Outside The County-Maconaquah
Results from Maconaquah for Friday, February 16th & Saturday, February 17th
Boys Varsity Basketball falls to Manchester Jr-Sr 80 – 75
The Braves lost a tough one at Manchester. The loss dropped the Braves to 6-2 in the TRC. Overall, the Braves are 14-5. We have Senior Night tonight, vs Culver Academy. JV starts at 6.
Coach Burrus Quotes:”First, thanks to all who made the trip to Manchester. Our crowd was fully behind the team. Our comeback was helped by your support!!!
We didn’t play a great game but our kids kept coming. We tried to manage people and the clock to get back to where we had a great chance to win. AJ Kelly was tremendous throughout this game. AJ had 31 to lead us. He was relentless on both ends. Josiah Ball played through some really tough defense. He scored 30 and earned every point.
Everybody that played brought the defense when we needed it. We were down 13 and the team believed we could come back. We got it all the way down to one but just couldn’t get the bucket to get the lead.
The way the team finished the game showed everyone that we will be a tough out come sectional time. I am very proud of the team for not quitting and giving 17-2 Manchester all we had. Our kids fought through adversity to make this a great finish.
Tonight is Senior night. Come out and support the Seniors in their last home game. I will write about each Senior on the Senior Night post. Culver Academy will be a good challenge for our team. They always play a tough schedule and will fully expect to beat us. It should be another exciting game. See you, tonight!!!
Go Braves!!!”
Kelly 31pts
Ball 30pts
Ellis 7pts
Zeiser 4pts
Miller 3pts
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Boys Varsity Swimming finishes 7th place at Boys Swimming Sectional Finals
The boys had a great Sectional finals. These are the places.
Medley Relay 7th Aiden Ousley, Cole Nye, Ryley Rodkey, and P.J. Higgins
Garrett McManus placed 9th in the 200 Freestyle with a best time of 1:50.64 and placed 7th in the 500 Freestyle.
In diving, Brady Dausch placed 7th, Camron Metcalf placed 10th, and Aiden Williams placed 11th.
Cole Nye placed 16th in the 100 Butterfly and 9th in the 100 Breaststroke.
200 Freestyle Relay 5th Cole Nye, P.J. Higgins, Isaac Lorenz, and Garrett McManus
Aiden Ousley placed 15th in 100 Backstroke
400 Freestyle Relay 7th Ryley Rodkey, Aiden Ousley, Garrett McManus, and Isaac Lorenz
The Golden Google Awards go to Cole Nye, Brady Dausch, and Garrett McManus.
I am very proud of this team and all the improvement this season. It is always hard to have the season come to an end and see the seniors swim for the last time. Thank you guys for everything.
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Ethan Farnell takes 4th place at IHSAA State at 175lbs
Ethan Farnell placed 4th at the IHSAA State tournament on Saturday. Ethan entered the state tournament ranked 17th at 175 lbs. with a 38-3 record and a 4 seed out of the Ft. Wayne Semi-State that had to wrestle a 1 seed in the first round. He wrestled the opening round on Friday in the round of 16 he defeated #3 ranked Brenton Russell 36-1 of Warren Central 6-4 in OT. This placed him in the top 8 and guranteed him 3 matches on Saturday.
Ethan started Saturday morning off with an 11-6 win over Zymarion Hollyfield 17-1 of Penn placing him in the state semi finals and securing him a top 4 placement. Ethan lost a tough semi-final match to eventual state champion Chase Leech 40-2 of Garrett 6-2, and placed him in the 3rd place match. Ethan wrestled a tough match for placement against Aidan Costello 43-1 of Hobart losing 2-0 to secure his 4th place finish.
Ethan would like to thank his family, friends, teamates, coaches (in-season and off-season), teachers, and administrators for their continued support. The amount of support we recieved this weekend was overwhelming.
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Boys Varsity Basketball beats Culver Academies 59 – 41
The Braves won on Senior Night to lock up a 9-0 home record. The win puts the Braves at 15-5 for the season.
Coach Burrus Quotes:”It was a great night of Maconaquah Basketball. It was a defensive battle that we were able to win. Our team was really locked in on the defensive end. The 5 Seniors really played good defense during their time on the floor, together.
It was also a good bounce-back win after the tough Manchester loss on Friday night. We are resting Fuddy Kile with his ankle injury. I thought everyone chipped in to make up for his absence. Holding CMA to 14 points at halftime has to be close to a season-low for them. It was a great team effort and shows that every varsity player works hard on defense.
It was Senior Night so here are some thoughts on each Senior.
Braxton Birner: He is one of the nicest kids on the team. He loves the TEAM thing of being part of something. He is a 3 sport guy and really has done a lot in his career at Maconaquah. I have appreciated my time with Braxton. I enjoyed him hitting a 3 in the Northfield game and staring at the whole bench. Braxton brings joy to the team. He just likes being around. I believe his ability to be the QB (leader), role player in baseball, and team guy in basketball will help him in his future. He is good in many roles. That translates well to adult life and challenges.
MJ Ellis: It has been fun to get to know MJ the last two years. I have really seen improvement in his game. MJ is very difficult to score on down low and changes the game with his shot-blocking ability. I have counted on MJ for a lot on this team. He has had some really big rebounding games, too. MJ is a kid that is very out-going and has a passion for things he does. Wherever he goes he will get to know people and he will have an impact on whatever he does, and who he is around. MJ loves people and he cares about others. He will end up helping others in some way in his future. He will continue to grow as a person. I am excited for MJ’s future.
Kaden Miller: I have really enjoyed my time with Kaden. He is a really good leader and works very hard at anything he does. He has really improved his defense to be able to be at the top of our defense. He has worked through injury to get back and help our team. His big 3 at the end of the Manchester game is a memory I won’t forget. Kaden is a very well-rounded individual. He is a planner and really thinks about his future. I believe Kaden has a lot of options. He loves Maconaquah and he will take the things he has learned here and will turn that into a future filled with success!!! Kaden will find a way.
Oakley Reeser: He is a player that had to change his game to find a role on this team.He had to play more of a defensive guard and spot scorer after scoring a lot on the jv team last year. He was able to do that by coming in every day and working hard in practice. Oakley has played great defense all season. He has always been a good 3 point shooter but his overall game got much better. He also could go down and play the bottom of our defense which is totally different. Oakley has a bright future with what he has shown this year. He came in and made our team, better. He will face many challenges in his future but I believe Oakley will not back down. I believe he has learned a lot this year and he will meet those challenges with a work ethic he brought this year. Oakley has been determined. It will pay off for him as he moves forward!!!
Ethan Zeiser: I really feel that Ethan has been a huge contributor to our program. He has done so much. He has always worked very hard. He has really set a great example for other players and the future of our program. Ethan understands what it takes to win. The 3 buckets he hit down the stretch of the county tourney were great examples of Ethan. He hit a shot right at the FT line. He got a pass for a layup. He hit a 3 in the corner that really let us breathe. Ethan played great defense in different positions. He is just a kid that battles. He will find ways to get the ball. He is one of the better bottom defenders I have coached. He can play all of the positions, which is incredible. Ethan will have a very important job career. He will make big decisions. We will miss his leadership, and his will to win!!! He will move on from Maconaquah and make us all proud. I am proud to have coached Ethan. I won’t be surprised by anything he accomplishes in his life, ahead.
Great job Seniors!!! Thanks parents!!! I hope you all enjoyed Senior Night. You deserved it. I thought everyone SHINED!!!
Congatulations!!!
Go Braves!!!”
Coach Burrus
Ball 29pts 11reb 2ast 1bl 2st
Kelly 14pts 2reb 5ast 3st
Zeiser 8pts 11reb 1ast 5st
Ellis 3pts 3reb 1bl 1st
Reeser 3pts 1st
Richards 2pts
Miller 1ast
Birner 1reb 2st
