News Photo by James Andersen Alpena’s Lindsey Rondeau dribbles toward the basket during the first half of Tuesday’s game. In their 2022-23 season home opener, the Wildcats lost to Escanaba 49-33. Kiera Prue led Alpena with 10 points. A recap of Tuesday’s contest will appear in a future edition of The News.

ALPENA — An exciting event is returning for Alpena’s basketball programs this winter.

Both Alpena’s boys and girls varsity basketball teams will play at Little Caesars Arena Friday and both teams are excited to play on the professional court.

Alpena’s boys team plays Brimley at 1:45 p.m. and Alpena’s girls team plays Tawas at noon.

“It’s an awesome experience and it has been really cool over the years. This will be our fifth time going down there between (the Palace of Auburn Hills) and now Little Caesars Arena. Unfortunately, it’s been shut down the last couple of years because of Covid, but this will be a great chance for the guys to play on an NBA floor and see how big that court really is,” Alpena boys coach John Pintar said. “Overall, I think it’s a great time and experience for the high school kids,”

Even with the opportunity to play at Little Caesars Arena, Alpena’s boys team hopes to turn its season around. With an 0-2 record entering its third game, there are many improvements that need to be made.

“We’ve been giving up too many points, so we just need to start doing the little things right. We’re also not the biggest team, but we just need to work on our rebounding and playing better as a team,” Alpena’s Colt Gray said.

“To win this game we really need to work on getting defensive stops, boxing out, getting rebounds, putting pressure on their guards, and just forcing them to turn the ball over,” Alpena’s Tucker Bright said.

The girl’s varsity team is also playing in a must-win game on Friday and is excited about the opportunity to play in Detroit.

“I know we’re all pretty excited about the opportunity to play there. Just being able to play on the same floor as the NBA players do is awesome,” Alpena girls coach Laura Dubey said.

The Wildcats’ record fell to 1-3 after losing to a skilled Escanaba team on Tuesday. Although the team has been playing great defensively, adjustments need to be made on offense.

“We really just need to work together. Our communication needs to be better than it has been and just try as hard as we can,” Alpena’s Reese Wisniewski said.

“I think we need to work on cleaning up our mistakes. We also need to be a lot more efficient on offense and continue to play great defense,” Alpena’s Avery Dubey said.

Athletes from both sides are thrilled to have this event return and are looking forward to giving it their all.

“I think I can speak for the team and say that we’re all really excited and grateful for the chance to play at Little Caesars. I really think it’s gonna be a great experience for everyone,” Alpena’s Emily Kalish said.

“Being able to play on the same floor as the Pistons is super cool. Not everyone gets the chance to play at Little Caesars and fortunately, we do,” Alpena’s Brady Kollen said.