By Chad Wingert
Sports Editor
THUMB AREA — It’s been a while since the Millington boys basketball team has made some significant noise.
For the longest time, it has been football that has helped unite Cardinal Country, bringing a small-town community together on Friday nights, all in the name of school spirit.
This year Millington went 9-3 on the gridiron while making their tenth straight playoff appearance.
But following their season-ending loss to Muskegon Oakridge, fans immediately shifted their attention towards a talented boys basketball team who showed plenty of promise last winter.
The Cardinals, who entered the season as the No. 11 ranked team in Class B, quickly proved to be worth all the chatter that surrounded their club. Before long, Millington had climbed to No. 2 in the state while locking up their first Tri-Valley East championship since 1994. They also won their first District Championship since 2008.
But overall, they did so much more than that, finishing the season 23-2 following a heartbreaking Regional Final loss to Goodrich.
In addition to restoring the relevance of Millington basketball, the Cardinals had their accomplishments recognized by the Thumb Sportswriters Association, who awarded them with their first-ever Team of the Year award.
“We had a great year on the basketball court. But, I think one of the best things we did this season was bringing pride back into the Millington boys basketball program,” said Millington senior Wyatt Munson.
“For the longest time, this school has been known as a football school, and that’s great. But for the first time in a long time, we had this town buzzing about basketball during the winter. The amount of support we received throughout the season was unbelievable and to look up into the stands during those district and regional games was a sight I’ll never forget.”
Basketball fans around the area knew that Millington would return a lot of talent from their 15-8 squad a year ago, but none of them were ready for what the Cardinals had in store.
Following the addition of LakeVille guard Shawn Pardee, Millington’s offense found the perfect balance that had their team scoring 77, 85 and 82 points in three of their first five games. After 25 games this season, the Cardinal offense averaged an area-high 73.8 points per game.
Pardee earned All-Thumb Second Team honors with his numbers of 14.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
“In my mind, it all started this summer when we began to bounce back from that tough loss by having everyone come out for summer camp. Last year, we were scraping by to get wins, tough wins, and this year, even during the summer, we began asking ourselves “is their whole team here, or are we just playing that good?” said Munson. “But as the season went on, we continued to roll. Slowly, we began to see that if we kept practicing hard and maintained our focus that we would have the opportunity for something special, and we did.”
Added LeVan: “Having Shawn come over from LakeVille, that was a huge boost to what we already had. But we also had some of our guys on the bench step up and contribute all season long. We may be losing a few seniors but the expectations are going to be high for next year, too.”
Montrose shattered Millington’s goal of going unbeaten in the regular season after handing the Cardinals a 60-55 loss in their final game of the regular season. But that didn’t stop the Thumb Sportswriters Association voting panel: Paul Adams of The Huron Daily Tribune, Chad Wingert of The Tuscola County Advertiser, Eddie Fury of Thumb Tailgater Sports, Dale Ball of The Sanilac County News, Bill Dixon of The Sandusky Tribune, Kelly Jerome of The Huron County View and Derek Bosley and Christian Selich of WIDL Mix 92.1, from taking notice. After one of the closest votes in TSA history, the Cardinals got the nod for their first-ever TOTY title after edging out Peck, who finished their regular season 20-0 as champions of the NCTL.
“We had kind of known that we were in the running for it, just talking about it on the way up here. We had actually thought Peck was going to win it with their 20-0 record. They had a great, great season,” said LeVan. “But, once we heard our team called, both Wyatt and I just kind of smiled at each other.”
Added Munson: “It felt good to set a new school record for most wins in a year and go as deep as we did in the playoffs, but bringing home a trophy that the school has never won, that’s special. Having something to show for our good season…it’s a good feeling to see this trophy coming back with us.”
With only six spots available on both the All-Thumb First and Second Team, the TSA found it harder than ever to trim the field of talented athletes to just 12. But, after careful consideration, LeVan and Munson both made the cut for the First Team. Pardee’s Second Team nod made it three Cardinals on this year’s squad.
LeVan returns to the First Team after being named to the group last season. For Munson, this was his first time falling among the Thumb’s elite basketball players.
“I wasn’t really expecting this honor, to be honest. Playing alongside Austin, they normally don’t put two people from the same team up for awards like this. So, needless to say, I was a little shocked,” Munson said. “I kind of had an idea as to who would be on this team. I’m a big newspaper guy, I read the stats, I keep up with what’s going on around the area. But, it’s great to be here. This is a a very humble moment for me.”
Added LeVan: “We kind of had an idea as to who would make this year’s first team. Last year, being the only member of our team, and even the Tri-Valley East, I felt a little out of place. This year it just kind of felt right, having Wyatt here with me.”
“This really helps put Millington basketball back on the map. When I would attend clinic’s and things during the summer, I would get asked where I was from. Before the season, nobody knew where or who Millington was. But now people are complimenting us on the year we had.”
The All-Thumb Player of the Year – Brad Schaub of Marlette, along with Harbor Beach’s Eli Kraft, Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port’s Paul Zwemmer and Unionville-Sebewaing’s Brendan Ballard, along with Munson, make five seniors who were honored on this year’s First Team. That leaves room for LeVan, who is only a junior, to swoop in and not only make his third appearance on the First Team next year, but possibly take home the highly-coveted Player of the Year trophy.
“It would feel really great to take home that award. Dustin Greising won that award and its always been him and Kyle Currie who I’ve always wanted to be right there with. I want to at one point, be playing at the level they once did,” LeVan said. “To win that award next year, I’d be ecstatic.”
For more on this year’s Player of the Year – Brad Schaub, along with more photos from the Thumb Sportswriters Association’s All-Thumb First Team Photoshoot, pick up Saturday’s edition of the Advertiser.
Chad Wingert is the Sports Editor of the Advertiser and can be reached at Sports@tcadvertiser.com.
2013-14 All-Thumb Boys Basketball Team
TEAM OF THE YEAR
1. Millington Cardinals – 29
2. Peck Pirates – 27
3. Marlette Red Raiders – 5
4. Unionville-Sebewaing Area Patriots – 2
COACH OF THE YEAR
1. Jeremy Abrego, Peck – 21
2. Chris Storm, Marlette – 20
3. Mark Gainforth, USA – 17
4. Shane LeVan, Millington – 5
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
1. Brad Schaub, Marlette – 33
2. Austin LeVan, Millington – 14
3. Paul Zwemmer, EPBP – 11
4. Eli Kraft, Harbor Beach – 2
5. Kyle Abrego, Peck; Brendan Ballard, USA – 1
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Cody Peyok – Reese
SIXTH PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jared Schrader – Reese
6’0 – Junior, 15.9 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 4.4 SPG, 3.9 BPG, 2.1 APG
FIRST TEAM
Brad Schaub Marlette
6’5 – Senior, 21.5 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 5.0 APG, Class C All-State
Austin LeVan Millington
6’2 – Junior, 20.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 4.8 APG, Class B All-State
Paul Zwemmer EPBP
6’7 – Senior, 20.5 PPG, 13.4 RPG, 4.4 APG, 3.2 BPG, 2.1 APG
Eli Kraft Harbor Beach
5’10 – Senior, 15.7 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 4.6 APG, First Team GTE
Brendan Ballard Unionville-Sebewaing
6’6 – Senior, 19.3 PPG, 11.3 RPG, Class C All-State, First Team GTW
Wyatt Munson Millington
6’6 – Junior, 15.0 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 2.1 BPG, First Team TVE
SECOND TEAM
Kyle Abrego Peck
6’4 – Junior, 15.1 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.5 BPG, Class D All-State
Shawn Pardee Millington
5’10 – Sophomore, 14.5 PPG, 3.6 APG, Second Team TVE
Curtis Garza North Branch
5’11 – Junior, 15.0 PPG, 4.7 APG, 3.0 RPG, First Team TVE
Cody Peyok Reese
5’9 – Senior, 11.7 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 6.5 APG, 3.0 SPG, First Team GTW
Tanner VanPetten Reese
6’0 – Senior, 16.2 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 2.3 APG, First Team GTW
Alex Bartle Brown City
6’1 – Senior, 14.3 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 2.2 SPG, First Team GTE
HONORABLE MENTION
Tristan Haener – Peck, Josh Schelke – Harbor Beach, Dalton Okie – Sandusky, Ben Good – Owen-Gage, Nick Maguire – Akron-Fairgrove, Aaron Saenz – USA, Zach Cramer – USA, Andrew Storm – Marlette, Kyle Case – North Huron, Aaron Christy – EPBP, Cody Abrego – Peck, Joe Schulte – North Branch, Chad Bennett – Caro, Alex Lemos – Kingston, Hunter Davidson – Cros-Lex,
Blake Ruppal – Vassar.
Photo by www.kg-photo.com
Millington’s Austin LeVan, head coach Shane LeVan, Wyatt Munson and the Cardinals have been named the TSA’s Team of the Year for the 2013-14 season. This marks Millington’s first-ever time winning the award.