FREELAND, MI – As one group of friends celebrated perfection, another group did the same on the other end of the court, celebrating their own perfect season and telling stories that had 40 years to grow.
The Freeland boys basketball team completed its regular-season run Tuesday, beating Sanford Meridian, 72-45, to finish the 20-0 season, the first 20-0 season in 40 years.
MORE: For upcoming games, fans can stream by clicking on the NFHS digital network link.
“Irony aplenty,” Sanford Meridian coach Mitch Bohn said. “They’re bigger than we were in ’82 … but isn’t everybody?”
Bohn was on the 1982 Freeland team, as was Steve Bohn, Brad Schuknecht and Freeland athletic director Jeff Bell … and all were at Tuesday’s game. Such was Dave Franz, who coached the 1982 team.
And they all told stories and argued about who carried who, enjoying the moment that a new group of Freeland friends made possible in a non-conference game on a Tuesday night in March.
“We did not play well against (Bay City) John Glenn, so I decided not to practice the next day,” Freeland coach John Fattal said. “I asked Jeff if there was something we could do, someone we could bring in to talk to the kids. Jeff had been giving us stories to read from 1982.”
So instead of practicing, the 2022 Freeland Falcons grilled Franz, who was happy to answer questions.
“All the players had questions based on the stories Jeff had been showing us, so it was really a great moment for them to connect the history,” Fattal said. “One of the players asked Coach Franz how he defined Freeland basketball. He said Freeland players were always ready to play and would always compete.”
Four members of the 1982 Freeland boys basketball team joined their coach, Dave Franz, in celebrating this season’s Falcons’ basketball team that finished off a 20-0 season Tuesday. From left are Freeland athletic director Jeff Bell, Steve Bohn, Sanford Meridian coach Mitch Bohn and Brad Schuknecht.
And it helps having friends. Like the 1982 team, the 2022 undefeated Falcons can trace their friendship back through the years, at least to the fourth grade.
“I don’t remember the wins, but I remember we lost in overtime in the fourth grade to Hemlock … and we didn’t lose again until the eighth grade,” Freeland senior Bryson Huckeby said. “There must have been 50 to 60 wins in there. The great thing is that it was the same group of friends, the same players.
“There weren’t any that moved away, and none moved in. This is our group, and I think that really helps. We’ve played so many games and so many years together, we really know how to play together.”
The Freeland varsity features nine seniors, including four who were on the varsity as sophomores—Huckeby, Josh Elliott, Alex Duley and Cullum LeBaron.
In Tuesday’s win, Elliott hit seven 3-pointers and finished with 23 points. Huckeby added 14 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and four steals, while Alex Duley scored nine points with eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Jacob Kowalski also scored nine points. Sawyer Moloy led Meridian with 21 points.
Freeland led 31-19 at halftime before hitting six 3-pointers in the third quarter to take a 52-34 lead into the fourth quarter. The Falcons connected on 13 3-pointers in the win
“They shot the 3 really well,” Bohn said. “You leave 1 (Elliott) and 11 (LeBaron) open, they’re going to make it.”
The Falcons were 13-5 last season, losing in the districts to Carrollton. But the core of the team returned as seniors to go 20-0 in 2021-22.
“I don’t know how many games we’ve played together as a group, but it has to be in the hundreds,” Elliott said. “That’s definitely an advantage. We understand each other. You can’t help but work better together after playing all those games together. We don’t really need to talk a lot when we’re on the court because we understand what everybody else is doing.
“I don’t think going undefeated was something we really thought about at the start of the year. It was just something that happened.”
According to Huckeby, there really isn’t any secret to Freeland’s success.
“It means everything for the nine seniors who have been together through it all,” the Freeland senior said. “The secret to our team being good is friendship. We’re just really good friends off the floor. If you watch us play, we share the ball. That just speaks to our friendship and our chemistry.”
Fattal gets a front-row seat to see the chemistry, both at games and in practices.
“They show up every day in practice and games … and they don’t care who gets the credit,” Fattal said. “They care about each other at a very deep level. It doesn’t matter who’s in the game, they’re going to be their biggest cheerleader.
“Anything is possible when nobody cares who gets the credit. That’s such a cliche. But to them, it’s not a cliché. They live it.”
And in 40 years, if they’re lucky, they’ll get to relive it when the next group of Falcons pursue perfection.
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