Saline MI
3-13-2018 4:32pm

Basketball: Three Hornets Earn SEC Honors

The Saline High School basketball banquet was held on Sunday, 3-11-18 at Harvest Elementary School. It was an opportunity for players, coaches and parents to reflect on the season that has just concluded.

Saline Varsity Head Coach Jacob Fosdick announced that senior forward Emmett Turner was awarded the David Hughes Memorial Award which is given to the player who demonstrates the qualities of former assistant coach Hughes, of commitment to others and playing the game with intensity.

In talking about this year’s varsity team, Fosdick said:

  • The team led the SEC in overall team defense for the third year in a row
  • Their season schedule included games against seven team that played in district final games
  • Four of five seniors were named to the All SEC Academic Team, making it 18 of 19 seniors making the All SEC Academic Team in Fosdick’s three years as varsity head coach. Making the squad were Emmett Turner, Erik Wenning, Zach Drevno and Adam heisler.
  • Emmett Turner was named to the 1st Team All SEC Conference as a forward
  • Trevor Arico was named Honorable Mention to All SEC Conference as a guard
  • Griffin Yaklich was named Honorable Mention to All SEC Conference as a guard
  • Erik Wenning won the SEC Sportsmanship Award.

Fosdick said the team finished the year with an 11-9 record, 2-1 in the post season district tournament. He said that he thought the team was playing some of its best basketball in March, which is when you want your team to be playing well.

Fosdick praised this year’s seniors. He said that he has never coached a team at the varsity level that did not have Emmett Turner on it. Turner was acknowledged as the leader of the team. Fosdick said that Turner “played with the intensity and passion that is needed to be successful.”

Fosdick said that Erik Wenning said to him at the start of the season that “he wasn’t (Ryan) Foley or (Jake) Finkbeiner.”  Fosdick told him “don’t try to be them. You need to find your own leadership style and be your own kind of captain.” And Erik did develop his own leadership style and gained the respect of his teammates.

Fosdick is looking forward to next year. The team is returning “Thunder” and “Lightning”, sophomore guards Trevor Arico and Griffin Yaklich. The front court will have Ethan Friedrichsen and Connor Terech. Guards Peter Jacobsen and Ryan Koch also return with significant playing experience this season. The varsity team will also have a talented group of junior varsity players trying out for the next season.

What one player’s mom told me following the banquet makes me excited for next year. As Griffin Yaklich and Trevor Arico were walking into the gym prior to a game near the end of the season, Yaklich was overheard saying to Arico, “let’s go Thunder, it’s time to bring the storm.”

That brings a smile to my face.

JV SQUAD

The JV squad finished the season with a 12-8 record. Coach Jason Pickett said that the team lost 47 games to player injuries this season. The team converted 146 three-point shots. They had seven games where they scored 10 3-point shots or more throughout the season.

Pickett said that sophomore guard Josh Finn was the team’s leading scorer.

FRESHMAN SQUAD

The freshman squad finished the year with a 13-7 record. Freshman coach Brian Whitley said the team scored an average of 48.8 points per game. The team had six games where they held their opponents to under 30 points. The team converted on 109 three-point shots. Whitley credited the team defense as a large part of the team’s success.

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