Not much to smile

about:

Section

After an ugly fall in football,

Michigan isnt doing much
better in basketball.

B2
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Top Scores
boys hoops
pine river
72
tc christian
42
mancelona 81
lake city
65
girls hoops
buckley 62
tc christian
14
nba
oklahoma city 103
cleveland 94
nhl
chicago 3
boston 2

st. louis
n.y. islanders

6
3

tampa bay
2
carolina 1

los angeles
5
ottawa 3

philadelphia 4
new jersey
1

buffalo 4
calgary 3

Main Events
Girls Basketball:
Tri County at Reed
City. 5:30 p.m.
Girls Basketball:
TC West at Cadillac. 7:30 p.m.
Boys Basketball:
Tri County at Reed
City. 7:30 p.m.

On Deck

Familiar
foe:

Cadillac
hosts Big
North rival TC
West in girls
hoops action
today. Get
the details.
THURSDAY

Rolling Along
Sports Editor: Marc Vieau | sports@cadillacnews.com | 775-NEWS

U-M HOOPS B2
NHL NEWS
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BOWL GAMES B3
SPORTS BRIEFS B4
SCOREBOARD B4

www.cadillacnews.com | friday, december 12, 2014

McDonald shoots
Pine River past
TC Christian

Babcock:
No deal
is coming
by helene st. james
tribune news service

cadillac news

DETROIT A deal
between the Detroit Red
Wings and head coach
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central
Mike Babcock is imminent
in the sense that it has
been imminent for months:
It will happen when Babcock wants it to happen.
As of
Thursday,
that's not
any time
soon, apparently
.
On Deck:
vs.
Chicago Blackhawks Columbus
Blue Jackets
Detroit
Red Wings
Following Panthers, 7:30
Northwest
a practice p.m. today
at Joe
TV: FSD
Louis
Arena, Babcock emphatically shot down reports out
of Canada that a deal was
imminent.
"Guys, this is just, like, a
fantasy world or something
like that," Babcock said.
"KenAvalanche
Holland Edmonton
and I, we
Calgary Flames
Colorado
Oilers
talked before the year, we
Pacific
agreed that we wouldn't do
this during the year. Our
team is going good, our
team is playing good. I like
the way we're playing. We
don't need any distractions.
"I'm happy here. I like
the general manager. They
treat me good. I don't know
what else I can tell you.
But
as far as negotiations
Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Dallas Stars
Los Angeles Kin
between Mike Babcock and
Ken Holland, there is none.
"Now, do we ride on the
plane together? Yeah. Was
I out with his wife and his
<AP> NHL WEST CONF LOGOS 093005:
daughter the other night?
MARC
VIEAU
CADILLAC
NEWS
Team
logos
for| the
Western
Conference;
ED;
MOVED Wednesday,
Yeah. I think I had a glass of
Pine Rivers Mitch McDonald goes to the basket against Traverse City Christians Kevinstand-alone;
Mannes
during
Sept. 14. </AP>
red wine and he had Coors
Thursdays non-conference contest. The Bucks beat the Sabres 72-42.
Editors note: It is mandatory to include all sources
that accompany this graphic when repurposing Light or something. There's
or editing it for publication.
Mancelona senior standout defensively, Besko said.
nothing more to tell. I'm not
ley buried 10 3-pointers en
Were giving up too many
Brandon Dingman.
hiding anything, I'm not
route to a win over Traverse
Dingman scored 43 points points and thats not going
City Christian in a nonmaking anything up. This is
Originally moved 091405
to get it done going forward. conference girls basketball
and set his schools career
just reality."
Championships arent
scoring record as the Ironcontest. SPORT LOGOS-ADD NOTE
Asked whether a deal
Editors:
Theseup
logos
are licensed
for use inbe
an editorial
news context
only. Othe
men beat Lake City in a non- won in December, though.
The Bears
were
12-4
af- to youmight
reached
during
an advertising or promotional piece, may violate this entity's trademark or other intellec
Weve got to move on from
conference contest.
ter the first quarter and 28-6
the season, Babcock said,
this one and keep getting
Credit Dingman for
at halftime.
"I don't think so."
them, Besko said. He was better.
Hannah Baldinger paced
He said the sides "have
Kory Root paced Lake City Buckley with 26 points, 10
unstoppable and he was the
never negotiated about it,
with 19 points while Lucas
difference in the game.
rebounds, five assists and
not once. They've come to
Marion scored 14. Cade
We tried a couple of diffive steals while Ashley Carme once in the summer, and
ferent things on him but we Peterson added nine points
penter added 13 points.
they came back the same
and Bradley Atkins had
couldnt stop him.
The Bears (2-1 overall)
way, just before the season, I
eight.
Mancelona led 18-13 after
host Lake Leelanau St.
think it was, and that's it."
Mancelona 81, Lk. City 65 the first quarter and was
The Trojans (1-1 overall)
Marys on Monday.
The Wings have been
are at Lake Leelanau St.
up 41-28 at halftime. It was
Buckleys JV team beat
willing since September to
MANCELONA The
Marys on Tuesday.
64-42 going into the fourth
Mason County Eastern 51next step might have inoffer him at least five years
quarter.
35.
cluded tying him up with
and around $15 million, an
The good news for the
Montana Yens paced the
duct tape.
annual salary that would
Trojans is its just December Girls Basketball
Bears (3-0) with 16 points
Thats about where Lake
make Babcock the NHL's
and they dont hand out tro- Buckley 62, TC Chr. 14
while Kirsi Wildfong and
City boys basketball coach
highest-paid coach. No
Catherine Montgomery
Brad Besko was when trying phies until March.
other NHL coach makes $3
Weve got to get better
to come up with ways to stop
million per season.
TRAVERSE CITY Buck- each scored eight.
LEROY Brian Goodenow wasnt quite sure what
was happening.
The Pine River boys basketball coach did know, however, that it was good.
Senior standout Mitch McDonald hit for 14 points in
the first quarter to help spur
the Bucks to a 72-42 win over
Traverse City Christian in
a non-conference contest
Thursday night.
The win runs the Bucks
record to 2-0 overall.
McDonald hit from outside and drove to the basket
against the Sabres en route
to a game-high 25 points. He
also had seven rebounds and
four assists.
For some reason, this
was a hard game for me to
get a pulse on, Goodenow
said. We came out of the
gates quick with Mitchell
hitting for 14 in the first
quarter.
That stuck us to an early
lead and then everyone else
kind of caught up.
Pine River led 24-7 after
the first quarter before taking a 37-16 lead into the halftime break. It was 57-24 going into the fourth quarter.
Goodenow also was
pleased with his teams defensive effort, especially in
the post against some bigger
players.
I was very happy with
our defensive effort again
against a bigger team, he
said. We defended the post
well and thats a good sign
for us.
Greg Park added 13 points
and five rebounds while
Brandon Fulks had 12
points, five assists and six
steals. Lucas Harris grabbed
eight rebounds.
The Bucks host Chippewa
Hills on Monday.
Pine River won the JV
game 53-23. Tristen Nelson
paced the Bucks with 24
points.

2015 now all-or-nothing for

Tigers after pair of trades

ditional pieces he
he Tigers
believes can push
stopped the
the Tigers to the
narrowing
World Series next
window of chamfall. But perhaps
pionship contenequally critical,
tion from slamit gives him more
ming shut on them
easily disposable
with a dramatic
trading pieces next
final day at the
summer should
winter meetings
Thursday.
Drew Sharp the Tigers struggle
through the first
Their two trades
half of the season
significantly
reshaped their
Sports Columnist and fall too far
behind their im2015 expectations

proved AL Central
as well as their
Division rivals.
roster. It's no lonIt's all-or-nothing now.
ger that they can win the
Cespedes and Simon now
American League pennant
join David Price as onenext year, but rather they
year rentals. Free agents
now MUST win it.
next winter. Dombrowski
The acquisitions of slugis gambling that big seaging outfielder Yoenis Cessons from players in conpedes and starting pitcher
Alfredo Simon from Boston tract years combined with
and Cincinnati, respective- the heightened sense of
ly, upgraded the bottom half World Series urgency from
of the Tigers' batting order contractually-bound stars
such as Miguel Cabrera,
and stabilized the starting
Victor Martinez and Justin
rotation after the Tigers
parted with Rick Porcello in Verlander will create a
championship mix.
the Cespedes deal.
But if it blows up in his
It has given Tigers presiface, he'll have a roster that
dent and general manager
he can more easily blow up.
Dave Dombrowski the ad-

The Tigers parted with

plenty of their highlyrated prospects through
trades over the last five
months, leaving them
with the minor leaguers
they believe will actually
contribute to the parent
club. If they can't win a
championship in 2015, the
Tigers are more likely to
go into 2016 with younger,
cheaper contributors such
as outfielder Steven Moya
and pitchers Buck Farmer
and Kevin Ziomek.
It was apparent a week
ago when the Tigers acquired starting pitcher
Shane Greene from the
Yankees that it was a precursor to bigger deals.
It made the nearly
26-year-old Porcello a
free agent himself following the 2015 season a
valuable trading piece.
The Tigers needed more
offensive punch from a corner outfielder. Cespedes averaged 23 home runs and 87
RBIs in his first three major
league seasons. He stayed
reasonably healthy last
year for the first time in his

associated press file photo

Boston Red Sox's Yoenis Cespedes follows through on a RBI double against the Toronto Blue Jays during the third inning of a game Sept. 6 at Fenway Park in Boston.
career, resulting in his first
100-RBI season and first
All-Star appearance. But
Cespedes isn't a disciplined
hitter, wildly swinging at
pitches barely in the same
area code as himself. He
doesn't take enough walks.
Doesn't take his power opposite field enough.
Cespedes improves the
Tigers' overall speed and is
a plus defender in leftfield.
He and new centerfielder
Anthony Gose both possess
rockets for throwing arms.
The Tigers are better
defensively, athletically and

offensively without making

a tremendous sacrifice in
the starting rotation. But
the fact that Cespedes is
now on his third team in six
months rightfully suggests
there are concerns regarding Cespedes' work ethic. Is
there a true commitment
for Cespedes to push himself to reach the enormous
ceiling of his talent?
Simon, 33, had his first
good season with the Reds,
earning his first All-Star
invitation. But until he
proves it again, it's nothing
more than an aberration.

It's a risk Dombrowski

felt comfortable taking. It
may all work out. But unlike past years, there isn't
that immediate feeling
that Dombrowski fleeced
his trading partners. He
spoiled Detroit with many
of his deals that strongly
favored the Tigers.
He nicely positioned the
Tigers for another legitimate pennant run following
a bold day at the trading
table. And if it doesn't work
out like he thought, Dombrowski could hold quite
the fire sale next summer.