The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Best of winter Part 2
Fun & Games
Jerry Hinnen
PUBLISHED: March 22, 2007
This week, "Fun & Games" continues its list of its favorite eight moments from the recently concluded winter sports season.
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Last week, Luke O'Brien won the decisive match for Saline's wrestling team in the district final, Milan's Kaitlin Ludwig rejected one of the state's best volleyball players, Saline's Kyle Larsen hit a pair of buzzer-beaters in the best basketball game of the season, and senior Kyle Cornelison qualified for Milan's state meet swim team in his last chance ever.
Sound intriguing? Here's four more:
Saline wins longest volleyball point ever. OK, perhaps not ever. But I watched a fair amount of volleyball this season, and this point was — minimum — twice as long as any other I saw.
Admittedly, it wasn't a point of any particular special impact. It came in Game 2 of a home match Feb. 15 against Dexter, Saline up 18-10 in a match the Hornets would win comfortably in three quick games.
But once a volleyball rally hits a certain point, the score doesn't matter that much. A third straight dig, a desperate save of a ball flying out of bounds, a solid kill, agonizingly dug by the opposition 末 after a while, there's simply too much invested in a point to lose it. The crowd's too into it. The opponent is going to get too much momentum. You have, have, have to win the point.
And finally, after what seemed like dozens of digs and a half-hour of play, Saline's Jen Galbreath rose up, got the kill and set off what is surely the only standing ovation for winning a 19-10 point that I've seen.
That's one of the things that makes volleyball an incredible spectator sport: any given point might be the most thrilling point of the year.
Gotts listens up. I'm going to let my esteemed colleague Brian Cox handle a moment from the Milan wrestling season:
Isolating one favorite moment in the Milan wrestling season is a tough choice. How could it not be during regionals at Milan High School, when two of the biggest Big Reds, heavyweights David Box and Jacob Hill, squared off simultaneously at opposite ends of the gym?
Fans' heads swiveled as if at a tennis match to keep up with the action. Neither Box nor Hill advanced to state, but hopefully both will be back next year for another shot.
That was a great moment, but my favorite instant of the season was more subtle than that 末 and just seven seconds long. It came during a 42-24 win over Erie Mason back in December, when the season was only weeks old. Junior Jarryd Gotts (171) battled his Erie Mason opponent through two tight periods before starting the third period on top.
He quickly gained an advantage and coach Gary Jonseck anxiously shouted instructions. What Jonseck yelled was unclear to fans, but Gotts heard it and executed, promptly earning a stunning pin.
Surprise at the suddenness of the win plastered across Gotts' grinning face as the ref raised his arm. At the corner of the mat, the look of satisfaction on Jonseck's face was a rare glimpse into the rewards of coaching."
O'Sullivan beats Bedford in OT. Ages ago, I read an article in Sports Illustrated that said, basically, the NHL's sudden-death overtime format was the best, most thrilling way of deciding a tie game in sports. Period.
I'll be honest, I was skeptical 末 as I was of all things hockey-related back then. But after being there in person for Saline's 5-4 triple-OT win over Bedford in the first round of the playoffs? Not anymore.
Saline had seen a 3-1 second-period lead slip away and had to fight tooth-and-nail for a tying goal in the dying minutes. Tied at four, the teams went into overtime, where, as Saline goalie Charlie Schneider rattled off a string of saves, the tension grew so thick you had to keep wiping your glasses off to see. The entire season was on the line in every play — every loose puck, every shot, every official's call could have decided the season then and there.
So when senior captain Jay Birko found senior assistant captain Kelly O'Sullivan for the winning goal in the third overtime, in some ways it was like a buzzer-beater in basketball or a walk-off home run in baseball. And in some ways — like the fact that Saline had won only two games during the regular season, and that win visibly, singlehandedly took some of the sting out of it — it was more than either of those endings. Sports Illustrated had it right.
Monty, Big Red seniors walk off winners. After Milan's boys' basketball team had won its final home game of the year, a 20-point drubbing of Monroe-Jefferson, I asked senior point guard Randy Monty why he was wearing the bandage he had wrapped around his head, Revolutionary War-hero style. Apparently, he'd fallen during a recent practice and had banged the back of his head nastily on the gym bleachers.
Which is how you ended up with an entire cheerleading squad 末 and several small children 末 watching the game with bandages wrapped around their head. It was a show of support for Monty and the team, but it could have been a show of support for the Big Reds' entire season.
Milan started the season off with a bang, winning their first four and opening its Huron League schedule with a road win over defending champion Riverview. But then the Big Reds dropped five straight. 5-1 and the best start in years was now 5-6 and the same old mediocre Milan.
The Big Reds responded, collectively strapping a bandage to its head and kept moving. One road win. And another, and another, and by the time of the Jefferson game the team had clinched the program's first winning season this decade.
Which is why, as Milan pulled away from the Bears in the second half, the response from both the crowd and players seemed a little more joyous than would be usual for a win over a losing team. It wasn't just a celebration of the win —I t was a celebration of the season, of a team and a senior class that took a knock on the back of the head, bandaged it up, and accomplished what they set out to do.
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