By Dan Hardenbrook
It’s officially tournament time in boys high school basketball! The MHSAA Districts are underway, with opening round matchups taking place Monday. Some teams have seen their season suddenly end, while others await their opportunity in semifinal action that tips off tonight. For the Newberry Indians, the postseason journey begins tonight in Rudyard, when they meet a familiar EUP foe in the Brimley Bays.
The Indians have been on a roller coaster ride throughout the 2025-2026 season. Their first six games saw them win two, lose two, then win two more. It was indicative of how the season would go.
When they were at their best, mainly during the mid part of the season, they were among the top teams in the region and held the second spot in the EUP Conference behind undefeated Pickford for a lengthy stretch. They took the league-champion Panthers to the limit at home in a tough loss on January 15, then responded with their best run of the season by winning six out of their next seven games.
During that run, they avenged early season losses by flipping the script in wins over Rudyard, Brimley, and Manistique. In a tough finish, they lost their last three regular season games to end at 10-7 overall.
This week’s MHSAA Division 4 District 101 Tournament will be a wide-open battle between a group of teams that know each other very well. The semifinals matchups feature three teams (Newberry, Brimley, and Rudyard) from the EUP Conference, which is coming off one of its most competitive seasons in recent history.
The Maplewood Baptist Black Bears are also into the district’s final four after eliminating Engadine in the opening round of the five-team bracket on Monday. The Black Bears, out of the small-school Northern Lights League, fills their non-conference schedule with several EUP Conference teams.
Any of the four could take home the title. The Indians split their regular season games with Brimley and Rudyard, and defeated Maplewood in the season opener. Rudyard (12-10) and Brimley (8-14) also split their head-to-head matchups this season, meaning this week, it’s anybody’s game.
Tonight’s semifinal schedule features host and top-seeded Rudyard Bulldogs playing Maplewood Baptist at 5 p.m. The second-seeded Newberry takes on Brimley at 7 p.m.
The two winners will return to Rudyard for the District 101 Championship on Friday at 6 p.m. All boys district games will be held in Rudyard and available to watch on the NFHS Network. Tickets for those attending in person must be purchased through the GoFan app.
