Girls playoff basketball tips off tonight
For some teams, it’s a clean slate; a chance to wash away the struggles of the regular season.
For others it’s a chance for redemption; an opportunity to make up for the missed chances of years past.
Still for other teams, it’s a chance to finally get going after steamrolling through 20 regular season games.
Whatever a team’s circumstances, the playoffs, which begin today with girls basketball district play around the state, offer teams a chance to keep their seasons alive, push themselves to new limits and, if they’re lucky, earn some postseason hardware.
For Hillman and Oscoda, both teams are looking to repeat as district champions. The Owls (17-3), who won the North Star League’s Big Dipper division title, toughened up their regular season schedule in preparation for a chance at a long postseason run. Oscoda won the program’s first district title last season before falling in the regional semifinals.
Oscoda enters tonight’s Division 3 matchup against Rogers City riding an 11-game winning streak and faces a Rogers City squad (4-16) that has played well at times, but struggled to close out games.
Tipoff tonight is 6 p.m. at Whittemore-Prescott and the winner will face the host Cardinals on Wednesday. Alcona will play Tawas in the other Wednesday semifinal.
Hillman (14-5) will have to wait until Wednesday to defend its Division 4 district title, but enters the postseason much differently than last year. Last season, the Tigers struggled early on, but finished strong to win three games in five nights and win a district championship.
This time around, the Tigers will have to contend with Posen (15-5), who’s aiming for its first district title since 2016 and is hungry for a shot at a district championship after a controversial postseason loss last year.
Posen will face Wolverine in the first of two semifinals in Hillman on Wednesday.
Hillman will have to face Onaway in the second of two semifinals on Wednesday and will face a Cardinals’ squad that has won its last four games and has been tested all season against a challenging Ski Valley Conference slate.
Alpena (10-10) will have to wait until Wednesday for its postseason slate to begin, but the Wildcats are hoping to avoid being a one-and-done again. Last season, the Wildcats ran up against eventual district champion Marquette and could see the Redettes again on Wednesday. Alpena will face either Marquette or Petoskey in a semifinal on that day.
The Wildcats split a pair of matchups with the Northmen in the regular season.