By DAVID COOK
With big schools like Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills, Detroit Pershing, Inkster, and Flint Northern on the schedule, no one can ever accuse the Beecher Buccaneers basketball team of ducking anyone.
Last year’s Class C state champions, Beecher has its sights set once again on winning a state title. The best way to prepare to win a state title is to play as tough as a schedule as possible and that is what the Bucs did December 22 when they traveled to the west side of the state to take on Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills.
“I started my coaching career on the west side at Big Rapids, so I have a good feeling about the area,” Beecher coach Mike Williams said. “I knew that we would have a tough game. This is great for Beecher basketball to be exposed to basketball on this side of the state. We also want to play and compete with anyone. We won the Class C state title, but we don’t talk about it like we are a Class C team. We are a basketball team, and we will play against anyone in the state.”
The Bucs are well equipped to take on that ambitious schedule with plenty of talent and experience on this year’s squad.
“We have a lot of senior leadership,” Williams said. “We have seven seniors who make it happen for us. We have a good group of kids, and when you have a leader like Monte’ Morris, it helps you stay focused.”
Morris is the leader of the team and provides it with with points, rebounds, assists, and defense from his guard position.
Beecher also has plenty of talented players to surround Morris.
“We have seniors like Markell Lucas at center, Jalen Pettes at guard, and Eric Cooper, who is a four-year varsity player and all-state football player,” Williams said. “Emmanuel Phifer is a junior guard who is doing a good job for us and Aquavius Burks is a freshman who started for the first time against Ottawa Hills. Aquavius is the little brother of Antuan who played for us the last four years, and it’s refreshing to see the young guys make an impact.”
The Buccaneers will need contributions from everyone as the schedule continues to be difficult in January. Along with a full slate of league games, they face Detroit Pershing on January 19 at Fitzgerald High School in Warren and host Inkster on February 1.
“I think we are getting better and better as a team every day,” Morris said. “Playing against these bigger schools gives us a lot of confidence. We know that we can play with anybody in the state.”