High school sports returned to action in full swing Tuesday and Wednesday, but some school officials believe it is only a matter of time before the smoke and flames from the omicron wildfire reach athletics.
“It’s everywhere, whether they know it or not,” Suttons Bay Public Schools Superintendent Casey Petz said of the COVID-19 variant. “There
have been lots and lots and lots of symptomatic kids over the last three days, and more are coming.”
Petz said every school district in Leelanau County is being hit hard and has “major issues” with positive COVID-19 cases
It looked bleak for the Port Huron Northern boys basketball team. The Huskies trailed 51-43 at the end of the third quarter after Troy Athens closed the period on an 8-2 run.
Then Tyler Jamison completed a performance for the ages.
The junior scored a game-high 47 points (17 of which came in the fourth quarter) and willed Northern to a 60-57 victory in the Skippers Showcase at SC4 Fieldhouse on Thursday night. Jamison broke Northern's single-game scoring record of 44 points, which was set by Joel Whymer in 2003.
The Huskies led 22-17 after the first eight minutes. But Athens kept up thanks to a balanced scoring attack and held a 31-30 advantage at the half.
Photo: StudentandAthlete
Bloomfield Hills senior Carson Brodsky (23) scores against Detroit Loyola on Thursday.
Bloomfield Hills improved to 6-2 on the season with a hard-fought 51-42 boys basketball victory over Detroit Loyola on Thursday, Jan. 6, at Bloomfield Hills.
Loyola (3-3) led 17-11 after the first quarter, but Bloomfield Hills used a dominating 17-3 run in the second quarter to take a 28-20 lead into halftime.
Bloomfield Hills held a 39-32 lead after three quarters and outscored Loyola 12-10 in the fourth quarter.
Junior Noah Adamczyk led the Black Hawks with 23 points. Senior Carson Brodsky had a stellar overall effort with eight points, 13 rebounds, and six assists.
Bloomfield Hills travels to Royal Oak on Thursday, Jan. 13, and hosts Harper Woods on Tuesday, Jan. 18.
Loyola looks to bounce back at home against Oak Park on Monday, Jan. 10.
Many have been asking for a shot clock in high school basketball in Michigan for years.
This season the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan and Michigan High School Athletic Association are implementing shot clocks on a trial basis at five events including this Saturday's Muskegon Basketball Showcase which features three games.
One perceived drawback to adding a shot clock is cost and adding a person to run it.
The Big Reds have been practicing with the recently installed shot clocks the last couple of days.
"Very, very simple," Muskegon head coach Keith Guy said. "You can have a student run it, one controller, it is three buttons. On and off, reset to 35 and reset to 15 and that is how simple it is."
Guy will fill out a survey after Saturday's games and send it to the BCAM and MHSAA, but expects he will like the addition.
Photo: Petoskey News-Review/Jared Greenleaf
Pellston junior Logan Keiser (right) heads for the basket on Thursday.
It hasn't been an easy go for Nate Meinke in his opening season as Pellston's varsity boys basketball coach.
At home, against a rival, the Hornets delivered easily
their best showing of the season to take down the Inland Lakes Bulldogs in a 56-35 victory on Thursday.
Junior Hale Dufresne scored 22 points.
And then there was one.
Tecumseh is the last lone remaining unbeaten girls basketball team in Lenawee County after a convincing 67-34 win against Onsted Thursday.
Tecumseh (9-0) was impressive from the opening tip, showing it could play with break-neck speed or a slow-down, more deliberate style when necessary.
> Continue reading at
the Adrian Daily Telegram
St. Clair Shores Lakeview made the shots it needed to down the stretch to earn a girls basketball win Thursday against Warren Cousino.
Lakeview senior Krista Ridgeway went 7-of-10 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to help Lakeview come away with the victory.
> Continue reading at The Detroit News
Photo: Adrian Daily Telegram/Mike Dickie
Onsted's Kennedy Ross and Tecumseh's Alli Zajac go up for the opening tip on Thursday.
In March last year, the West Bloomfield girls basketball program was preparing for what it hoped would be a long and productive playoff run. With a roster brimming with talent. > Continue reading at MLive
Photo: Battle Creek Enquirer/Alyssa Keown
Senior Abby Youmans poses for a picture at Athens High School on Tuesday.
Abby Youmans didn't think basketball was the game for her.
Until someone dared her to play it.
Now Youmans is a senior all-league basketball player for Athens High School. And opponents are far more concerned with trying to stop her than they are the fact that she was born without a left hand.
"We have been friends forever, so I forget sometimes she has only one hand. It doesn't come up," said Kenneddi Cromwell.
> Continue reading at the Battle Creek Enquirer
