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March 21, 2010 The last week or so of weather has been phenomenal. But by the time you read this article, Michigan weather will be striking back with a vengeance, dumping 40 degree rainy days left and right. It seems that winter has stubbornly stuck around at NHS as well, but that’s a good thing for the Wildcats. For the first time in a long time, a winter sport at NHS continued its season past the official start of spring sports. The men’s basketball team made the deepest run it has ever made in the state D1 basketball tournament, before succumbing to Ann Arbor Huron Wednesday night in Hartland, 63-38. It was a tough loss for a team that electrified the entire school. First a little context: Novi played Catholic Central in the first round of the playoffs. Apparently, CC is pretty good at sports. CC’s 6-1 victory over Howell in the hockey state championship game recently ensured that the team repeated as state champs - a very rare feat in high school sports. Further, CC has won 5 (!) state championships so far this season. Ok, well maybe it was 4.5, cross country, football, wrestling, and hockey certainly count as sports, but I consider bowling an “athletic activity.” With that as background, the team began the first round of districts with a thumping of CC in a 52-38 win. With NHS sports participating in only a few regular season contests against CC, it makes every confrontation with the rival extra special. To win over CC is a big deal. To eliminate a school with such a strong sports tradition from a state tournament by 14 points is nirvana for all NHS fans. Momentum only grew from there. In fact, the team has been playing a game of one-upmanship with itself all season. Not impressed by our 15-5 regular season record, they seemed to say? How about by out domination of CC? What about by a 21 point 66-45 victory over Plymouth in the district semifinals? Surely by the time Novi defeated Plymouth Canton in a close 63-55 district final there were no doubters left. The win gave Novi basketball its first district title since 2004. That was a long time ago, nearly before even my time at NHS! Then the team defeated Walled Lake Northern 53-43 in the regional semi-finals, advancing to the regional finals for the first time in team history. There the odds were long. They weren’t as good as Ann Arbor Huron everyone said. The team wasn’t supposed to even hang with the River Rats, and they didn’t, trailing 13-2 after just 6 minutes. But it wasn’t a fair fight for another reason: Novi was missing its leading scorer, Samer Ozeir. Take away the best player on any basketball team and it’s in trouble, no matter the level. The Chicago Bulls went from NBA champions to second round washouts when Michael Jordan retired for a season to try baseball. Samer will be back next season, and so will the legacy of success this Wildcats basketball team has created. Across NHS there is a feeling that its “glory” sports are on the rise. The basketball team just had its best season in history. Again, the hockey team made a deep run in the playoffs. The football team has a new coach. Usually, when referring to the phrase hope springs eternal at this time of year, sports commentators are talking about the hopes of MLB fans as teams begin spring training. It looks like this year it applies to NHS as well. (c) 2010 Novi
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