Boys Basketball: Monroe, Bedford looking for league victory
Life is not easy for boys basketball coaches in the Southeastern Conference Red.
“The league is so good,” said Monroe coach Larry Middleton. “There are four teams that will probably win 15 or more games. It’s hard to compete against that. Every time you show up, the other team has someone who can go for 40 (points).”
That leaves Monroe and Bedford looking to get what they can.
“We always talk about winning the ones you have a chance to win,” Middleton said.
Both Monroe and Bedford are looking at Thursday’s clash at Monroe as one of those games.
They are the last two winless teams in the league. Bedford is 0-6 in SEC Red games while Monroe stands at 0-5.
This is a makeup of a game originally scheduled for Jan. 12.
Bedford lost to Saline and Dexter last week. Coach Jordan Bollin thought his team had a good chance against Dexter, but the Dreadnaughts saved one of their best games for the Mules.
“They hit nine 3’s in the first half,” Bollin said. “It never ends. We scored 60 points, which should be enough to win, but you can’t give up 72. We were just a touch slow. I tell the guys all the time that one second is such a big difference.”
Bedford always looks forward to playing its biggest rival, but Thursday’s game takes on more importance with both teams searching for their first league win.
“It’s big from the standpoint that we’re trying to get some confidence going into the end of the season. We’ve been steadily improving week by week. We seem to be playing more competitively as a team, but we haven’t put four quarters together on the road.”
Thursday will be a road game, but is one the shortest road trips of the season for the Mules.
“We actually enjoy playing at Monroe,” Bollin said. “Every other gym in the league is just dead. There is no atmosphere. They are too wide open. Monroe and Bedford are older gyms. There is a little more atmosphere and fan participation.”
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Middleon is counting on his team drawing inspiration from fan participation Thursday.
“When the students come out and pack the gym for Winterfest, it’s always fun,” he said. “It should be a great atmosphere. We will feed off it.”
Middleton says some winter weather over the past few weeks derailed his team.
“We started out 0-5, then won three of four,” he said. “That's when we started having cancellations.”
Monroe has played just twice since Jan. 10, dropping both games.
“The last couple of weeks have been hard because we’ve had so many cancellations,” Middleton said. “We can’t get any flow in practices or games.”
Middleton is looking forward to this week when his team plays at Ypsilanti Lincoln tonight and hosts Ann Arbor Huron Friday in addition to the Bedford game.
“It will be nice,” he said. “Hopefully we can get back into the flow.”
He expects a great game against Bedford.
“The records do not indicate how good both teams are,” Middleton said. “We are very similar. We both play hard, but don’t have a lot of size. We always have our hands full with Bedford. It will be a hard-fought game.”
Bollin, whose team also has home games against Ann Arbor Pioneer tonight and Ann Arbor Skyline Friday this week, agrees.
“We’re excited,” he said. “It’s a rivalry game. Both teams play hard.”
Playing on back-to-back nights will be good for both teams.
“Whoever loses will get a quick turnaround,” he said.
Flat Rock completed the first half of the Huron League season at 7-0 last week and leads Airport and New Boston Huron by two games.
The Rams travel to Airport Friday after visiting Jefferson tonight.
Rounding out tonight’s schedule are St. Mary Catholic Central at Grosse Ile, Airport at Riverview, Trenton at Gibraltar Carlson, Erie Mason at Sand Creek, Milan at New Boston Huron, Summerfield at Allen Park Cabrini and Whiteford at Britton Deerfield.
SMCC hosts Central Academy and Whiteford entertains Sand Creek Wednesday. State Line Christian travels to Faith Clinton Thursday.
Other games on Friday’s slate are Riverview at SMCC, Adrian Madison at Dundee, Ida at Blissfield, Jefferson at Milan, Grosse Ile at New Boston Huron, Summerfield at Whiteford and Waterford Lakecrest at State Line Christian.
Jefferson takes a trip to Grosse Ile Saturday to make up a Huron League game.
RECORDS
Dundee 14-1
Flat Rock 12-3
Summerfield 12-3
Ida 10-4
New Boston Huron 8-5
Airport 9-6
Whiteford 9-6
Jefferson 7-6
SMCC 5-7
State Line Christian 5-10
Erie Mason 4-10
Monroe 3-8
Gibraltar Carlson 4-11
Bedford 2-10
Milan 2-11
SCORING LEADERS
Braiden Whitaker, Dundee 24.6
AJ Schrader, Ida 17.9
Cooper Worley, State Line 17.6
Trey Oldenburg, Jefferson 17.1
Graham Junge, Flat Rock 15.8
Lukas Johnson, Monroe 15.7
Tyler Dafoe, Summerfield 14.8
Brett Moore, Airport 14.1
Ian Foster, SMCC 13.9
Colin Nowak, Airport 13.9
Xavier Wise, Mason 13.7
Kyle Kantola, Huron 13.6
Buddy Snodgrass, SMCC 13.3
Ethan Layton, Dundee 12.1
Gabe Gelso, Jefferson 11.5
Josh Hill, Whiteford 11.1
Jha Jha Hornbeak, Sum. 11.1
Ish Hakki, Bedford 11.0
Kolby Masserant, Whiteford 10.9
Evan Parker, Whiteford 10.8
Chad Martin, Huron 10.7
Logan Goodin, Mason 10.3
Lincoln Joerin, Whiteford 10.3
Ben Merkel, Jefferson 10.0
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Boys Basketball: Monroe, Bedford seek first win of year in league
