By Mike Moore
Staff Writer
When the 2017 boys basketball playoffs began Monday night, Sand Creek was 20-1 and had defeated its first round opponent twice already this winter.
That’s the short, and sweet, story Travis Gaddy had for his team Tuesday as Michigan Center preps for its Class C district semifinal against host Napoleon.
Pirates coach Jeremy File just may be telling the same story, albeit for totally different reasons.
“At this point in the season, you have to be able to throw away anything that’s happened,” Gaddy said of his team, which is 21-0 and defeated Napoleon by 27 points the first meeting and 39 the next. “It’s not always easy for kids to accept that. But that’s what we’re going to drill home. I mean, look what happened to Sand Creek.”
The Aggies were undefeated, ranked No. 3 in Class C, and promptly had their season come to an end in a 64-61 loss to Adrian Madison, a team that was 0-2 in previous meetings.
Gaddy and his Cardinals must now avoid a similar fate Wednesday night at 6 p.m. or one of the most successful seasons ever will last just two postseason games.
“Anything can happen at playoff time,” Gaddy stressed.
Which is exactly what File and his squad are hoping for.
Napoleon (16-5) is coming off a 70-59 (upset) of Concord Monday night. The Yellowjackets were rolling, having won 15 games already and 13 of 14 leading into the playoffs.
“Our kids are competitive, that’s for sure,” File said. “They aren’t coming in expecting to lose this game or wanting to just have fun and see what happens. We want to go out, play our best game and give ourselves a shot. But we know this, if we’re not at our best, or don’t play well, you won’t beat that team.”
So what worked for Center in the first two meetings?
“Defense and match ups,” Gaddy said. “We have some quick guards, which is key against some of their top guys. They will have some size on us, but we’ve got guys who can battle. We’ve been able to neutralize that so far.”
Center won the first game 68-41 on Jan. 25, and the second 66-27 on Feb. 22.
“You have to respect them and what they’ve done,” File added. “It’s a group playing with so much confidence right now. Any time you can go undefeated is extremely tough. What they’ve done is pretty special. You almost have to hope they have an off night and miss some shots. For us, we have to find a way to be more aggressive on the offensive end. We have to take good shots. We have to be patient. At the same time, we have to win with defense. If we can manage to hold them down a little, we’ll have a shot.”
Gaddy said his guys have to be at their best too, something that wasn’t the case Monday.
“We got a little lazy in the second half the other night,” Gaddy said of a 88-58 victory over East Jackson in which his guys allowed 40 points in the second half. “We can’t play like that.”
If there’s one advantage Napoleon can cling to, it’s home court, though each coaches opinion on that varied.
“I think it gives them an advantage, for sure,” Gaddy said. “This is what’s nice about hosting a district. It’s a small gym. The crowd will be right on top of us. we have to adjust and be ready to go.”
“Truthfully I don’t know if it’s a big advantage,” File countered. “We’ve been better on the road a few times this year. There’s a little more pressure, being it’s one and done, and maybe our crowd makes them a little tighter than normal. But they travel well with their fans. They will be ready to go.”
Wednesday’s winner takes on Hanover-Horton (18-3) or Lumen Christi (3-17) in Friday’s 7 p.m. district final.
Mike Moore is a play-by-play commentator and Sports Writer for JTV Sports.
He’s also a Real Estate agent with Real Estate One, specializing with buyers and sellers throughout Michigan, from the Jackson area to metro Detroit. You can reach him at mjm12@albion.edu or by calling (313) 770-6365 with any inquiries.
