Northville will have a young squad this season, and a few of our key guys missed the fall due to other sports committments.  However, our senior leader, Scott Wagner led the way.  He showed great emotional growth and the attitude of a veteran.  He was supported by a cast of Juniors and sophomores that grew with him.  We used the season to build chemistry and confidence amonst these kids who played at three different levels last season.  Without an experienced big man, we defaulted often to the three point shot and amazingly shot well enough to push many teams to the brink.  As often happens with young teams....and 3 teams.....we lived by the sword and died by it too. We hope to be invited to return next year with a more experienced roster and make some noise. Thanks again for the opportunity to test ourselves.
 
See you at the gym!

Varsity
While Pioneer Basketball is coming off two of the most successful back-to-back seasons in school history, we enter the 2008-09 season with many questions to answer.  Over the past two graduating classes, we have lost 8 players who have been recruited to play college basketball.  From last year’s team, we lost 7 seniors—5 of which are playing college ball.  This has left a considerable experience gap for our team this year.  The Fall League at Common Bond Fieldhouse has helped us bridge that gap—giving much needed varsity experience to many of our players.
 
From our playing rotation last year, only Nate Robertson, Nick Giard and Jamie Henry remain.  All three of these young men have played extremely well this fall and we expect great things from them in the winter.  Nate is one of the premier point guards in the state of Michigan .  Nick is entering his third year on the varsity and is an explosive offensive player.  Jamie is our best pure athlete with the ability to defend all 5 positions on the floor as well as play offense on the perimeter or at the block.  We are also counting on the improved play of senior Pierce Hogan who has gained the extra experience he needed in this league and should be a real sleeper for us this year.  Unfortunately, our other projected starter David Metzendorf has been plagued with a back injury this fall and has competed very little but should be ready to go in the winter.
 
The difference in experience between playing in a structured game as we do in this league or in an open gym session is enormous.  I believe this league will benefit our team in the upcoming season.
 
JV
Our JV team has competed very well in the league with a 7-1 record.  I appreciate the fact that they have been able to compete against some varsity players as well as JV teams.  When we are talking about 9th and 10th grade players—an experience like this is invaluable.  We were missing some of our key younger guys due to football but the remaining kids have gained tremendously by playing.
 
Our JV had a great summer and we expect big things from them this year—and in the future.  One thing we were worried about was losing the momentum they had gained.  The fall league has eliminated that worry and we are excited about their strides.  Some of our leaders on that team include these four sophomores:  Mike Kielczewski; Nick Mrjoian; Jeremiah Strode; and Aaron Schoenfeldt.