MARCH 30 • 2023 | 71

MELISSA MICHAELSON

MELISSA MICHAELSON

their heads.
“Their effort was great. They fought 
and scrapped. I never thought they 
were out of a game. They competed. 
They never got discouraged. They 
improved week by week. I’m very proud 
of them,” Sutton said.
Six of Frankel’s 14 losses were by five 
points or less.
Frankel was in the five-team Catholic 
League Intersectional 2 Division.
Three of its losses were inflicted by 
division co-champion Waterford Our 
Lady of the Lakes, including a 53-40 
defeat March 6 in a Division 4 district 
opener that was only a four-point game 
with four minutes left.
Merrick Michaelson scored 23 points 
in the loss.
Let’s get back to Adamczyk before 
finishing the Frankel story.
His college recruiting is going full 
steam ahead. As of last week, he had 
offers from Central Michigan and 
Illinois-Chicago.
“I had an official visit to Illinois-
Chicago — I thought the campus and 
coaches were great — and I’m trying to 
set up one with Central Michigan,” he 
said. “There may be more offers coming 
in. I’d like to make my choice in about a 
month. It’s an exciting time.

“I haven’t talked to the (college) 
coaches about whether they want me to 
play point guard or shooting guard. I 
was a combo guard in high school.”
Sutton had a relatively young team at 
Frankel. There were four seniors, three 
juniors, four sophomores and three 
freshmen on his roster.
Freshman shooting guard Hudson 
Rosner started 17 games.
“Everyone bought in to a new coach, 
which was essential,” Sutton said.
“Several guys were inexperienced, so 
they had to start with the fundamentals. 
They had to learn how to play before 
they could make plays.”
Michaelson was the team’s leading 
scorer. He averaged 21 points per game. 
He had back-to-back games of 36 and 
33 points vs. Farber Hebrew Day School 
and the Rudolph Steiner School out of 
Ann Arbor.
“Pure scorer,” Sutton said about 
Michaelson. “He can score in the paint 
and if you lay off him, he’ll hit a three. 
He was our point guard out of necessity. 
But he was up to the challenge.”
Michaelson is a four-sport athlete 
at Frankel. He ran cross country for 
four years — twice running in the state 
meet — played basketball for four years 
and is starting his fourth year on the 

baseball team. He also played tennis 
last fall.
“I love competing and playing sports 
with my friends,” he said, explaining his 
busy schedule.
He’s going to attend the University 
of Michigan to study kinesiology. He’s 
giving some thought to trying out for 
the U-M basketball team as a walk-on.
Also on the Frankel boys basketball 
roster this season were seniors Gabe 
Gordon (leading rebounder), Koby 
Robbins and Ethan Baker; juniors Ryan 
Schmeltz (assist leader), Ryan Rubin 
(outstanding defensive player) and Ben 
Schwartz; sophomores Spencer Cherrin, 
Noam Goel, Elan Rosenberg and 
Ethan Schwartz; and freshmen Robbie 
Feldman and Evan Bronstein.
This was Sutton’s first year as a high 
school head coach.
The former Berkley High School 
basketball player was a varsity assistant 
coach for the Berkley boys basketball 
team last year after spending five 
seasons at Birmingham Seaholm High 
School as the freshman boys basketball 
coach.
His day job is a social worker in 
Macomb County. 

Send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.

LEFT: Coach Bret Sutton consoles Merrick Michaelson in the waning moments of Frankel’s season-ending loss to Waterford Our Lady of the 
Lakes. RIGHT: Coach Bret Sutton with Frankel co-captains Merrick Michaelson (left) and Gabe Gordon.