Clare had a boys’ basketball season to remember, although the Pioneers wish it had extended a few more games.
The Pioneers had a school record 22 wins and went to the regional finals for the first time since 1978. But the season ended at Traverse City West High School with a 68-52 loss to Traverse City St. Francis.
“It’s been amazing season,” said Clare coach Rob Wise. “To get 22 wins…our season was amazing; you get to the regional finals and you’re playing tough teams. I think we were one of those tough teams.”
James Wezensky scored 17 points and had 10 blocked shots for Clare, followed by Taylor Ardis with 14 points, Shane Adkins with seven, and Todd Wysong with five.
With the exception of Clare’s 6’8″ Wezensky, St. Francis had a considerable height advantage and made the most of it with several second-chance baskets. Clare also struggled at the free throw line.
“I thought our missed free throws were really the difference,” Wise said. “I thought that got us out of the flow of the game. We couldn’t hit a shot. James did a lot to keep us in the game. [Sean] Sheldon was a little too much for us. Our plan was to keep him on the outside. It’s a credit to them. They knew what the mismatch was. Our guys played their butts off on it. But eventually, they wore us down.”
Free throws usually have not been a problem for the Pioneers, Wise pointed out.
It was just a bad night for free throws,” he said. “We’re a 62 percent shooting team, and that’s not bad for high school. We just couldn’t find it. We maybe just hit one or two threes. We’re relying on seven or eight threes, and they just weren’t falling.”
Clare netted a a 58-43 win over Alcona in the Class C regional semifinals.
“We made some big jump shots,” Wise said. “[Tanner] Vida hit three threes in the second half.”
The Pioneers also had an impressive 70-47 win in the district finals over defending state runner-up McBain.
“Our game plan was to stay consistent throughout,” said Wise. “We knew they were going to be tired. They played two tough games during the week. We wanted to stay consistent and continually get out and run. That’s what we did. Eventually, we wore them down. They got worn down in the fourth quarter. I never guessed we would have won by that much, to be honest with you. I would have guessed it would be a battle down to the wire. The closest they got in the second half was 12 points.”
Adkins scored 18 points and had seven rebounds and five assists for Clare, while Ardis added 14 points and four assists. Wezensky had 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 blocks for a triple double. Clare dropped its first loss of the season 55-47 to Shepherd during the holidays, then went on to win 17 straight.
For the season, Adkins averaged 13 points, while Wezensky was at 11.9 points and Vida at 11.3 points per game. “They’re a great group of guys,” Wise said. “They played hard.”
Wezensky announced that he’ll be playing basketball at Division 2 Michigan Technological University.
The offerings of player development and education at the western Upper Peninsula school is what especially attracted Wezensky to the NCAA Division 2 program, which has been strong in the GLIAC in recent years.
“They won the North Division (of the GLIAC),” Wezensky said.