Tiger Ladies Winning Ways

By Bill Mullaly

The middle of December saw the winter sports teams competing and the bad weather with ice and two school days cancelled didn’t keep the teams from playing ball. If you were not at Hudson High School on Saturday night then you missed some of the most exciting basketball played in that gymnasium since it opened back in the winter of 1995-96. Addison was in town for a basketball festival and the Tigers and Panthers had the gym rocking as lots of fans showed up to support their teams. The wrestlers had the week off as the second ranked team in the state is getting ready for some big meets that are upcoming this week. The competitive cheerleading team was back in action and they won their first competition. The team that everyone is talking about around town is the girls varsity basketball squad as they are now unbeaten at 4-0. The boys hoop squad suffered a tough loss to Addison. Here is what happened last weekend as all the school sporting events were played on Friday and Saturday.

Girls Still Unbeaten

Hudson had two games on the hardwood and the Lady Tigers won both of them. One was by a nice margin and the other win was closely contested. Hudson edged Onsted on the road on Friday winning 58-52. Then the next night at home in front of a large and boisterous crowd the Tigers ripped the Panthers winning 87-72. The 87 points set a new school record for points in a contest breaking the mark that was set last year in the low 80’s. The win over Onsted was big in that it was a LCAA contest and Hudson is trying to defend its title. “We struggled shooting the ball and we didn’t come out playing with any intensity,” said Hudson head coach Tom Romanowski. “We played sluggishly and we were fortunate to get a win. Our shooting was nothing like it was on Saturday.”

The game was tied at 11-11 after one period and at halftime the Tigers were up just 22-20. A solid 18-11 edge in period three gave the Tigers a lead of 40-31 entering the last quarter. Onsted played well in the fourth quarter cutting the deficit to one with four minutes left. Hudson sophomore Ashley Boies made a key hoop to increase the lead to three points. Then she hit two of three foul shots late in the game to seal the win. “Ashley has been playing well for us with her increased minutes and she has done a great job,” said Romanowski. In the win senior standout Kellee Wonders had 16 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. Add in five blocks and four steals and it was a stellar performance. Junior sensation Aubrey Laughlin led the way with 17 points and Boies had 14. Rachel Pawson had seven points and six assists. Mykahla Frayer added the other four points in the league opening win. If Hudson had trouble scoring on Friday they certainly didn’t on Saturday against archrival Addison. Last year the Panthers edged Hudson in a controversial finish but this time the Lady Tigers won easily. Addison was up 21-19 after one period but at halftime the Tigers led 43-37. Then a very huge 30-point third quarter propelled the Tigers to a 73-52 lead. Addison won the last quarter by six points but by then Hudson had its fourth win of the year with no losses. Addison hit 13 three-point shots or the score would have been worse.

Again, it was the “Big Three” leading the way for Hudson as senior Wonders, junior Laughlin and sophomore Boies. Wonders had 25 points to tie Addison’s Dana Cook for game-high scoring honors. It should be noted that both Wonders and Cook will be attending Hillsdale College next fall to play hoop for the Chargers. HC is certainly getting two quality recruits that’s for sure. Laughlin added 24 points and Boies had 19. Credit Wonders with nine rebounds and Laughlin had 21. Cook had 25 points, nine boards, seven assists and five steals. She also hit six 3’s. Both teams put on an up and down the floor performance that had the crowd rocking and rolling on a snowy, cold winter night. Give Tiger athletic director Jeremy Beal credit for putting this event together. It was great for the players and fans with a lot of people there watching and it’s a good money maker for the school at the gate. “It was a great atmosphere,” said Romanowski. “The crowd was really into the game and both teams play a fast-paced game and there was a lot of scoring and offense.”

Frayer added 11 points for Hudson and she had five steals. Pawson recorded eight assists and scored five points as the team’s point guard. The other Lady Tiger who scored was senior Sheila Komarynski who got three points. More importantly, she is back from a recent knee injury and the knee is bruised but she can still play. To win big games late in the season the team will need Komarynski at full strength. “Sheila is back and she will play as much as she can and we need her in there,” said Romanowski. The girls will be at home tonight (Thursday) against Erie Mason.

Panthers Edge Tigers

Hudson fell 64-57 to rival Addison on Saturday night in the preview event to the big girl Æs game that followed. Addison led 14-10 after one quarter and the game was deadlocked at 31-31 at intermission. Addison used a 15-10 edge in period three to take a five-point lead and they outscored Hudson by two points in the last quarter to take the seven-point win. Hudson did lead by three points at one time in the third quarter but Addison regained the lead and never looked back. Hudson falls to 1-3 on the season and Addison improves to 4-1. “Addison seemed to want it more and they played harder late in the game,” said Hudson head coach Wayne Perry, who credited the Panthers with the win. “Addison did the little things to win the game.” Hudson was led by senior guard Zach Warner with 11 points and three assists. Garrett Schoonover and Taylor Milligan also hit double digits scoring 11 points. Blake Woodward had eight rebounds and seven points. Matt Aguirre had seven points, seven rebounds and three assists. Both teams hit 20 buckets but Addison had three 3’s compared to Hudson’s two and the Panthers made six more foul shots. Hudson will head to archrival Onsted on Friday for its last game before the break for the holidays.  

Cheerleaders Win Again

Hudson won the early-bird invitational at Onsted last Saturday. There were 10 teams competing and the Hudson cheerleaders were the best winning easily by over 100 points. Hudson scored 671 points and Adrian-Madison was second with 578. Hudson scored 202, 197 and 272 points in the three main categories to take the win. “It was a good start to the season,” said veteran Hudson head coach Kelly Bailey. The team will compete next on January 5th at Vermontville Maple Valley.
                                  To Index