Howell boys basketball coach Nick Simon won’t likely know who is going to play for him tonight until his team gets on the bus for Canton.
It’s nothing new. The Highlanders have been wracked with injuries, illness or both this season.
“We’ve been dealing with injuries for quite some time this year,” he said. “If guys can play, we’ll be ready to go, and if guys can’t play, we’ll be ready to go.”
The Highlanders will travel to Canton tonight to take on the Chiefs in the quarterfinals of the KLAA boys basketball tournament at around 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on The Livingston Post.
The walking wounded include Josh Palo, who has missed the last two weeks due to an ankle injury; Johnny Shields, who’s been out most of a month with a broken bone in his foot; Matt Dewar, who suffered a concussion recently, and Kip French, who has been out with an illness.
Simon, a glass-half-full kind of guy, is optimistic that at least two, and maybe three, of those players will be able to go tonight.
“Josh has a good chance to play, but nothing’s set in stone,” Simon said. “Kip is starting to get healthier and Matt is hopefully going to be cleared (today). We’re dinged up, but I think we’re getting closer to being healthy.”
Howell (10-6) will need all hands on deck against Canton (16-0), which swept its way to the KLAA Black Division title.
“They’re easily one of the best teams in the state,” Simon said. “They’re athletic, they’ve got size and they’ve got shooters.”
The Highlanders have held their own against some of the top teams in the state this season, and Simon thinks that experience will play a big role.
“We can draw on six or seven games,” he said. “I think we have experience in that sense of playing against top teams. We’re going to try and stay with them ourselves. I think we have a team full of real confident kids who believe that if we play the right way and do the right things, that things will work out.”
Two weeks remain in the regular season, and the Highlanders are pointing toward the postseason as their opportunity to make the next step.
“i think we all look forward to a challenge,” Simon said. “Trying to get our program to that next level and go from good to great, you have to enjoy these opportunities to play the best of the best and see where you measure up.”
