finished behind Traverse City St. Francis and ahead of Clare, who both also qualified for state. The Lakers were led by three performances in the Giant Slalom – Ali Drake (4th), Sarah Wiesen (8th) and Joelle Janz (15th). Wiesen also added a 4th place finish in the slalom.

On the boys side, Glen Lake didn’t qualify as a team, but the Lakers Kris Marin advances to the state meet after his third place in the slalom.

Read St. Francis, Benzie storm to titles in the Record Eagle

The Glen Lake ski team will take part in a Class B-C-D regional today at Crystal Mountain. On the girls side, the Lakers are ranked 10th, but will face tough competition from #1 ranked Traverse City St. Francis. On the boys side, the Lakers face tough competition from 4 top-10 ranked teams. The Glen Lake ski team is a co-op with Suttons Bay, Lake Leelanau St. Mary and Leland.

Read Two teams hope to weather regionals in the Record Eagle

Leland used a balanced scoring attack to move to .500 in the Cherryland Conference with a 79-51 win over Lake Leelanau St. Mary. Five players scored in double figures for the Comets led by Marcus Whittaker’s 16 points as the Comets improved to 3-3 in the conference and 5-9 overall. St. Mary was led by Adam Konieczka’s 16 points.

Northport battled tough with Buckley, but the Bears scored the final 9 points in a 70-61 win. Drew Mitchell scored 28 points for the Wildcats as they fall to 9-7 overall and 4-3 in the Cherryland.

Ray Freund’s double-double wasn’t enough as Suttons Bay fell to Lake City 59-45 in a non-conference game. Freund scored 16 points and grabbed 11 boards. Suttons Bay is now 8-7.

Read Buckley edges Northport in the Record Eagle

Buckley used a 30-11 fourth quarter advantage to fight off a tough effort from Lake Leelanau St. Mary to remain undefeated in the Cherryland and earn a 56-40 win. The Eagles held a 29-26 lead after three quarters. Adam Konieczka led St. Mary with 17 points.

Read Buckley perfect in league in the Cadillac News [After clicking, scroll down]