CANTOR SAMUEL
GREENBAUM
— Certified Mohel —
Frankel Flourishes With
New Coach At Helm
Answering all of your anesthetic
& aftercare needs.
Skill, Sensitivity and Tradition
come together to create your special Bris.
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
I
Cell: (248) 417-5632
(248) 855-A BOY (2269)
Office: (248) 547-7970
855ABoy@gmail.com
ALL WATCHES & CLOCKS 20%-40% OFF
2 Off
$
Any Battery
Installed
(Except Lithium)
Expires 4-12-18
• Watch Repair
• Clock Repair
• Jewelry Repair
3 Off
$
House Calls on
Grandfather
Clocks
Any Watchband
in Stock
• Batteries Installed While “U” Wait
Expires 4-12-18
• All Types of Leather and Metal Watchbands
ALL
• Citizen Eco-Drive Watches (Never Needs a Battery)
• House Calls on Grandfather Clocks
WE MOVED!!
27867 Orchard Lake Rd.
Orchard 12 Plaza
(NW corner of Orchard Lake & 12 Mile
Rds., corner store behind Starbucks)
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
248-553-7720
watchbandsplus.com
In Stock Citizen, Bulova
Watches & Clocks on Sale
NEW
LOCATION
(formerly on
Orchard Lake,
S. of 13 Mile)
FREE
Repair Estimate
on All Watches & Clocks
Expires 4-12-18
DESIGNS IN DECORATOR WOOD & LAMINATES, LTD.
It Doesn't Have
To Cost A Fortune…
Only Look Like It!
sports
Complete kitchen and
bathroom remodeling as well
as furniture design and
installations including granite,
wood and other materials.
Lois Haron Allied Member ASID 248.851.6989
2152860
t’s not a cliché to say, “What a
difference a year makes” when
it comes to the Frankel Jewish
Academy boys basketball team.
In fact, it’s downright apropos.
The Jaguars finished 10-10 this sea-
son. They were 4-16 last season.
The architect of the turnaround was
first-year coach Mike Marek, who said
his players deserve the credit.
“They bought into the system,” he
said. “I told them before the season
that all the pieces of the
puzzle were there. They
just needed to come
together as a team.”
Guard Dylan
Backalar, the only
senior on the team,
said Marek was the rea-
son for the six-victory
Mike Marek
improvement.
“Our team enjoyed
practicing and playing,”
Backalar said. “Coach Marek related
to his players. He knew how to get the
best out of all of us.”
Even Frankel’s 81-27 loss to host
Southfield Christian in a Class D dis-
trict semifinal March 8 wasn’t so ter-
rible. Powerhouse Southfield Christian
(20-4) is ranked No. 1 in the state in
Class D.
“They’re going to win it all,” Marek
said. “I told our guys before the game
that facing Southfield Christian was a
great opportunity for our program and
we’re playing with house money. We
had nothing to lose.
“We stuck with them for about five
minutes. (Frankel junior guard) Jordan
Salesin hit a triple that cut Southfield
Christian’s lead to 11-7 with three
minutes left in the first quarter. It was
downhill from then.”
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo
was at the game scouting a Southfield
Christian player. Izzo spent some time
chatting with Frankel parents. That
probably was the first time Izzo saw
Frankel play.
“It wasn’t cool that Coach Izzo saw
us get destroyed, but it’s something we
can tell our kids someday,” Backalar
said.
“I was upset after the game. I didn’t
want to end my high school basket-
ball career that way. But the guys on
our team who will be back next year
know now what they need to do to
beat them (Southfield Christian) if
they’re in our district again. Southfield
Christian is losing a lot of seniors.”
At only 5-foot-6, Backalar was
Frankel’s “lock-down defender,”
according to Marek.
Riverview Gabriel Richard’s Garrett
Balazsi, who scored 21 points on
seven 3-pointers against Southfield
Christian in the teams’ first meeting,
had only five points on free throws
when Backlar guarded him in the
rematch.
“I’m just glad I was able to help our
team,” Backalar said about his defen-
sive prowess. “I’m not a great scorer.”
Backalar’s basketball playing days
may be over, but he’s going to study
sports broadcasting at Ball State
University in Muncie, Ind., and be a
student manager for the Ball State
basketball team.
Marek said another reason for
Southfield Christian’s success was
moving junior Noah Schlussel from
shooting guard to point guard to take
advantage of his ball-handling skills.
Junior forward Ryan Otis was
Frankel’s top scorer and rebounder,
averaging 21 points and eight
rebounds per game. Otis’ high game
was 31 points against Detroit Cristo
Rey and he had a team-best 15 points
against Southfield Christian.
Sophomore forward Ethan Mostyn
averaged 12 points and six rebounds
per game and he finished with a flour-
ish, averaging about 18 points over the
last six games.
Also on the Frankel roster were
junior forward Jacob Klein, junior
guard Zack Seiferheld, sophomore
guard-forward Will Bloomberg, soph-
omore forward Adin Kleinfeldt, fresh-
man forward Brandon Gladstone and
freshman guard Jeremy Jenkins.
Here are some other Jaguars accom-
plishments this season:
• They beat Detroit Cornerstone
67-18 on March 5 in their district
opener behind a season-high 23 points
from Mostyn and 12 points from
Salesin. It was Frankel’s first district
victory in more than 10 years.
• They beat Allen Park Cabrini 37-33
on Jan. 9 and 50-48 on Feb. 1. Frankel
was 0-6 against Cabrini the last three
seasons.
• They beat Gabriel Richard 56-54
on Feb. 14. Frankel was 0-8 against
Gabriel Richard the last four seasons.
Frankel was 5-7 in Catholic League
play. The Jaguars haven’t won a
Catholic League division champion-
ship since the 2008-2009 season,
Marek said; that’s a goal for next year.
So is having a junior varsity team
once again.
This was Marek’s seventh season
coaching boys basketball.
He was the head coach at St. John
Neumann Catholic in Canton from
2010-2014 and led his CYO team to a
71-6 record and four division cham-
pionships. He was the lead assistant
coach at Plymouth High School from
2015-2017. •
Send news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.
32
March 22 • 2018
jn