One of my favorite things about covering games during the boys basketball season is the support shown by student cheering sections.
Sure, other sports teams will have big crowds of fans behind them at various points in the season, especially late in the playoffs, but usually none are more consistent than those that appear during the boys winter hoops season.
But this year, all those student sections that pop up during basketball have a lot to live up to after the volleyball season, as the Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse students supporting their Lancers left some big shoes to fill.
Though it swelled to about 100 fans strong during the Lancers' season finale — a Nov. 18 quarterfinal loss at Grosse Pointe North — the L’Anse Creuse volleyball team got significant backing from its students all season long.
And just as the Lancers battled tough to the end on the court with the host Norsemen during the quarterfinal, the fans in their student section impressed to the end.
Even as their team fell behind, the group stood strong and let their voices be heard, encouraging the Lancers, and for the most part, avoiding falling into any negativity like some student sections inevitably do.
So boys basketball fans, the bar has been raised, I’m hoping you can match it.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
On to Round Two
Last week, I attempted to flex my brain muscle and give us all an early look on how the first round of the football state playoffs were going to play out for our local C & G Oakland Activities Association teams.
Well, the numbers are in, and if I don’t say so myself, not too shabby, not too shabby at all.
So let’s take a look …
Livonia Stevenson 17; West Bloomfield High 6
I had the Lakers losing by 10.
Lake Orion High 7; Utica Eisenhower 0
My guess was the Dragons by eight.
Macomb Dakota 28; Troy High 10
I went out on the limb and had the Colts falling by 20.
Birmingham Brother Rice 28; Rochester Adams 21
This one hurt. I had Adams winning by 13 points.
White Lake Lakeland 42; Auburn Hills Avondale 7
This was another tough one. While I had the winning team right, I was 14 points off on the margin of victory.
Southfield High 16; Farmington High 0
Now, I was at this game, and it was even closer than the score showed. I guessed Southfield winning by seven, which was nine points off. But the Blue Jays scored on an interception with less than a minute in the game to throw my guess way off.
Bloomfield Hills Lahser 28; Redford Thurston 13
This one put me back on track. I had the Knights winning by 14, just one point off .
St. Clair Shores Lake Shore 27; Ferndale High 13
This game didn’t go so well for me. I had the Eagles winning by 13; they lost by 14.
I was 6-2 overall, but the true genius (and I use that term loosely) is that I was only nine points off on the average margin of victory of each game. Perhaps not too impressive on the surface, but in three games I was one point off and in another, only two.
For this week there are only three C & G OAA teams left.
Division 1 Lake Orion High (9-1) hosts Romeo High (8-2) at 7 p.m. Nov. 7
If you take a quick glance, Romeo lost 17-14 to the same Eisenhower team that the Dragons just beat. But from what I've heard, the Eagles had their most success running right at the Dragons. With Romeo being a physical, punishing-style team, that doesn’t bode well for Lake Orion. I really think this game could easily go either way, but I’ll take Romeo by two.
Division 2 Southfield High (9-1) hosts Dearborn High (7-3) at 1 p.m. Nov. 8
Dearborn’s three losses came against teams with a combined three losses and by an average of six points. Southfield struggled early with a pesky Farmington team, but eventually their athleticism and defense prevailed. This time, though, I think they just simply run into a better opponent. I’m taking Dearborn by eight.
Well, the numbers are in, and if I don’t say so myself, not too shabby, not too shabby at all.
So let’s take a look …
Livonia Stevenson 17; West Bloomfield High 6
I had the Lakers losing by 10.
Lake Orion High 7; Utica Eisenhower 0
My guess was the Dragons by eight.
Macomb Dakota 28; Troy High 10
I went out on the limb and had the Colts falling by 20.
Birmingham Brother Rice 28; Rochester Adams 21
This one hurt. I had Adams winning by 13 points.
White Lake Lakeland 42; Auburn Hills Avondale 7
This was another tough one. While I had the winning team right, I was 14 points off on the margin of victory.
Southfield High 16; Farmington High 0
Now, I was at this game, and it was even closer than the score showed. I guessed Southfield winning by seven, which was nine points off. But the Blue Jays scored on an interception with less than a minute in the game to throw my guess way off.
Bloomfield Hills Lahser 28; Redford Thurston 13
This one put me back on track. I had the Knights winning by 14, just one point off .
St. Clair Shores Lake Shore 27; Ferndale High 13
This game didn’t go so well for me. I had the Eagles winning by 13; they lost by 14.
I was 6-2 overall, but the true genius (and I use that term loosely) is that I was only nine points off on the average margin of victory of each game. Perhaps not too impressive on the surface, but in three games I was one point off and in another, only two.
For this week there are only three C & G OAA teams left.
Division 1 Lake Orion High (9-1) hosts Romeo High (8-2) at 7 p.m. Nov. 7
If you take a quick glance, Romeo lost 17-14 to the same Eisenhower team that the Dragons just beat. But from what I've heard, the Eagles had their most success running right at the Dragons. With Romeo being a physical, punishing-style team, that doesn’t bode well for Lake Orion. I really think this game could easily go either way, but I’ll take Romeo by two.
Division 2 Southfield High (9-1) hosts Dearborn High (7-3) at 1 p.m. Nov. 8
Dearborn’s three losses came against teams with a combined three losses and by an average of six points. Southfield struggled early with a pesky Farmington team, but eventually their athleticism and defense prevailed. This time, though, I think they just simply run into a better opponent. I’m taking Dearborn by eight.
Division 3 Bloomfield Hills Lahser (9-1) hosts Lapeer West (7-3) at 7 p.m. Nov. 8
Lahser hasn’t lost since week one of the season, and except for their four-point win against Ferndale High, none of the other games have been closer than 15 points. I think the streak continues and the Knights win by 13.
All right, there you have it. The Knights can begin their regional plans, but for the other two, I think. unfortunately, this is all she wrote. Or at least I wrote.
Lahser hasn’t lost since week one of the season, and except for their four-point win against Ferndale High, none of the other games have been closer than 15 points. I think the streak continues and the Knights win by 13.
All right, there you have it. The Knights can begin their regional plans, but for the other two, I think. unfortunately, this is all she wrote. Or at least I wrote.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Gridder stars in goal too for Huskies
As a pair of reporters searched for St. Clair Shores Lakeview goalkeeper Ryan Boren following a late October regional semifinal soccer game, a Huskies player wittily remarked, “Look for the big orange thing.”
The player wasn’t far off in describing his teammate in that manner, although he probably would have been wise to quickly look around and check that Boren wasn’t nearby.
The Lakeview goalkeeper, who was wearing an orange jersey in that game, is listed at 6 feet 3 inches tall and 235 pounds. Those dimensions are more often found on a football roster — which is where I got them.
Boren also played on the offensive and defensive lines for the Huskies' football team.
Built for battles in the trenches, Boren’s size didn’t hinder him on the pitch.
He helped lead the Huskies to their fourth straight district title and played well in the regional semifinal loss, keeping a talented team at bay as best he could in Dexter High (which later advanced to the state finals for the third straight season).
“(Dexter) definitely had more shots than us, for sure,” Lakeview coach Nick Spano said. “Ryan did a heck of a job, made some real critical saves. It could’ve been worse if not for him.”
It’s impressive that Boren has the endurance, focus and skill set to not only play both ways on the football field, but to step in between the posts without much practice and perform well on the soccer field.
“I can say we wouldn’t be here if not for him,” Spano said. “He’s done a heck of a job since he took over.”
Boren spent most of his practice time with the football team, joining his soccer teammates mainly just for games.
“It was kind of hard at first,” Boren said about splitting time between the two.
Eventually it worked out for all the parties involved, which is great to see because more often than not student athletes who want to play major roles on two separate teams during one season are forced to choose.
The player wasn’t far off in describing his teammate in that manner, although he probably would have been wise to quickly look around and check that Boren wasn’t nearby.
The Lakeview goalkeeper, who was wearing an orange jersey in that game, is listed at 6 feet 3 inches tall and 235 pounds. Those dimensions are more often found on a football roster — which is where I got them.
Boren also played on the offensive and defensive lines for the Huskies' football team.
Built for battles in the trenches, Boren’s size didn’t hinder him on the pitch.
He helped lead the Huskies to their fourth straight district title and played well in the regional semifinal loss, keeping a talented team at bay as best he could in Dexter High (which later advanced to the state finals for the third straight season).
“(Dexter) definitely had more shots than us, for sure,” Lakeview coach Nick Spano said. “Ryan did a heck of a job, made some real critical saves. It could’ve been worse if not for him.”
It’s impressive that Boren has the endurance, focus and skill set to not only play both ways on the football field, but to step in between the posts without much practice and perform well on the soccer field.
“I can say we wouldn’t be here if not for him,” Spano said. “He’s done a heck of a job since he took over.”
Boren spent most of his practice time with the football team, joining his soccer teammates mainly just for games.
“It was kind of hard at first,” Boren said about splitting time between the two.
Eventually it worked out for all the parties involved, which is great to see because more often than not student athletes who want to play major roles on two separate teams during one season are forced to choose.
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