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

Isn’t it interesting one can still have interest in something that you had opportunities to do, but went array. Growing up, Swami had a real love to play sports. First baseball, where he could find himself out in the backyard, working on fielding. What was called pitch back net, it was an aluminum base that you could set for different angles with netting that would return the thrown ball at different angles. Ground balls, flies, line drives or pop ups, it could do it all. He worked at it in the fall and spring; it was his intent to play little league baseball. In the spring of 1960, he registered to play, then came two days of tryouts, before the coaches. He pinned his assigned number on the back of his shirt and was ready for action. In his mind, both days went reasonably well, he received a call that a second round of tryouts with be with a specific team. That action went on three days, before the final roster was set. Needless to say he was number 14 of 13 that made the team. Needless, to say how disappointed he was walking home that spring afternoon. But after about a week, kids in the neighborhood got together to play backyard, who were in the same spot as he was, and life was good. Needless, to say he never did tryout in the two remaining years he had, for he had more fun just being part of the gang.

Times have changed some 65 years later for all sports, where high schoolers are given more opportunities to play in one of three different levels. To what the All-Knowing-One has seen they enjoy and excel at their individual sport regardless of the level. Let’s see if he can make the team, with this weeks predictions…..

GAYLORD (5-4) at ALPENA (6-4) – (Boys) – Friday – 7 p.m. – Alpena has put together an impressive non-conference schedule, but now it is time to concentrate on the Big North Conference. The Wildcats first two conference games were against tough competition in the form of the Traverse City schools. Now is time to get back in the race against arch rival Gaylord. The All-Knowing-One believes the Wildcats are able to play with anyone. Their four losses have been against teams with exceptional talent. With that in mind, the Wildcats should be more than prepared for what the Blue Devils have to throw at them having a week off, because of a scheduling conflict.

Gaylord, likewise has played an extremely tough schedule with three losses have been against team that have only one loss between them. Gaylord came away with a 64-50 win on the road against Sault Ste. Marie and followed idt up with another W on Monday, against Boyne City. Swami has to say they are coming on after a slow start. The Blue Devil attack revolves around Carter Johnson from the outside perimeter, to open up the inside game of Kevin Cole, Calen Deer and Will Klein. Matthew Vanderveer with his hustle helps keep Gaylord play under control.

The Wildcats have a spark plug themselves in freshman Bryton Nostrant with his guard play. Nostrant has the ability to see what the opposition is going to do defensively, within seconds of the opening tap. Nostrant gave the Wildcats a lead against the same Blue Devils scoring 14 of his game high 34 in the first eight minutes. Then he closed the contest with the final 17. Swami has seen first-hand the Wildcats are not a one man show. Chase Coulon, Wyatt Srebnik, Evan Hahn, Conner Tulgestka, Lucas Thomson, Grayson Srebnik and Kai Peterson, all have the ability to shoot the 3 in the consistent moving offense, in addition to slashing towards the basket for an easy layup. The All-Knowing-One did not know at the beginning of the season, playing without a truly big man would work. It is the cohesiveness of the team that has dispelled those thoughts.

Swami Sez: Alpena 62, Gaylord 55.

MIO (4-6) at HILLMAN (7-1) – (Boys) – Thursday – 7 p.m. – Hillman had been rolling along, until a game against Rogers City, having run off six straight wins. Mio has been struggling in the early going of the campaign, that included three straight losses to open the season. Since that time the Thunderbolts have shown vast improvement.

The game against Rogers City was just one of those games the Tigers would like to forget. The mind set was Hillman all they had to do was hit the switch to the on. The only problem was it did not come on until late in the contest. Evan Crane and Eddie Prue led the way in the scoring column, but it was not enough. The Tigers did miss the double digit scoring attack of Ty Muszynski and Aden Tucker on this night. After seeing the light, the Tigers bounced back with a solid win over Fairview.

Mio is missing something they had in years past. The Thunderbolts have a very competitive team, but they just do not have the ability to close out teams in tight ballgames. The Thunderbolts win over Atlanta on Monday, will propell them in the right direction. The Thunderbolts have alternated wins and losses, if the pattern continues it might not be a good outcome for Mio against the Tigers.

Ty McGregor, Brody Fox and Ethan Simmonds are capable of producing double digit scoring nights. Landyn Fritz and Landon Mitchell lead the way for the Thunderbolts in steals and rebounding.

Records can be really thrown out the door, with the historic battles between these two North Star League arch rivals. Swami says Hillman has the advantage of just not playing at home, but playing to the best of their ability. The All-Knowing-One knows Mio can afford turnovers, because they could be turned into points on the other end. Overall, the winner will be the one that can play to the best of their ability in all aspects of the game.

Swami Sez: Hillman 58, Mio 42.

ROGERS CITY (7-2) at ALCONA (3-6) – (Boys) – Thursday – 7 p.m. – Rogers City has shown vast improvement, even to the point of handing rival Hillman, their first loss of the season last week. Alcona has struggled out of the gate, having won their opener, before dropping five straight, before wins over AuGres and Hale, but could not make it three in row, with a road loss against Charleton Heston. With a week off, the Tigers are looking to regain that winning form. The Hurons rolled Friday, against Whittemore-Prescott, in a game that saw the entire team get action. In game action as easy as it was, will still expose mistakes that have to be corrected before the next game. Swami believes the corrections will be made, regardless of how small they were.

Alcona couldn’t get the shots that they had taken to fall, in a low scoring game against the Patriots. It has to be disappointing to the Tigers, who had strung together wins and were looking to make it three in a row. Charleton Heston is predicted their half half of the league, which bodes well for Tigers only to lose by a close score. If the Tigers need any fire power for the game against the Hurons, Rogers City fell by a much larger spread to the same team.

The Hurons have had a balanced scoring attack consisting of Justin Romel, Jacob Catalano, Cole Brege and Bryan McKinstry. It can be seen when Rogers City has on the loosing end of a game, the production has gone down, which is expected when the opposition turns up the defensive heat.

Alcona has a 50-50 mixture of seniors to lower class as to their team. Seniors Karsen Gonyea, Cole Upper, Brandon Fogle, Ben Johnston, Matthew Abee and Gavin Dellar are expected to carry the load of minutes on the floor for the Tigers.

Swami hates to say this, but he believes this is the year of the Huron. It is not to say, that the Tigers can not come up with a perfect game plan.

Swami Sez: Rogers City 65, Alcona 50.

ATLANTA (2-6) at HALE (0-8) – (Boys) – Friday – 7:30 p.m. – It has been a difficult season for both Atlanta and Hale to this point. Neither have had much success this season. Hale is still looking to break into the win column, while has pulled out home wins over Fairview and Alanson. Since the first of the year, the Huskies have dropped three straight with the last being to Mio. Hale is hoping their last game against AuGres will be a stepping stone towards that first elusive win.

The Eagles have relied on the two guard set up of Brayden Jarema and Wyatt Irwin to carry the scoring load. Atlanta’s Blake King, Quintin Miles, Brett Culham have led the way in scoring for the Huskies, while Drayk Barnes, MacGregor Curwin and Cian McIlaney have did a yeomans job on the boards. Both Miles and King put the offense in gear from the guard positions, while Owen Powell has shown the ability to shoot the 3-pointer.

Swami, delving into the schedule so far, has noticed a team that might switch this game to Hale’s favor. It seems that both squads have played AuGres. It was the latest loss for the Eagles, but it was merely by double digits, while the Huskies did not come as close. The Rogers City and Whittemore-Prescott games both favored the Huskies.

Swami feels that playing at home will favor the Huskies, but Hale might take to heart they did a good job against AuGres, thus feeling they can pull out the win against Atlanta.

Swami Sez: Atlanta 46, Hale 36.