Jere Bey, A.K.A. "Swami"

Frustrations can come in many ways; Swami experienced them first hand, all in one day. It all started Monday, during the basketball game between Petoskey and Alpena, that set everything in motion. In the past, the controller for both scoreboards, had given him fits. But knowing how the board responded since the beginning of the basketball season, he learned to adjust. It took a few seconds for the points to appear on either side of the board, no big thing. He told opposing coaches of the situation and everyone was in sync. But on this night, 3-pointers were flying up quicker than the board could keep up with. Thus, came the claim; I was shorting them of points; they did appear after a short period of time. Everything calmed down and the All-Knowing-One figured things would be good after. But the horn, complicated life again, hitting it at 30 seconds before the halftime break came to an end. Swami learned to ever so slightly touch it to make a sound. But the real kicker came when the clock reached 0, for some unknown reason; it kept sounding off. A quick solution, put eight minutes up for the next period, it suddenly stopped. But what took the cake, was the end of the game. It had a mind of its own, continually ringing as the teams were shaking hands. Banging on it, had no effect, hitting the stop button did nothing as well. Finally, enough was enough, shutting the unit completely off, the scoreboard went blank and the noise subsided. It is his hope, that Thursday and Friday’s game go off without a hitch. If not, seeing him out and about, with less hair on his balding head, means that frustration got the best of him. It is his hope, he can breeze through this week’s column, and the only frustration will be, if his predictions don’t come out right……..

ALPENA (7-8) at TRAVERSE CITY CENTRAL (6-5) – (Boys) – Friday – 7:30 p.m. – Weather has taken center stage for Alpena. The Wildcats lost a home game against Bay City Western, then came the Petoskey game which was rescheduled to this past Monday. Needless to say, the weekend only wreaked havoc for the Wildcats. Alpena was completely out of sync from the opening tap. The Northmen played a consistent game, whereas the Wildcats could not put the ball in basket. They were a step slower on defense; add in miscues, led to a short night in a lopsided loss. Traverse City rode their three-game winning streak through the same Northmen team. With a week off, the Trojans took on Gaylord on Wednesday.

Depending on what took place for the Trojans, it could be another long night for the Wildcats, if they do not rebound from the loss. Early in the season, the Wildcats suffered a loss to the Trojans on their home floor; it will make it even harder to return the favor. It is hard to forget the loss to Petoskey, it was a bitter pill to swallow, as the Wildcats were very competitive leading up to that game. As a matter of fact, Swami thought they had turned the corner with the comeback win over the Blue Devils.

Traverse City’s record doesn’t speak for the team that they have. Swami took a closer look at their schedule and now can see why their record is what it is. Competition prior to the start of conference, is outstanding. The Trojans as the Wildcats found out in their first meeting, can add pressure defensively in the wink of a eye, causing all sort of problems. Point guard Collin Rademacher is point on from 3-point land. Hudson Mclean and Cassius Feeney have the ability to make steals and turn them into easy baskets, add the bigs down low; Traverse City is a load.

The Wildcats have the ability to pull out the win, if they keep their minds in the game and not let the opposition take them out of it. Swami says it will be a tall task, but like the saying is, that is why they play the game; everyone has that opportunity.

Swami Sez: Traverse City Central 65, Alpena 52.

HILLMAN (12-2) at AU GRES (3-11) – (Boys) – Friday – 7:30 p.m. – Hillman was looking to extend their winning streak to seven, before Posen took measure of them. Au Gres currently on a four-game losing streak following a game against Atlanta, but are preparing to spring the upset. The Wolverines have struggled, but their play of late has given them a sense that they are capable of playing with any team. The Tigers will not revert back to the style of play that led to two losses. The Tigers for the most part, have come out with a strong first quarter that has sent a vivid image to the opposition. Hillman has a variety of talent that give the Tigers the jump on the opponent. Evan Crane, Eddie Prue or Ty Muszynski all has the ability to spark the Tigers in moment’s time. Swami says the amount of ink in the newspaper, doesn’t mean that the other 11 players are not as important. Every player on Hillman’s roster has played a key role in the success of the Tigers.

Au Gres tends to be on the other side of the coin, as they tend to be letting the opposition offense dictate their game on the defense, instead of being the aggressor. Likewise, the opposite can be said of the offense as they have played into the hands of the defense. Brennan Smolen is capable of shooting the 3-ball, while being the Wolverines leading scorer, Carson Ososki and Lucas Verdusco are close behind in the scoring column. Au Gres is capable of pulling out a tight low scoring game, but if the opponent gets running there is no way of catching up.

The All-Knowing-One believes this might be the type of game the Tigers put all facets of their game together. He sees every player making significant impacts on the game. Swami believes after the second wake up call, coach Eric Muszynski will have Hillman more than ready to play Au Gres.

Swami Sez: Hillman 69, Au Gres 42.

POSEN (9-3) at ROGERS CITY (9-5) – (Boys) – Friday – 6:00 p.m. – The rivalry continues between Posen and Rogers City, not for the close proximity, but tonight’s game brings more to the table; it is the Huron’s homecoming. For the Vikings gives a little more incentive, while the Hurons are looking to cap of the week in style. Rogers City broke a two-game losing streak to St. Ignace and Inland Lakes, by handling Oscoda. It seems this is the story of Rogers City, producing a win, followed up by a loss. The Hurons will be looking to put together two solid games. Posen has strung together five straight North Star Little Dipper conference wins, springing them into a first-place tie with Hillman. The Vikings are looking to keep the streak going with another win, but it could be difficult as the Hurons took advantage of the Viking homecourt, in late December. The schedule follows the same format as having a loss to Hillman in the same week. The Vikings rebound win against Hillman, gives them hope that they duplicate the same feat against Rogers City.

In the win over Hillman, it was the solid play of Jacob Catalano, Justin Romel and Max Zavala that laid the way in the upset win for Rogers City. Every win for the Hurons is two fold, as to conference standings and overall record to finish on the plus side. To this point they have their eyes on accomplishing both. Rogers City must have their mindset on this game and not look past it, as the Vikings are no team to take lightly. If they do, the Hurons have a return matchup against Hillman next week, with revenge being foremost on their minds.

The Vikings have to figure out a way they can close out the Hurons, case in point Rogers City pulled away in the fourth quarter. This was in the first game which was played early in the campaign. In that contest, Colton Paull was the only Viking to reach double figures. Since that game, Gavin Keller, Blaine Rondeau, Omar Perez and Alex Soik have step their games finishing in double figures on a regular basis.

Swami Sez: Rogers City 63, Posen 60.

ALCONA (5-8) at TAWAS (6-5) – (Boys) – Friday – 7:30 p.m. – Both Alcona and Tawas are moving up the ladder towards having a winning season. The Tigers squeaked out a 60-59 win over Whittemore-Prescott. A six-day layoff, because of a cancellation, did the Tigers no favors in playing Hillman, before the Braves. But it might be a good omen, seeing how Hillman reacted after loss; Alcona might respond in the same, seeing how it was done. Tawas was back in action on Monday, they also responded to a 14-point win over Johannesburg-Lewiston, in putting together three straight wins.

Recently, the Braves put themselves along with Alcona in a first-place tie in the North Star Big Dipper division, with a hard-fought 51-42 win over Charleton Heston Academy. Every win is extremely important for both squads in not only to via for the division rights, but to work towards a winning season. With that said, Swami believes tonight’s contest is highly important for both. A win tonight by either is a step closer, while a loss means that team has to make up ground as the season is coming to a close, and there is little time to do it.

Reuben Edwards led the way in that important win for Tawas, Aidan Smith used triples beyond the arc to garner a double digit point production. The Braves bench of Vance Spencer, Truman Bush, along with Carson Selman and Preston Muckenthaler made keys plays to keep Tawas in contention, before the final outcome. In looking at the roster, the Braves only have one senior on the team, Rasen Clement, so this maybe a rebuilding year, but look out for the Braves in the years to come.

On film, Swami has seen the Tigers in action, who have the ability to run the fast break to perfection. Karsen Gonyea and Cole Upper have the ability to get out in front of the defense for easy layups. The inside play of Gavin Dellar and Edju Hechlik, along with Grady Goddard coming on has the making of team that could spell trouble in the upcoming games.

Swami Sez: Tawas 59, Alcona 45.