Airport's 13-game showcase highlights holiday hoops slate
When you are on a winning streak, the last thing you want is two weeks off.
Luckily for the Dundee boys basketball team, the Vikings are part of the two-day girls and boys basketball showcase event hosted by Airport High School this week. Dundee takes on the host school in the final game of the night on Friday.
“It’s great for fans and for Monroe County,” said Dundee head coach Jay Haselschwerdt said Wednesday. “Our team had a couple of days off and we had a great practice yesterday. They are ready to play. You don’t want time off when you are winning.”
The Vikings are 8-0. They have another incentive to be part of the event – Airport is in the same Division 2 District and is the District host this year.
“We want to play as many times in that gym as we can,” Haselschwerdt said.
Several great players are part of the two-days of games, including Dundee’s Braiden Whitaker, who has been phenomenal in the first part of the season. But, Haselschwerdt said, he’s not been doing it alone.
“We’ve had a different guy step up every game it seems,” Haselschwerdt said. “The good thing is that during this win streak, we are fixing things as we go. We aren’t waiting for a loss to fix something.”
This is the 10th year for Airport to host the basketball showcase. There are six girls games Thursday, starting at 9:30 a.m., and a whopping seven games on Friday.
On Thursday, Airport’s JV girls opens things up against Ypsilanti Lincoln, followed by the Lincoln-Airport varsity game at 11. Then comes Riverview Gabriel Richard vs. Erie Mason at 12:45 p.m., South Lyon East vs. Warren Fitzgerald at 2:30, Jackson Lumen Christi vs. Monroe at 4:15 and, in the final game of the night, Ida vs. Flat Rock.
Friday is the boys event. SMCC kicks things off Friday morning when the Falcons take on Detroit Lincoln-King at 10 a.m. Jefferson plays Livonia Churchill at 11:45; Monroe takes on South Lyon at 1:30; Saline plays New Haven at 3:15; undefeated Tecumseh plays Riverview at 5 p.m.; Brighton plays Flat Rock at 6:45 and Dundee and Airport clash at approximately 8:30 p.m.
Saline boasts one of the state’s top players in sophomore Jonathan Sanderson. In the first three games of this season, Sanderson scored 40, 30 and 51 points. He already holds numerous Division 1 offers, including Michigan and Indiana.
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SMCC coach Randy Windham is happy his Falcons to be playing in the event.
“I really like this one,” Windham said. “Darrell (Mossburg) does a great job organizing it. Being close really helps because the fans are able to get there a little easier.”
Mossburg is the tournament organizer.
“The event keeps growing,” said Mossburg, who is the girls varsity coach at Airport. “We could probably expand to three days. We’ll see how it goes, but that is what we are talking about for next year. We are usually full of teams by June.”
The schedule had one casualty this year as Bedford was scheduled to play a girls game but the opponent called just before the season started and said they couldn’t play.
Holiday hoops are becoming more of the norm across Michigan, especially since the MHSAA expanded the schedule by two games starting last year. More and more teams are playing Christmas-time tournaments or appearing in events like this one.
About half of the basketball teams in the Region have a game this week.
SMCC is hosting a three-team girls tournament with games spread over three nights that includes SMCC and Summerfield. SMCC Athletic Director Jared Janssen said to play a full, 22-game schedule it almost requires teams to play at least once during what was traditionally a Christmas break.
SMCC battled Livonia Churchill Wednesday at 7. Summerfield plays Churchill at 7 p.m. Thursday and SMCC and Summerfield play Friday.
“It is great to play over the break to stay in rhythm heading into the middle part of the season,” Janssen said. “We have two new opponents this year that should give our girls a good challenge.”
There are tournaments and one-day events outside of the area as well.
Whiteford’s boys are playing in the Quincy Holiday Tournament Thursday and Friday with Quincy, Mendon and Vandercook Lake – three teams the Bobcats have never played.
New Boston Huron’s boys are playing at the Cedar Points Sports Plex at 6 p.m. Friday against Perkins, Ohio.
Flat Rock’s boys are playing at Airport Friday then turning around Saturday and playing North Farmington in the North Farmington Holiday Extravaganza at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Airport's 13-game showcase highlights holiday hoops slate
