quick hits Groves Football Star Makes Waves Both On and Off the Field It was quite a fall for Birmingham Groves High School football star Avery Gach. The 6-foot-5, 275-pound soph- omore lineman was offered schol- arships by eight major college football programs (more offers are on the way), he attended six college football games (includ- ing Michigan vs. Ohio State) as a guest of the home team, and he played a big role in the resur- gence of the Groves football team. Five of Gach’s eight schol- arship offers are from Big Ten Conference schools. They are Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Maryland. The other offers are from Central Michigan, Toledo and Boston College. While all that recruiting was going on, Gach’s main focus was on becoming a better football player and helping Groves win games. “I feel I improved tremendously as a player this season and the game slowed down for me,” said Gach, who was a stalwart at right tackle on the Falcons’ offensive line. He also got some time at defensive end. Groves had a great post-season after winning its final two regu- lar-season games to get into the playoffs. The Falcons won three playoff games including a 26-12 victory over arch-rival Birmingham Seaholm and a stunning 32-25 upset of Livonia Franklin in district and regional championship games before running into eventual Division 2 state champion Warren De La Salle in the state semifinals. De La Salle beat Groves 43-15 on a cold, windy November afternoon at Troy Athens. Groves finished 9-4. That was quite a turnaround from 2021, when the Falcons went 2-7 and failed to make the playoffs for the first time in nine years. Groves also advanced to the state semifinals in 2016 and 2018. “Our goal this season was to make a deep run in the playoffs and we did it, although we wish we would have played better against De La Salle,” Gach said. Workouts and recruiting are on Gach’s calendar for the next couple months before he turns his attention to baseball. The first baseman hopes to be promoted to the Groves varsity team this coming spring after playing on the JV team as a freshman. BY STEVE STEIN MURRAY GOLDENBERG/CLASSIC PHOTOGRAPHY Avery Gach B’nai B’rith Bowling Season Nears the Halfway Point The Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson B’nai B’rith Bowling League season is rolling along as it heads into the holiday break. Heading into league matches Dec. 2 — week No. 10 of the 29-week schedule — the leading teams were Bowl Me in the Pete Weber Division, FlashDancers in the Mark Roth Division, Mark IT Zero in the Earl Anthony Division and 600 Club in the Walter Ray Williams Division. FlashDancers had the most wins (143). Here were the high games and series in each division prior to Dec. 2: • Pete Weber: Jason Cox 267, Sam Mauch 699. • Mark Roth: Dave Shanbaum 290, Aaron Radner 802 (third career 800 series). • Earl Anthony: Mitch Cohen 285, Mike Rosen 797. • Walter Ray Williams: Steve Moss 298, Mitch Lefton 745. Aaron Zimberg rolled his lifetime high game (275) and series (677) on Nov. 14 while recording his first 600 series. He was 149 pins over average for the night. The 13-week first half of the league season will end Jan. 2. There will be no bowling Dec. 26. The league bowls on Monday nights at Country Lanes in Farmington Hills. The FlashDancers aren’t waltzing through the Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson B’nai B’rith Bowling League season. From left are Matt Rappaport, Gary Klinger, Ben Shapiro and Aubrey Topper. BROTHERHOOD-EDDIE JACOBSON B’NAI B’RITH BOWLING LEAGUE Orthodox Boxing Promoter Takes His Show on the Road Former professional boxer turned box- ing promoter Dmitriy Salita is a busy man these days. Two Michigan boxers promoted by Salita, an Orthodox Jew, through his Detroit-based Salita Promotions fought recently in front of big crowds in London, England against British oppo- nents and made news around the world. Flint’s Claressa Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, beat bitter rival Savannah Marshall by a unanimous decision and became the undisputed world middleweight champion in the main event of the first all-female boxing card in Britain. There were 11 matches on the Oct. 15 card, “which was the highest-rated women’s sports event ever on (Sky UK, the UK’s largest pay-TV broadcaster), and the second-highest-rated boxing show on the network, men or women, since 2014,” Salita said. The Shields-Marshall fight was sup- posed to take place Sept. 10, but it was postponed because of the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 8. Marshall is the only boxer who has beaten Shields in her amateur and pro- fessional careers. That win came in the 2012 world championships in China. Shields, 27, who survived poverty and sexual assault in her childhood, won Marshall’s WBO title to add to the IBF, WBA and WBC titles she already possesses. Jermaine Franklin lost a controversial 12-round decision to former heavy- weight champion Dillian Whyte on Nov. 26. It was the first defeat in 22 fights (21-1, 14 knockouts) for the 29-year-old Franklin, who is from Saginaw. Two other Salita boxers -- super middleweight Vladimir Shishkin and bantomweight Nikolai Potapov -- will compete in IBF elimination matches Dec. 17 in Las Vegas. The bouts are part of a tripleheader that will be telecast on Showtime. Shishkin (13-0, eight knockouts) and Potapov (23-2-1, 11 KO’s) are from Russia but were trained in Detroit by SugarHill Steward, nephew of famed trainer Emanuel Steward. Born in Ukraine, Salita, 40, grew up in New York City after his family left their native country because of antisemitism. SALITA PROMOTION Dmitriy Salita (left) celebrates Claressa Shields’ victory in London, England. 32 | DECEMBER 15 • 2022