...and the plot thickens
Who's #1. The race for supremacy in the GTW continues to be the best story in the area. After Friday night, there area three teams with two league losses (USA 5-2, Reese 4-2, Lakers 3-2), one team with three losses (Cass City 4-3) and one with four (Bad Axe 2-4). BCAS is the only team in the league that I would say is, as of right now, officially out of the race for the title.
Things should get start to clear up next week. On Tuesday, Cass City plays at USA and Reese is at Lakers; Friday night Reese is at Cass City and BCAS is at Bad Axe.
This is the only suspenseful conference race in the area involving more than two teams.
Brown City is slowly pulling away in the GTE; the Green Devils are 13-1, 7-0 in conference play. The closest team is Harbor Beach, two games back at 5-2 in the league.
The NCTL North is close, with North Huron just one game back of Owen-Gage.
(I won't even mention the South).
And in the TVE, Bridgeport all but has that wrapped up.
So the GTW, and the three maybe four teams that still have a legitimate shot at the title, is the conference to watch.
My pick to win out: I want to say Reese, but the Rockets have four league games left and three of them are on the road, so the schedule does not favor the Rockets.
I think it's going to come down between USA and Lakers, with Bill McLellan and his team pulling off the shocker and claiming a conference title.
Redford does it again. After pouring in 48 on Tuesday night, Brad Redford continued to show why he is the best player in the Thumb by scoring 30 Friday night, leading Frankenkmuth to a 73-51 win over Caro.
(Yes, I said BEST IN THE THUMB...more on that later).
Redford is just a junior, yet the 6-0 guard passed 1,000 points for his career with his performance on Friday night. This after he sprained his ankle on Tuesday at home in the final seconds against North Branch.
I spoke to Frankenmuth assistant coach Tom Keller after the game on Tuesday, and he said Redford's ankle looked bad. Tough kid...I'm sure he sucked it up, taped it, and went and played Friday night, knowing just how much his team needs him.
He's their leader, their best player, and the best scorer in the area, so the fact that he played with a bum ankle, and still scored 30 points...well, that's commendable.
The Final word. Speaking of the Thumb, I was talking to a Frankenmuth fan at halftime Tuesday night, and when he found out who I worked for, he began to talk about the All-Thumb teams from last fall.
Said he loved the idea, thought it was great as a way to honor those kids who might be overlooked by the AP and other post season awards from the big city newspapers.
But, he thought we made a big mistake by not selecting a Frankenmuth girls basketball player to the squad, especially since this girl was the top vote-getter in the TVE for all-conference and was 1st team all area in the TCA.
He asked, how was it that we could have overlooked her.
I told him that the powers that be, the original minds behind the formation of the team decided that Frankenmuth was not a part of thumb.
Therefore, we at the TCA could not even bring this player to the table for a nomination (sort of like asking us to play poker with out allowing us to play with the ace).
The fan looked at me, almost as if he couldn't believe what I told him. Then he said to me, "Have those guys ever looked at a map?"
I let him have the last word, which does not happen that often.
Wrestling today. I'm going to North Branch to cover the TVE conference meet. I'll give an update tomorrow.
Things should get start to clear up next week. On Tuesday, Cass City plays at USA and Reese is at Lakers; Friday night Reese is at Cass City and BCAS is at Bad Axe.
This is the only suspenseful conference race in the area involving more than two teams.
Brown City is slowly pulling away in the GTE; the Green Devils are 13-1, 7-0 in conference play. The closest team is Harbor Beach, two games back at 5-2 in the league.
The NCTL North is close, with North Huron just one game back of Owen-Gage.
(I won't even mention the South).
And in the TVE, Bridgeport all but has that wrapped up.
So the GTW, and the three maybe four teams that still have a legitimate shot at the title, is the conference to watch.
My pick to win out: I want to say Reese, but the Rockets have four league games left and three of them are on the road, so the schedule does not favor the Rockets.
I think it's going to come down between USA and Lakers, with Bill McLellan and his team pulling off the shocker and claiming a conference title.
Redford does it again. After pouring in 48 on Tuesday night, Brad Redford continued to show why he is the best player in the Thumb by scoring 30 Friday night, leading Frankenkmuth to a 73-51 win over Caro.
(Yes, I said BEST IN THE THUMB...more on that later).
Redford is just a junior, yet the 6-0 guard passed 1,000 points for his career with his performance on Friday night. This after he sprained his ankle on Tuesday at home in the final seconds against North Branch.
I spoke to Frankenmuth assistant coach Tom Keller after the game on Tuesday, and he said Redford's ankle looked bad. Tough kid...I'm sure he sucked it up, taped it, and went and played Friday night, knowing just how much his team needs him.
He's their leader, their best player, and the best scorer in the area, so the fact that he played with a bum ankle, and still scored 30 points...well, that's commendable.
The Final word. Speaking of the Thumb, I was talking to a Frankenmuth fan at halftime Tuesday night, and when he found out who I worked for, he began to talk about the All-Thumb teams from last fall.
Said he loved the idea, thought it was great as a way to honor those kids who might be overlooked by the AP and other post season awards from the big city newspapers.
But, he thought we made a big mistake by not selecting a Frankenmuth girls basketball player to the squad, especially since this girl was the top vote-getter in the TVE for all-conference and was 1st team all area in the TCA.
He asked, how was it that we could have overlooked her.
I told him that the powers that be, the original minds behind the formation of the team decided that Frankenmuth was not a part of thumb.
Therefore, we at the TCA could not even bring this player to the table for a nomination (sort of like asking us to play poker with out allowing us to play with the ace).
The fan looked at me, almost as if he couldn't believe what I told him. Then he said to me, "Have those guys ever looked at a map?"
I let him have the last word, which does not happen that often.
Wrestling today. I'm going to North Branch to cover the TVE conference meet. I'll give an update tomorrow.
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