Grosse Pointes

North basketball hopes to be near top of MAC White

By Mark Vest
C & G Sports Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by Roy Feldman North’s boys basketball team gathers around coach Matt Lockhart. The Norsemen were in the middle of the pack of the MAC White at press time. Photo by Roy Feldman North’s boys basketball team gathers around coach Matt Lockhart. The Norsemen were in the middle of the pack of the MAC White at press time.

Grosse Pointe North boys varsity basketball coach Matt Lockhart acknowledges that, in order for the Norsemen to have an opportunity to capture a Macomb Area Conference White Division championship, they are going to need some help.

According to Lockhart, North would have to “win out” the rest of its games and get some help from other teams to catch current MAC White leader Warren Mott.

Given the lack of experience on his squad, Lockhart would consider it an accomplishment if the Norsemen 3-2 (MAC White, 6-4 overall) can find a way to finish near the top of the division.

“If we can be somewhere in the top two or three, I would be happy,” he said. “That’s higher than what people expected. Moving forward, we have some young kids, and we’re trying to develop (them). Moving forward, every day it’s our job to get better.”

Even with a more experienced team, winning a MAC White title would still have been no easy task.  At press time, the Norsemen had played five divisional games, giving Lockhart an opportunity to gauge how things are shaping up in the MAC White.

“It’s pretty nip-and-tuck right now,” he said. “Mott’s undefeated (5-0 MAC White), 9-1 overall). We haven’t gone through the whole way. Stevenson’s a very good team, also. Even the teams that may not have a winning record in the division, they’re not getting beat that bad. It’s real competitive.”

Taiwan Wiggins, Chris Doherty and Rob Tillman are North’s three senior representatives. Lockhart has been impressed with the role they have played.

“They lead the right way,” he said. “Those three, every day, they come, they practice hard, they do the right things, they act the right way, and they take care of themselves the right way. In school, too. They do things the right way. They’re great kids.”

While a lot of things may have to go right in order for North to win the MAC White, Lockhart still has some ideas as to what his hope for the future of the program is.

“I talked with the boys,” he said. “We would like to compete for the league. We (want to) make sure we play the right way, we do things the right way, and we carry ourselves in the right manner. We would like to compete for league titles. We would like to compete for districts. Every year, it’s my expectation to compete and be a part of something.”

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Mark Vest at mvest@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1112. Follow Mark on Twitter.