HALE – Two-time defending North Star League Little Dipper Division champion Hale boys basketball team faces a stern test to open the season with at Mio and Oscoda followed by home games against Rogers City and division newcomer Hillman.
If the Eagles, who went 13-8 a year ago and lost in the first round of the district tournament, can somehow negotiate that imposing minefield with no worse than a 2-2 record they’ll feel pretty good about their chances for a three-peat. Hale was 8-6 in the league last year.
But, even then it’s going to be a real challenge with only two starters returning from last year in junior Joseph Kimmerer, head coach Joe Kimmerer’s son, who’s in his third year on the varsity, and senior Thorne Sauseda.
Sausedaa is, according to his coach, a solid point guard. Kimmerer added that Sauseda has put on some weight and played football this season, which the coach believes has served to toughen him up a little and will bring some good energy to the point guard position.
The younger Kimmerer averaged around 19.8 points a game last year, shooting an astounding 40 percent from 3-point range, 60 percent from normal distance and 88 percent at the free throw line, finishing third in the state in free throw percentage at the Top Shooters Challenge sponsored by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan at the state finals.
His father says Kimmerer has grown another two inches and stretches the tape at 6-foot-2 inches, and added quite a bit of muscle to go along with it.
“Last year as a sophomore, with older guys in front of him, he kind of was a little more reserved than I would have liked him to be,” coach Kimmerer said. “I kind of think he’s kind of bought into the ownership role of the team as a junior, and I think he’ll have a pretty good season.”
Another player who Kimmerer expects to play a huge role for the Eagles is junior Garrett Beebe, who opted to play down on the junior varsity last year rather than come up to varsity.
The coach says Beebe possesses really great hands, and a nice touch around the rim. He’s a strong, physical kid who can jump well. Kimmerer says Beebe shoots the ball pretty well for a big kid (6-5), but will also do some stuff away from the rim as well.
Kimmerer said the Eagles are also getting a couple of good shooters coming up off the junior varsity team in juniors Britt Parkinson (6-1), a real confident 3-point shooter, junior Joel Bovee (5-10) who is slated to be a backup point guard as well as junior Trent Kangas (5-10) as a defensive stalwart.
Rounding out the roster are senior Trent Reilly (5-8) and juniors Connor Ready (6-foot), Josh Bonner (5-9) and Kenny Brito (5-9).
“There’s going to be some pretty good competition in the North Star this year,” Kimmerer said. “Hillman, which has always been in the Big Dipper side of the league and good undefeated multiple times throughout the last five years or so and been consistently winning the Big Dipper, has moved into our division and will be a tough test.
“(But) they lost quite a bit of their team that had been carrying them. They were four-year varsity people. Posen is going to be pretty tough this year. We’ve actually changed our whole offensive system from what we’d been doing.”
Kimmerer said the Eagles were a two post team, but Kimmerer plans to spread it out more with a single post system. The Eagles have also put in three or four different transition offenses, hoping to utilize the fastbreak.
Offense isn’t an issue for Kimmerer going in. He believes the Eagles will be able to put the ball in the hole. It’s just a question of whether the Eagles can stop anyone from scoring on the defensive end.
“For us to be able to win, we’re going to have to step up on defense,” Kimmerer said. “I think that’s our weak point right now. If we show up and can shut someone down for an evening, we’ll have a good opportunity to win.
“We’re going to be fun to watch. We’re not holding anybody back from shooting the basketball. We’re looking to put five guys out there, and if you’re open, you’re open. That’s the philosophy we’ve put in.
“It should be entertaining. We should be able to get up and down (the court). We’ve got a couple of kids who are dunking the basketball right now. Hopefully, we can do a little bit of that and get the crowd going.”
Hale knows it has a target on its back and will get every league team’s best shot.
