Wednesday night basketball turned into Wednesday night sitting at home for most Thumb area teams. January weather finally caught up with the schedule and only three girls games actually happened. Everything else got postponed.
No boys games at all. Zero. The entire boys schedule for January 15th got wiped out. Girls fared slightly better with three games making it to the final buzzer before weather shut everything else down.
Bad Axe squeaked past Millington 32-28 in the closest game of the night. Four-point difference. That’s the kind of game where every possession matters down the stretch. Millington probably had a shot to win it at the end but came up just short. Bad Axe’s been having a decent season and another win keeps them moving forward.
Caro destroyed USA 48-24. Twenty-four point blowout. USA couldn’t get anything going offensively and Caro took full advantage. When you only score 24 points in a high school game, something went seriously wrong with your shooting or Caro’s defense was suffocating. Probably both.
Carsonville-Port Sanilac beat Kinde-North Huron 43-36. Seven-point win. North Huron hung around but CPS pulled away enough to secure the victory. These conference games matter for playoff positioning later, so every win counts even when the score isn’t pretty.
Then comes the postponement list. All Saints versus Caseville – postponed. Deckerville versus Brown City – postponed. Harbor Beach versus Ubly – postponed. Mayville versus Peck – postponed. That’s four games that couldn’t happen because of weather conditions.
Winter in Michigan means basketball schedules are always tentative. Schools dealing with winter emergencies have to prioritize student safety over getting games played. Roads get bad, visibility drops, temperatures plummet. Athletic directors make the call to postpone rather than risk kids and families traveling in dangerous conditions.
The postponed games will get rescheduled somewhere down the line. Finding open dates on gym schedules isn’t easy though. Teams practice after school, games happen most weeknights, and there’s only so many weeks in the season. Somebody’s playing doubleheaders or giving up practice time to make these games happen eventually.
Harbor Beach versus Ubly getting postponed is particularly frustrating for fans. That’s usually a good matchup with both teams competitive. People probably had plans to attend that game and ended up staying home instead. Small towns look forward to these rivalry games all season.
Wednesday nights are prime basketball nights in high school sports. Most schools schedule conference games midweek and save Friday nights for bigger matchups. When Wednesday gets wiped out by weather, it throws off everyone’s rhythm. Teams lose practice time preparing for the next game, players sit around instead of competing, coaches have to adjust their whole season schedule.
Three games versus the seven or eight that were probably originally scheduled shows how rough January can be. Weather forecasters probably saw this coming – winter storm warnings, snow accumulation, wind chills below zero. Schools made the smart call even if it disappointed everyone who wanted to see basketball.
Bad Axe’s narrow win over Millington will get remembered longer than the blowouts. Close games build character and give teams confidence going forward. That four-point margin means Bad Axe found a way to win when it mattered instead of letting Millington steal one on the road.
Caro’s domination of USA suggests they’re hitting their stride midseason. Twenty-four point wins don’t happen by accident. Community sports provide entertainment and pride even when weather creates scheduling nightmares for athletic departments trying to complete their seasons.
The postponed games will eventually get played, probably crammed into already busy schedules over the next few weeks. Teams might play three games in five days or back-to-back nights to make up for lost time. That’s just how it goes when Michigan winter collides with high school basketball season.
Coaches handling these weather postponements probably spent Wednesday evening calling opposing coaches, notifying parents, posting updates on social media, and rescheduling travel plans. It’s not as simple as just saying “game cancelled” – there’s logistics involved with buses, officials, concession stands, ticket sales, all of it.
Players who got ready for games that didn’t happen deal with their own frustration. You mentally prepare yourself to compete, get taped up, go through pregame warmups in your head, then find out you’re sitting home instead. Kills your momentum.
The three teams that did play Wednesday night at least got their games in and moved on. Bad Axe, Caro, and CPS can check another win off their schedule. The postponed games turn into question marks floating on the calendar somewhere in the future.
Friday night’s schedule will probably be busier as teams try to stay on track. Weather forecasts will matter more than usual as everyone watches to see if this weekend’s games actually happen or join the postponement pile.
That’s January basketball in Michigan. You plan for games, prep your team, hope the weather cooperates, and adjust when it doesn’t.
