News Photo by Ben Murphy Onaway head coach Eddy Szymoniak, seen here shaking hands with senior player Sean Porter before a home game earlier this year, hopes to lead the eighth-ranked Cardinals to a regional championship over third ranked Rudyard tonight in Pellston.

ONAWAY — Onaway boys basketball head coach Eddy Szymoniak admits that so far this postseason, his eighth-ranked squad hasn’t exactly been challenged.

Case in point, the Cardinals (22-1) have breezed by their first three opponents by an average of 34 points per game, including Monday’s 72-36 thrashing of Harbor Light Christian in the regional semifinals.

“Up until this point, we have been the favorites,” he said.

All of that is about to change tonight however, when the Cardinals, champions of the Ski Valley Conference, look to win their first regional championship since 2016, by taking on Rudyard (22-1), champions of the Eastern U.P. Conference in a Division 4 regional championship at Pellston.

“This is going to tell us what we are made of, who we really are,” Szymoniak said. “They played in the semifinal last year and they have two guys who can really put points up. It is going to be a battle, no doubt.”

Those two guys are seniors EJ Suggitt and Tate Besteman; a duo that were key cogs in the Bulldogs’ trip to the final four last winter. Suggitt, a 6-foot guard, is the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,325 career points (as of March 13). Besteman, a forward, stands at 6-foot-8 and has averaged double figures in points and rebounding this year, and has also surpassed the 1,000-point mark. They also return starters Austin Warner and Cam Peterson from that team, and senior Brett Meyer is back in the line-up after missing last year with an injury.

“We have our work cut out for us, for sure,” Szymoniak said. “We have to limit easy buckets and if we can make them work for it, I have all the confidence in our guys that as long as they play like they have through the first 23 games this year, they can come out on top.”

While the Bulldogs have quite the intimidating cast of characters, the Cardinals aren’t without their own talented cast.

“We obviously have Jager Mix, who has been here for four years and is our own 1,000-point scorer, so he can put up some points,” Szymoniak said. “When he is feeling it, he is pretty tough to stop and he will be able to give their big guys some fits down there. Between Jadin Mix and Austin Veal, they are sophomores that could eventually be 1,000 point scorers and a freshman in Mason Beebe that isn’t too far behind them. Bridger Peel has been one of our leading scorers this year too, so we have guys that can put up some points.”

The Cardinals will also have the benefit of playing the contest in Pellston. They play in that gym at least once a season as a part of Ski Valley Conference play, and at only about a 45-minute trip for spectators, it could create a home court advantage.

“We are familiar with the gym, hopefully we are comfortable with it and we can get dialed in,” Szymoniak said. “We are just going to go over there and make sure we are locked in and focused. I think our fans and student section have been amazing this year and I think our turnout is going to be great and hopefully that will motivate us even more.”

Today’s date could be favorable to Onaway as well.

“This will be six years to the day that we won a regional championship and the guys want to do that again,” Szymoniak said. “It is definitely going to be exciting. No matter what happens, I know my guys will be giving everything they have and will have nothing to be ashamed of. We definitely have a chance to come out on top, but we have to bring our ‘A’ game. It is really going to be an exciting game.”