Filip Serwatka of Concord made a living on dunks on Monday night. Serwatka finished with 29 points. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)
MISHAWAKA – It was a night all about putting the area’s best hardwood players on display and there was certainly no disappointment for the fans in attendance on Monday night for the 2014 McDonald’s Michiana High School All-Star Basketball Games held at Bethal College.
In the first game of the night it was the local ladies that got to show their talents as the McDonald’s Gray squad beat the McDonald’s Red squad 79-64. The boys game provided a fantastic finale with the Red team beat the Gray 147-133.
In both games the Northern Lakes Conference certainly received some bragging rights from the outstanding play from its players.
NorthWood’s Morgan Olson was a huge boost for the gray team’s 15-point win as she had a double-double with 18 points and 11 boards. Olson and her teammates found themselves on the wrong end of a 40-35 deficit at the half but quickly changed what they were doing once the second half began.
Olson and the gray squad went on a 19-2 run in the first 11 minutes of the second half. Of course, the production was not all from Olson. Much of the team’s turnaround was easily attributed to Penn senior Jess Alexander.
Alexander scored a game-high 26 points to help lead her team to victory with the help of fellow Penn senior, Caroline Buhr (13 points, 12 boards). Also representing the NLC was the red squad’s leading scorer Khadijah Moore of Elkhart Memorial, who tallied 15 points and Warsaw’s Nikki Grose.
Grose helped fuel the first half effort by scoring seven points, including a nice shot from behind the arc as well as blocking two shots. Grose finished nine points, five rebounds, two blocks, two steals and one assist. Despite losing, Grose was just happy to have the experience of being on the team and participating in the events leading up to Monday’s game.
“This is a really awesome opportunity,” said a very humble Grose. “Yesterday we got to go to the Ronald McDonald House and that was just an eye-opening experience. We signed a lot of basketball’s for kids there and it was great to be able to interact with some of the kids there.
“I interacted with kids anywhere from four months old all the way up to 17 year-old teens. It really made me realize just how much we can take life for granted and how blessed we really are, especially as players. Having the opportunity to come out here and play every night is really a blessing. You could get an injury and it could all be over. I just reminded me that we need to take advantage of opportunities when we have them.”
Grose was not alone with her experience as fellow Warsaw stand-out Jordan Stookey said he had a great experience at the Ronald McDonald Hose as well.
“It was a really touching experience,” Stookey stated. “An experience like that really hits close to the heart and it reminds you how lucky you are to be healthy. It’s always nice to go in and help to lift the spirits of the kids. It was a good reminded of how lucky I am to wake up healthy every day and am able to go out and play basketball.”
Stookey had a solid night on the court despite his team taking the loss. The Tiger senior finished with eight points. He may have scored more but it was hard for anyone to get many opportunities with the scoring battle between the other NLC stars in attendance.
Nate Ritchie of Northridge and Concord’s Filip Serwatka truly stole the show on Monday night. Both players led their respective teams with 29 points each and an countable number of rim-rattling dunks. The difference in the game was the red squad’s seemingly endless supply of scorers. The winning team had three scorers reach the 20-point mark and six players in double digits. NorthWood’s Zach Zurcher (22 points) and Concord’s Ramon Johnson (16) were the other big NLC scoring leaders on the red team. South Bend Washington’s Tra’Veon Johnson added another 25 points for the red.
NorthWood’s Jonathan Wilkinson tallied 12 points for the gray team to assist in Serwatka’s effort. Terry Davis Jr. of South Bend Adams made his presence known with a few monster dunks and finished with 18 points of his own.
Of the 23 boys that participated in the game, eight were players hailing from the NLC. Those eight NLC all-stars combined for 130 of the 280 combined points scored on Monday night. Certainly a good showing for one of the area’s premiere basketball conferences. Following the game one of the conference’s top coaches offered his thoughts on the event.
“This was just such an exciting atmosphere,” said NorthWood head coach Aaron Wolfe who was in attendance on Monday night. “You get to see all of these players individually throughout the season, but when you see them on the floor together it can almost seem daunting when you realize the skill and athleticism these kids bring to the game.
“From a coaches point of view, the kids played hard and were competitive at the end. From a spectator’s stand-point, I thought it was very exciting. I brought both of my young boys to the game tonight and they just had a blast. This was a lot of fun.”
