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

The old adage of there is plenty of time or I will do it tomorrow, is something that Swami had fallen into. But the All-Knowing-One has finally come to his senses, that if he is going to put together his first column of the New Year. It has to be now or his complacency would carry him over to next week. Enough is enough, all he had to do is put his mind to it.

Basketball season is going into their conference schedules, where everyone on the team has to step up. So, the same scenario applies. Either teams will step up to the competition or just play the games. The All-Knowing-One has seen teams follow the lead stepping up after the Christmas break. Let’s see if Swami can match the work ethic this week…

TRAVERSE CITY WEST (2-3) at ALPENA (2-3) – (Girls) – Friday – 7:00 p.m. – Alpena and Traverse City West are set to clash in a Big North Conference game. Both were on the losing end of contests against conference foe Traverse City Central.

Traverse City Central made it an 11-game winning streak against the Titans. The Trojans simply overpowered the Titans on the inside and out to take an easy 50-35 win. The Titans found life after being down by 22 points early, on baskets by Grace Bohrer, Emily Kelsey and Lillian Bardenhagen. West and the Trojans traded baskets from that point on to garner the win. Hailey Nickerson with 11 points and Bohrer with 10 paced the Titan attack.

Meanwhile, Alpena made a snowy trip to Sault Ste. Marie, Tuesday night, only to walk away to a 68-27 drubbing by the Blue Devils. Likewise, the Wildcats also played Central, who completely outplayed Alpena. So the All-Knowing-One has to say this might be a low scoring affair. It can be said, the Wildcats are experiencing growing, having started five freshmen, at the beginning of the season. Since that point, the play of Maddie Wiedbrauk, has taken on the role of starter. Emma Kinsel, Amelia Soltysiak, Bella Dickens, Lexie Souva and Emma Darga all freshmen have improved their game since the beginning of the season. Coach Mark Toppi with only eight players has managed to keep everyone fresh and ready to play.

Swami has to say both teams are young and eager to produce wins. Alpena playing at home has the advantage in having two days to prepare.

Swami Sez: Traverse City West 49, Alpena 44.

WHITTEMORE-PRESCOTT (0-2) at ROGERS CITY (2-3) – (Girls) – Friday – 6:00 p.m. – Rogers City is in the midst of back-to-back games, the Hurons took on Northern Michigan Christian Academy on Thursday, at home and follow it up with this evening against Whittemore-Prescott. Heading into Thursday’s contest the Hurons were coming off a loss to Hillman.

Chelsea Myers and Katie Kravevich return from last year’s team, which went 13-11. Juniors Eden Moltane and Norah Cherrette will be counted on to solidify the forward positions. The Hurons were hoping to put together two consecutive wins to begin the year, as of news time, the result of the Northern Michigan game was not known. Regardless, Rogers City is looking for a win against the Cardinals, for momentum going into Monday’s game against a tough Onaway squad.

Whittemore-Prescott is looking for their first win, after dropping two games by large deficits. The Cardinals are having problems putting points on the board, in losses to Atlanta and AuGres, Whittemore was only able to put 20 points. The Cardinals on relying on the senior leadership of Alivia Sheehan to turn the tide. While juniors Kylee Mead and Kylie LaFreniere are looking to help the Cardinals be competitive. First year coach, Lindsey Daniels is hoping after the first few contests the Cardinals will put the skills of practice time and apply to game situations.

Swami says it appears that the Hurons take the season one game at a time, regardless of what happens in the previous one. The All-Knowing-One says all you can do is to learn from the previous game and improve upon it.

Swami Sez: Rogers City 52, Whittemore-Prescott 34.

WHITTEMORE-PRESCOTT (3-4) at ROGERS CITY (4-2) – (Boys) – Friday – 7:30 p.m. – Whittemore-Prescott is looking for a win after four straight losses, most of them have been against North Star Conference opponents. Meanwhile, the Hurons are looking to get back on the winning track following the game against Hillman, one of the toughest opponents the Hurons will face this year. The four-point loss to the Tigers, has shown that the Hurons can play with that level of competition. Rogers City has been alternating wins and losses throughout the first part of the season. Over the six games, Jacob Catalano has led the way in scoring, but Cole Brege and Justin Romel are not far behind. In addition, Rogers City has received valuable contributions in scoring from Bryan McKinstry, Daryl Hawley and Max Zavala.

Things are improving for Whittemore-Prescott, having a junior varsity program something that has been missing for a couple of years, will develop up and coming numbers for the Cardinals down the line. This year’s varsity is growing, but has only one senior in Blake Miller, in addition the Cardinals will have experience in junior Blaine Zuchnik. It is the hope of of sophomore class Kyle Beach, Wesley Gawne, Jordon Roberts and Hunter Clayton can learn on the fly for a successful season. Four straight losses by large point spreads, has coach Ryan Lomason looking to turn the tide in the new year.

Swami’s outlook is for the Hurons to turn the schedule in their favor, beginning tonight. What the All-Knowing-One knows about the Hurons is they have a team that can steadily improve over the next two months.

Swami Sez: Rogers City 62, Whittemore-Prescott 44.

BELLAIRE (2-6) at ONAWAY (2-4) – (Boys) – Friday – 7:30 p.m. – Onaway is hoping to put the lopsided loss to Gaylord St. Marys behind them. Bellaire is hoping the New Year will continue with wins, as it did against Johannesburg-Lewiston.

Bellaire opened the season with six straight losses, before wins over Buckley and the Cardinals on Tuesday, 43-40. The Eagles Corperrale Somers pumped in 19, with five assists and six steals. While Caedom LeCureuxs contributed heavily on the boards with 10, to go along with a block.

The Cardinals can strike quickly with the 3-ball coming from the hands of Matt Russ, sophomore Chris Pauly and freshman Keagon Beyer. In addition to, Trenton Soik, Deacon Szymoniak and Drew Blanchard. But it seems opposing teams can harness those efforts come crunch time to pull out wins.

Of the six games played so far this season, it appears the Cardinals have to put up in the neighborhood of 70 points to pull out a win. Which leads Swami to believe if they can control their 3-point shooting, they have an excellent chance to win. But on the other hand, the All-Knowing-One has to say if they are not falling, the same can be said of the opposition. Meanwhile, the Eagles are hoping they turned the corner as to wins and keep the streak going.

Swami Sez: Onaway 58, Bellaire 49.