THIS WEEK

Our final edition for the 2021 calendar year leads off with the announcement of an exciting opportunity to support Oxford as a statewide sports community. We also look back at the week in girls and boys basketball, celebrate competitive cheer in “Title IX at 50” and discuss an important issue in officiating as we move into a new year.

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AROUND THE STATE

Michigan Schools to Designate February for Statewide ‘Oxford Strong’ Support Schools across Michigan will be dedicating February to “Oxford Strong” in support of Oxford Community Schools as the district continues to mourn the deaths of four students during a shooting at the high school Nov. 30. The Oakland Activities Association – of which Oxford is a member – as well as the Kensington Lakes Activities Association and Detroit Catholic High School League, with merchandise vendor E.A. Graphics, have been primary organizers of this effort.

Breslin Bound: 2021-22 Girls Report Week 3 How last season ended can affect how next season begins – and among trends this season are a number of girls basketball programs picking up again after strong finishes last winter. That’s also a theme among headliners in our Breslin Bound report this week, as we cruise into a holiday break that will slow things down for some – but still include a number of notable matchups, as we’ve also covered here.

Breslin Bound: 2021-22 Boys Report Week 2 No school for the next two weeks hardly means no basketball for many teams across the state. Holiday showcases, classics, tournaments, etc., canceled last season because of the COVID-related late start are returning to close this calendar year, and they’ll surely clue us in more on the teams to watch once we return and turn to 2022.

Title IX at 50: Competitive Cheer Gives Michigan Plenty to Cheer About From its start in 1994, competitive cheer has given tens of thousands of athletes an opportunity to present an impressive array of athleticism, stunts and enthusiasm in a competitive format, while being cheered by hundreds of thousands during one of the MHSAA’s best attended tournament sports.

Zeeland Brings Back Full Lineup for Another Title Pursuit The Zeeland girls bowling team fell short in its bid for back-to-back Division 1 championships last season. However, Zeeland isn’t short on talent this winter as it returns everyone from March’s run to the quarterfinals. “I think having everyone back is great, and also having a full season,” said Zeeland coach Tony DiLaura, whose team lost to eventual runner-up Belleville at the Finals after qualifying fourth to match play.

Freshman Flynn Has Harbor Springs Hoops Taking Flight Again Kalkaska and the rest of the Lake Michigan Conference may not know much of the basketball family history of Harbor Springs point guard Olivia Flynn. But likely they know all of her high school basketball history. Flynn, just a freshman for the Rams, has already racked up three 30-point plus performances – over just five career games – entering tonight’s LMC game at home with the Blazers.

The Official View: The Crossroad We Face It’s time to call it what it is … a major crossroad and tipping point. For more than a decade, the numbers of registered MHSAA officials have steadily declined from a high of about 13,000 to, today, around 7,700. While the COVID pandemic has certainly exacerbated those figures over the last two seasons, two of the top reasons officials give for leaving the avocation remains adult spectators and coach behavior.

Be the Referee: Ball Over Backboard Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials. Here is this week’s segment – Ball Over Backboard – Listen

GAME TIME