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

Being a sports reporter has to be mind boggling and very stressful, taking in games basically every night of the week has to take its toll. Swami in his younger years had thought he would like to have that job as his profession. He had his crack at it, when the News had two full time reporters and were looking for someone to fill in on a part time basis. That is when reality set in; it was really hard to come up with something complimentary for a team that just got hammered. Sure, it was easy if that team won the contest. With that in mind, the All-Knowing-One began to look to something else, but still to be in the realm of sports. It all came to fruition on a Friday night at an Alpena Wildcat football game. That is how Swami Sez came to be, no more taxing of the mind, in an attempt to make the game look rosy, when it wasn’t. He certainly has to tip his hat, to the writers that do it on a daily basis. All, the All-Knowing-One has to do, is get the facts and figures, in addition to player’s names, put it all together and come up with a prediction. It is a simple as that; let’s see if it is, with this week’s predictions….

Alpena (9-9) at Gaylord (6-10) – (Boys) – Friday – 7 p.m.

It was another derailment that led to an eight-day layoff for Alpena. The makeup from the previous week, was set for Wednesday against Big North Conference leader Traverse City West. The outcome was not what the Wildcats were looking for. The Wildcats started off strong leading at the end of the first quarter, and they still held their own in the second. The final two quarters were the Titans as a press, plus a strong rebounding effort and hitting key 3-pointers, put the game safely in the hands of the Titans. Bryton Nostrant led the Wildcat attack with 13 points, while Connor Tulgestka finished with 10, being the only two to finish in double figures.

Add in today’s game against rival Gaylord, Alpena has gone through their toughest week so far. The Wildcats had to pull out all the stops in a 66-62 home win against the Blue Devils earlier. This time it might be the same outcome. Gaylord has shown their beatable side over the last eight games, only coming up with a 12-point win against Sault Ste. Marie. Tuesday, the Blue Devils had a makeup against Traverse City Central loosing that one as well. It seems playing on the road or at home makes no difference at the juncture.

Something that is missing for Gaylord is the inability to knock down the outside shot from Carter Johnson. When he is on, it allows Matthew Vandeveer and Will Klein to slash for easy buckets on the inside. In the last two loses, Gaylord has only produced a mid 40 point production, which has spelled trouble for the Blue Devils.

Swami Sez: Alpena 58, Gaylord 50.

Hillman (15-2) at Mio (9-9) – (Boys) – Friday – 6 p.m.

On paper it looks like another win for Hillman. On Mio’s side, it appears that the Thunderbolts are peaking at the right time, with a three-game winning streak. Something has to give here. Both Tiger losses have come on the road and have been by a handful of points. Likewise, the Thunderbolts have been snake bitten in the loss column as well, with the majority of the contests being decided in the waning minutes of games.

The last four games have seen the Thunderbolts be a bolt of lightning, including a slowdown 31-24 over Au Gres on Tuesday night. The Tigers have more at stake, being tied for first place in the conference. A loss would mean that they would have to win their final conference game and need a Posen loss to finish in a flat-footed tie. A Thunderbolt win would assure Mio of finishing in third place, which is a marked improvement after starting 2-4, with only a single win in the league. The Thunderbolts have suddenly found the range to produce double digit scorers, which was missing in the early part of the campaign. Mio’s Ty McGregor has averaged over 20 points during the span, and has the Thunderbolts heading in the right direction. Cory Fox and Brody Fox are not far behind. In order to score, you must have rebounds, Ethan Simmonds and Landon Fritz have improved vastly.

Not only has center Eddie Prue been a welcomed addition to the starting five, but has provided a rim protector in the center, to go along with his double-digit scoring production. Aedan Tucker scored a career high 24 points in the easy win over Fairview. Senior Evan Crane has been the assist leader along with the ability to score in double figures as well.

Swami says this game will be much closer than the one in January.

Swami Sez: Hillman 74, Mio 59.

Charleton Heston (10-4) at Rogers City (11-6) – (Boys) – Friday – 7:30 p.m.

What a difference a year makes; Charleton Heston would have been a push over for the Huron’s. This season, a game this late in the season, has all the makings out an all-out war. The Patriots currently sit in first place of the North Star Big Dipper division. The Hurons have a chance to make it a three-way log jam for the conference crown, providing that the Tawas Braves do likewise. In order to do so, the Hurons must come out red hot, something that did not happen in a double-digit loss very early in the season. To put it bluntly, Rogers City could not get anything to fall, in producing their lowest point production of the season.

Since Jacob Cantalano and Justin Romel have emerged in point production, in addition to the scoring punch of Bryan McKinstry to defenses respect the triple threat attack.

The Patriots have done all right in the win department, despite having their scoring department to a low of 50 points per game. They have made up for the loss in scoring production, by turning up the heat on the defensive end. Owen Romancky, Dylan Cichowski, Garrin Teed and Dominic Coleman have shared the ball in the balanced attack of Charleton Heston.

Swami Sez: Rogers City 62, Charleton Heston 58.

Posen (12-4) at Fairview ( 8-9) – (Boys) – Friday – 6 p.m.

It is a must-win game for Posen, being their last one in North Star Little Dipper division play. A win would assure them of a tie for the conference title with Hillman. While Fairview needs a win to not only get back to the 500 mark, but to finish in the upper part of the division.

Posen could not carry over the momentum after a win against Hillman, as Rogers City played at a slower pace than the Vikings were used to playing. The Hurons were able to pull out the win. Missing was the scoring punch of Gavin Keller that has led the Vikings, Coulton Paull and Omar Perez would finish with 13 points each, as Rogers City limited Keller to only 11.

Fairview broke their losing streak of three games, with a solid performance against Wolverine, to push their record back to 500. Mason Price can be described as a scorer, assist leader and game changer on defense. James Gilbert has an act to hitting that short jumper at critical points of the game. So, it is easy to see why they are the 1-2 punch for the Eagles. Carter Toensfelt can hit the timely three; Joel Kauffman may not score a lot, but he is in the right position to make game changing plays. The All-Knowing-One says the record of Fairview is not indicative of their overall play.

Swami Sez: Posen 65, Fairview 49.