Performance: North Central's Jason Whitens
February 18, 2016
Jason Whitens
Powers North Central junior - Boys Basketball
Whitens has played his share of big games as quarterback of this school year’s MHSAA 8-player football champion and leading scorer on the basketball team that won the Class D title in 2015 with a perfect record. North Central’s 39-game winning streak was on the line as the Jets trailed Class B Menominee by six points with eight minutes to play Feb. 9. The 6-foot-5 Whitens earned the Michigan National Guard “Performance of the Week” by scoring 11 of his game-high 31 points during the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead layup with seven seconds left as North Central held on for a 64-60 win.
North Central has since extended its winning streak to 42 straight with a 15-0 start to this winter. Whitens averages 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game, making 57 percent of his shots from the floor and 78 percent of his free-throw attempts – all while playing an average of 25 minutes and taking only 15 shots per game for a team outscoring opponents 76-39 on average. He’s scored more than 1,100 points in leading North Central to a combined 67-1 record over his first three seasons.
In addition to earning the Associated Press’ 8-player Player of the Year honor in the fall after throwing 45 touchdown passes without an interception, Whitens also plays outfield for the baseball team and high jumps and runs the 400, 800 and on a relay for the track & field team during the spring. Whitens carries a 3.8 grade-point average and is considering a career in marketing. He has a Division II basketball scholarship offer, with Division I programs also interested.
Coach Adam Mercier said: “Players of Jason’s caliber tend to be the focal point on offense by getting shots up, whereas Jason finds the open man and doesn’t worry about individual statistics. He can play any of the five positions on the floor with his size and is a tremendous ball handler capable of running the point position. His athleticism is off the charts, as noticed on the football field being a two-time all-state player at quarterback and wide receiver. Jason is one of the best open court players I’ve ever seen as he has the ability to quickly process all possible options and then either dunk it (he has 12 this season) or make an on-point pass to a teammate. He is a very humble young man who doesn’t let success get to his head. Jason is always willing to help out young students who want to work on their game. My two sons look up to him, along with the other outstanding young men who represent our team. He sets a great example of what being a true student-athlete is all about.”
Performance Point: “Going into the fourth (quarter), I knew I had to step up, being down by 10 to a very good team. But we knew from our past experiences – we’ve got experience in big games, close games – that we had to pull together and get the win. We’re all big competitors in practice and in school, even hanging out. That’s the competitive nature we have, and that just translates to the game.”
42 straight and counting: “We’re just all out here having fun ... and when you’re winning, it makes it 10 times better. We just like to have fun with each other. We’ll have bigger things in life as we go along than a football or basketball game. (So) we just go out, do the best we can, and play the sport we love.”
Multi-sport master: “It’s something I’ve done since I was little. I just love playing sports, going out there with my best friends and just competing. We’re all competitive, and that’s the best part – going out and having fun. Morgan Cox … came here freshman year. (Otherwise,) every single one of us has been playing with each other since third and fourth grade. We all know what we like to do on the court, know what spots we like to be in. Each and every one has got my back, and I’ve got theirs.”
Everyone has a part: “We all have our specific roles. We have the jokesters; we’re all pretty funny, or we like to think we’re funny. We know when to get each other up. There’s not a guy that won’t make the other person better. We’re all close-knit, and when the time comes I like to step up, get everybody going. I fall into that leadership role.”
Learning from a leader: “I followed my cousin Rob (Granquist, the previous quarterback) into the leadership role. (He taught me) that whole, ‘Be cool and calm through anything.’ You can’t have ups and downs; you’ve got to stay even keel so when your teammates look at you, you’ve got to look back and let them know everything is all right.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2015-16 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our Nation's freedom, or protecting lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2015-16 honorees
Feb. 10: Rachel Hogan, Grand Ledge gymnastics - Read
Feb. 3: Nehemiah Mork, Midland Dow swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 27: Mardrekia Cook, Muskegon girls basketball - Read
Jan. 20: Sage Castillo, Hartland wrestling - Read
Jan. 13: Rob Zofchak, Dexter swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 6: Tyler Deming, Caro wrestling – Read
Dec. 15: Jordan Weber, East Jordan boys basketball – Read
Dec. 8: Kaitlyn Geers, Kent City girls basketball – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) North Central's Jason Whitens launches a jumpshot this season against Big Bay de Noc. (Middle) Whitens throws down one of his many dunks. (Photos courtesy of the Escanaba Daily Press.)
3rd-Year Standouts Have Howell Rolling
January 9, 2018
By Tim Robinson
Special for Second Half
For the best players on Howell’s boys and girls basketball teams, the third year has been the charm.
Those players, Josh Palo and Lexie Miller, have combined talent and experience with confidence while leading their teams to fast starts this winter.
Palo is averaging 26 points per game for the boys, who are 5-1, while Miller is averaging 25 for the girls, who are 7-1.
Both are in their third full season on the varsity; Palo is a junior while Miller is a senior.
They also have this in common: Both would much rather talk about their team’s accomplishments.
“It’s all about the team,” said Miller, who has signed with Wayne State University. “I think we have improvements to make, but we’ve been watching film and can do better. I think we’ll get there if we keep working hard.”
Miller is part of a Highlanders team which features four seniors, including Miller, who have spent three full seasons on the varsity. They have been playing together for years.
Miller, who is 5-foot-6, also qualified for the MHSAA Division 1 cross country meet as a freshman before turning her attention to basketball fulltime. Her speed allows her to blow by defenders. She’s not afraid to put up 3s, nor is she afraid to drive to the basket.
But Howell girls coach Tim Olszewski said it’s her competitiveness and drive that help make her first among equals, and confidence that has made her a leader.
“(Two years ago) we had Erin Honkala, who would call team meetings and say, ‘Listen, this is exactly how things are going to go,’” Olszewski said. “Last year, as juniors, none of them wanted to grab the reins and do that. This year, we’ve got great senior leadership, with Lexie at the forefront of that. She will say something, and because of the way she conducts herself out on the court, you have to listen.”
Palo, a 6-2 junior, plays both guard positions for the Highlanders and does whatever is needed on defense.
“He’s kind of a jack-of-all-trades,” Howell boys coach Nick Simon says. “We do a lot of switching (on defense) and a lot of different things and he’ll play where needed on defense. He’s guarded the other team’s point guard in a couple of games, and he’s guarded the other team’s center a few times. He’s very knowledgeable about the game, and he understands how to play it. That allows him to guard guys down low and out on the perimeter.”
Palo scored 33 points in an overtime win at Linden in the Highlanders’ season opener, displaying the first results of a busy summer.
“I put in a lot of work over the summer,” he said. “I was always in the gym. Kip (teammate Kip French) has a little gym at his house with a shooting machine, and I was out there shooting every day this summer. That’s why I think I’m doing so much better this year. I have more confidence this year, knowing what I can do, when I can score and when I can get my looks.”
Simon led Howell’s boys to a Class A Quarterfinals four seasons ago. That run included the first time Howell had won a District title in nearly 20 years. The Highlanders have gotten to the Regionals the last two seasons, and Palo says he thinks his team can go farther.
“I really do,” he said. “We’ve got a good group of guys here, and we’re all bought in on what we’ve got to do. We’re going hard in practice every day, trying to get better. Everyone gets their role pretty well, and we always go into games confident. We never think we’re the underdog. We can always pull one out if we need to.”
Howell plays in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association, where boys and girls play at alternate sites on the same night.
As a result, neither Palo nor Miller has seen the other play often – but the rare impressions are lasting ones.
“Josh is really shifty,” Miller said, emphasizing the last word as a compliment. “His moves are really good. He finishes really well. I’m really impressed, honestly.”
“She’s real fast,” Palo said. “She can dribble pretty well. She could spot up and hit some 3s for us.”
Both will have opportunities to see the other play in the postseason. But as of now, they have their own dreams and team goals for which they are striving.
“It’s interesting to have a guy who’s had a breakout year and get him back for another year,” Simon said of Palo. “Traditionally, you see guys peak as seniors, and that’s when they come out of their shell. For a guy who’s in his third year on varsity (as a junior), I think that’s a huge advantage. You’re able to get him out of that shell a little earlier.”
Miller, while being the leading scorer on the Howell girls team, is far from the only offensive threat. Opponents who key on Miller learn that, to their dismay. By the time they adjust, often, Miller makes them pay at a key moment.
“She lives for the big moment,” Olszewski says. “She wants the ball in her hands. She’s definitely an ice-in-the-veins kind of kid, and I would have no problem giving her the ball in any situation at the end of a game.”
Palo and Miller both look to stand out in a team concept, and that drive could well determine the final destination for both teams this winter.
PHOTOS: (Left) Howell’s Josh Palo pushes the ball upcourt during a practice this winter. (Right) Lexie Miller works on her shooting; she’s averaging 25 points per game. (Photos by Tim Robinson.)