New coach debuts with a young Huron squad
By Peter Jakey
The girls? basketball season started Monday in Rogers City with a lot of new players under the varsity spotlight for the first time. It also was a night for a coaching debut at Rogers City High School as David O?Bryant has officially taken over the program. He is the fourth girls? basketball coach in five years.
There were parts of the evening that must have seemed very strange for the recently hired RCHS teacher. Not only was he coaching against the school that laid him off last year, but he hadn?t even considered coaching before learning of the coaching vacancy. O?BRYANT WAS hired to teach anatomy, physiology and biology at the high school level, as well as middle school science. He wanted to give coaching a break for a few years, especially moving into a new community with a young family. ?I planned on sitting out a couple of years and waiting and looking at starting at the middle school level,? said O?Bryant.
After his first night of coaching Huron basketball, he has no regrets. ?In talking with my wife last night, even though she was out with me until 9:45 p.m., and didn?t get the kids home and in bed until almost 10, we both sat down and said, you know what, I think we would have missed had we not done it.? His wife Rebecca also was hired as a teacher in the district at the beginning of the school year. And of all the teams to coach against in the first game, it had to be Inland Lakes (I.L.). Coaching against former students might not have been the easiest way to start the season.
?Seeing those girls, and having their parents in the crowd, and having to go out and compete against them,? O?Bryant said. He believes the Hurons competed extremely well, considering I.L had a lot more heighth against his less experienced Huron squad. ?Overall, a five point loss in the first game of the season, I?ll take that against Inland Lakes,? he said. ?We return one player, period. Inland has three returning starters.? O?BRYANT LITERALLY held class on the court Monday.
?Crisp pass!? – he encouraged, as a pass dangerously floated over the I.L. defense. ?Did you see that open on the backside?? — he called out to a player after a long jumper missed. ?Don?t back up, go get it!? — when there was nobody to throw the inbound pass to. ?Good look, Shelby (Schleben)!? — following a patient offensive set. ?How did we let her get that pass?? — he hollered, as the pass went into the paint for two I.L. points. The Hurons showed a scrapp
?They not only need to learn the plays, but why,? said O?Bryant on Tuesday, the date before game number two at home against Onaway. ?Why did we run this? Why did we have it set up this way? We stop practice a lot and talk about; here?s a play, but here?s why we run it. This is what their defense is going to do, this is how we are going to counter that, this is what we?re looking for.? The new coach has a confident air about him, and it sounds like he knows what direction he wants them headed in.
Lake Orion won the Division I state championship over the weekend. Tyler Misiak, a starting defensive strong safety for the Dragons, has some major Posen connections. His parents Kevin and JoHanna (Smart) Misiak went to Posen High School. There was a strong Posen contingent on hand at Ford Field there to enjoy the special sports moment.