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BAY MILLS - Will the real Brimley Bays please stand up! With the way things have gone so far for the 2005-2006 Bays, spectators are left mired in suspense as they wait to see which one of their Bays teams is going to emerge from the locker-room each half. Their story, yet to be told in its entirety, has all the makings of a good novel. Its title? How about - "The Tale of Two Teams."
First, there's the very exciting Brimley team with the high octane offense, led by former Eastern Upper Peninsula Conference Player of the Year Travis Lynn, which prides itself on its run-and-gun offense and relentless defensive pressure from their lightning-quick guards. And then, there's the Brimley team, which, quite simply, cannot seem to put the ball in the basket if their life depended on it. And when they do score, they have an uncanny knack of making it look almost accidental. Bays Head Coach Reg Robbins said he is hoping to see much less of the latter team, and more of the former.
"Simply put, we're two different teams right now," Robbins said. "There's the team that couldn't score in the second half against the Sault and blew a nine-point lead and then there's the team that scored 25-straight points against DeTour. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with our play. We just need to be more consistent. Once we turn it up, we're going to be alright."
The Bays dropped their season opener against the Sault High Blue Devils 60-52, despite building a nine-point lead going into the third quarter. They followed their dismal performance against the Blue Devils with a 57-28 win against the DeTour Red Raiders and a 68-50 win against Big Bay DeNoc. Through their first three games of the season the Bays have three players averaging double-figures in scoring. They are led by Travis Lynn, who is averaging a double-double with 14.7 points-per-game and 11 rebounds-per-game, Jeffrey Graham with 13 ppg, and Cody Robbins with 11 ppg.
Even with a 2-1 record, 1-0 EUPC, the 2005-2006 Bays may not be the highly touted team whose arrival their fans have been eagerly anticipating. With the loss of three starters from last year's team, two due to graduation and one who left school, the Bays are missing a total of six players from last year's team that made it to the regional finals. While the team is planning on getting two key players back into the lineup soon, Robbins said that it is important they stay focused on the squad they do have and not the one they should have had.
"We definitely have got some things to deal with this year," Robbins said. "However, I'm still very confident in this team. They are finding out that winning ball games is going to be a lot harder than they thought. Everyone wants to beat Brimley this year. We just can't afford to have an off night."
