Mulberry Grove summer sports action

By Mark Jurgena, Advocate Sports Staff

At Mulberry Grove High School the summer basketball season is in full swing for coach Sam Barber and his Aces.

On June 18, they traveled to St. Elmo to take on Brownstown/St. Elmo. The Aces beat BSE 57-52.

“It was a big win for us because it is a conference team and they usually are at the top of the conference,” said coach Sam Barber.

Earlier in June they had multiple games.

They faced off with Farina (South Central) and Neoga in Farina but fell in both contests.

They followed that up with games at the Vandalia Shootout.

Mulberry Grove fell to Dieterich and Cerro Gordo to begin play.

They went into the second day against much bigger schools in Flora, Toledo (Cumberland) and Greenville. 

“I think we definitely got better as a team through all these games,” said Barber. “The focus was converting my team from a team that is used to zone defense to a team that can guard man to man.” 

Also last week, Mulberry Grove played in a JV shootout at Greenville University. They went 2-6 at GU but the Aces “definitely saw improvements as the camp went on,” according to Barber.

Girls volleyball

The girls volleyball team is taking part in a league in Pana throughout the summer on Wednesday nights. 

Their final competition of the summer will be a tournament in Greenville on July 18.

Comet Cale Ackerman plays defense against Father McGivney at the GU tournament on Monday morning while Benjamin Hutchinson and Nolan Tabor keep their man and the ball in sight. Photo By Mark Jurgena

Landon Sugg of Mulberry Grove goes for a breakaway layup with Hagen Henrichsmeyer trailing for a rebound against Patoka on Monday morning at GU. Photo By Mark Jurgena