It’s difficult for forward Jack Shepley to talk about this horrendous start of the boys basketball season at Pinckney High School.
The Pirates (1-9) expected more mostly because they have been buddies for years and they play an aggressive defensive style that sometimes drives opponents batty. However, Shepley’s eyes light up when he talks about March.
That’s when magic happens in high school as the MHSAA tournament begins. The Pirates plan on being part of that magic. They continue to lose, although games are more competitive than earlier in the season.
“We plan on going on a run in March,” Shepley said. “Winning districts is what we’re thinking. Pinckney has not done that in a while.”
Pinckney hasn’t won a district game since 2017 when it beat Dexter 54-33 in the opening round of the tournament.
Winning a district title might be a tall order, but I am here to offer help. The Pirates should reinstate senior Jack Ezerkis as their starting point guard. Although he is a starting guard he shares time at the lead guard with Jason Heaney, Brayden Doyle and Shepley.
Ezerkis has played the position since fourth grade and appears to have the basketball IQ and skills to lead this team. He needs an adjustment in his mindset. Former coach Will Robinson told Pistons great Isiah Thomas his job is not to make himself look good, but to make teammates excel.
I pass that advice to Ezerkis, who sometimes paints himself into double team traps in the paint and tries to get out of trouble by throwing blind passes behind the key. That not only leads to turnovers, but gives teams fast break opportunities.
Pinckney needs scoring and better defensive rebounding. Let Caden Carlson, Heaney and Shepley concentrate on that. Ezerkis is there to set them up and make them better players.
“We have to have more consecutive good days,”Ezerkis said. “Sometimes we have bad days in practice.”
The Pirates seem to be turning a corner. Although the wins are not in the picture yet the last two games are encouraging. After losing their first eight games by an average of 19.3 points, they dropped a 62-49 decision to DeWitt. But they only trailed by five points with about four minutes to play.
That was followed up by a 52-48 loss to Grand Ledge (8-1).

BRIGHTON GIRLS PUSH INTO FIRST PLACE IN KLAA AFTER SLOW START

The Brighton girls basketball team is living proof that a slow start does not need to be a death sentence. The Bulldogs (7-3 overall, 5-0 KLAA) are in first place today following a tough 99-98 victory over Hartland.
That's now seven straight wins for Brighton after an 0-3 start. It is also its first victory over Hartland after six straight losses.