I find it hard to believe that winter sports season is in its final stages.

The state wrestling tournament wraps up the team portion this weekend at Central Michigan University, while the individual tournament will be at The Palace of Auburn Hills March 3-5.

I want to wish good luck to all our wrestlers next weekend as they attempt to bring home state championships.

With the wrestling wrapping up, that means it is time for the girls basketball tournament to get underway and the regular season for the boys teams to end.

For our girls teams it has been a mixed bag this season.

At one end of the spectrum you have the Brandywine Bobcats, who wrapped up another undefeated conference campaign and they have now won 70 straight league games and 79 consecutive home contests.

Brandywine’s senior class posted an amazing 85-6 record over the last four years.

While they will tell you that is nice, the Bobcats have bigger goals in mind as they try to capture that elusive state championship.

Brandywine has made some runs over the seven seasons that Josh Hood has coached the team, including a spot in the Final Four in East Lansing.

Does this team have the right stuff? Only time will tell.

The district may not be challenging for the Bobcats, but should they win it, the regional will be a killer with the likes of Schoolcraft, and currently undefeated Gobles awaiting them.

Gobles will be looking for redemption after losing to Calvin Christian in the regional semifinals at Brandywine last year.

Edwardsburg has also had a successful year.

The Eddies entered the season with a new coach and a wealth of talented, but young players.

Edwardsburg seems to be hitting its stride as it heads into the post season.

At the other end of the spectrum are the Niles Vikings, Cassopolis Rangers and Dowagiac Chieftains.

Key injuries at various points of the season have turned what was hoped to be a bounce-back year for the Vikings into a nightmare.

Standout point guard Elyse Zimmerman has missed half the season with knee and shoulder issues, while Jazmin Brann has been sidelined of late with a concussion.

Niles may be hosting the Class A District, which begins Monday, but if the Vikings are going to move on it is going to have to play its best basketball of the season and stay healthy.

Cassopolis and Dowagiac, which squared off Tuesday night, have a combined four victories this season.

Both teams have struggled to score points and a long tournament run does not appear to be in their future unless then find some magic.

Hopefully, these three programs can turn it around next season, but it is going to take a tremendous amount of work in the offseason to get the job done.

 

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com.