Year of The Maple

A mere side note at the start of the season, Birmingham Seaholm's boys
bball squad, sporting a 12-2 record so far this year, is turning into
one of the county's best feel good stories of the 2008/2009 prep
campaign. The Maples are anchored by high-scoring junior swingman
Richaud Pack, averaging close to 25 points per game and a player
beginning to make a name for himself with college recruiters across
the midwest with the way he is leading the Seaholm hoops program to
heights not seen at the corner of Cranbrook and Lincoln in quite some
time. The last time a Maples team was this formidable was back in 1997,
when the likes of hard-working studs Jon Borovich (Central Michigan),
Matt Ishpia (Michigan State), and David Schaeffer (Michigan State for
Football) gave opponents fits on the court with their tenacity and
guile while taking the school on a long and unexpected run in the state
tournament before losing in the sweet sixteen in a hard fought battle
against current NFL All Pro Tight End Antonio Gates and Detroit
Central, who eventually went on to win the state title. With Pack
pumping in points at a robust clip - as well as the team getting solid
contributions from high-flying sophomore Shawn Conway (Pack's first
cousin) and junior post men, Dan Meredith and Jack Quigley - this bunch
of Maples may be able to pull the same type of surprise during March
madness that its hardwood counterparts from over a decade ago did. The
great thing about this team is that it is underclassmen dominated. So
no matter what happens the rest of this year, Oakland County should be
on the look out for this squad of Seaholm shining stars to be a factor
next year too.