Dan Schell is coaching a Mount Pleasant boys basketball team that shows plenty of promise after four games and a 3-1 start.
The Oilers defeated Saginaw Swan Valley 58-41 and Bay City Central 61-44, plus Midland 54-45 and lost to Midland Dow 59-54.
“It’s going all right,” Schell said. “We’re a young team. We’re getting better game by game. We have a lot of seniors but not a lot that played this year. We have a sophomore and a two freshman up as well. They’re doing all right. The sophomore is a transfer and he doesn’t become eligible until after the semester. The two freshmen are getting better every game.”
Peyton Fountain, a sophomore, transferred from Chippewa Hills. The freshmen are Mason Wojtusik and Tyler Huenemann.
Noah Ingram is the team’s leading scorer averaging 22 points a game. Obie Ricumstrict and Bailey Mitchell are also scoring a lot of points for the Oilers.
“I think we’ve got some skill,” Schell said. “Obie and Noah are first team all Saginaw Valley kids last year. We don’t have a lot of size. We’re quite small. We shoot pretty well. I don’t know what our potential is. I think we’re capable of winning a district. But our district could be very competitive. There could be four or five teams that could win it.”
The Bay City Central district includes the host school, Bay City Western, Midland, Midland Dow, Mount Pleasant and Saginaw Heritage.
Ingram and Ricumstrict have established themselves as the go-to players for the Oilers. They are both excellent baseball players with Ingram having committed to Northwood and Ricumstrict to Cincinnati. Both averaged more than 16 points per game last season. Ingram broke the school’s all-time single game scoring record with a 44-point postseason performance over Midland Dow. In a 61-44 victory over Bay City Central, Ingram had 26 points and Ricumstrict added 13.