SPRINGPORT — For the second time this season, Grandville Calvin Christian’s girls basketball team upset a team ranked seventh in the state in the Associated Press Class C girls basketball poll. This time it was Carson City-Crystal, who lost 37-35 on a putback of a missed shot with 10 seconds left to play. Squires guard [...]

The Carson City-Crystal girls basketball team has been on quite a roll the past two seasons. The Eagles won 18 games last year, while winning league (CMAC) and district titles for the first time since the early 1980s.

Sometimes it’s just not meant to be. That may have been the case for Carson City-Crystal senior Kenneth Dittenber, who was in search of a third straight individual wrestling state title on Saturday at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Brighter lights. Bigger arena. That is the setting called the Palace of Auburn Hills. This weekend, it’s not the Detroit Pistons on centerstage, but the best of the best in high school wrestling.

Different year, same result. For the second year in a row, the Carson City-Crystal girls basketball team has won a share of a conference title. This time around it’s a share of the Mid-State Activities Conference title, claiming a share with a 50-14 drubbing of Coleman Thursday night.

The Carson City-Crystal Eagles just keep winning. Playing on Saturday, the Eagles won their 12th consecutive game. It was easily its biggest win of the year and more than likely one of its biggest wins in school history.

When it comes down to it, a ranking doesn’t mean a thing in high school wrestling, so says Carson City-Crystal (CC-C) head coach Kacy Datema. His Eagles team, however, earned every bit of its reputation as the ninth-ranked team in District 4, winning the regional title with a tough 45-33 win over the St. Louis Sharks at Montabella High School on Wednesday night.

In three years, Jason Gray built the Carson City-Crystal football program into winners. If they are to continue winning, Carson City will be doing so with a new head coach in 2013. On Tuesday, Gray officially resigned as head coach and informed his coaching staff and team he has accepted the same position for Chesaning Union High School.

Every wrestling team begins winter practice in November dreaming of the chance to reach Battle Creek for the team state championship. Just eight teams in each of the four divisions get to realize this dream. Tonight, five area teams will have the chance to claim a regional title and a spot in the final eight, which will take place Feb. 22 and 23 at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek.

No one will accuse the Carson City-Crystal girls basketball team of playing a soft schedule this season. With wins against Class B schools Belding, Tri County and Shepherd already, not to mention league rivals Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart and Montabella, the Eagles faced another quality Class B school in Sparta on Saturday at home.