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Posted Jan. 30, 2009

Brothers drive
Olivet higher

Olivet athletics photos Brandon McClary (top) and Michael McClary might well be the best brother combination in Division III basketball.

This past summer, Brandon McClary let his younger brother Michael, borrow his 1996 Buick Regal. Michael and some friends went to play golf, but after a few minutes of driving, they realized there was some burning under the hood. Realizing that this could be an issue, they got out. A few minutes later, the car was in flames, and by the time Brandon saw it, it was beyond repair.

As it turned out, Michael wasn't at fault, but Brandon is a little bit more careful with his next vehicle, a 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix.

"He still does (give me a hard time about the fire)," Brandon said with a gentle laugh. "My friends do too. With his new car, he'll let me drive it for about 10 minutes, but that's it."

On the basketball court, the brothers have a completely different level of brotherly trust, one that has played a significant role in changing the perception of Olivet basketball. The program was 11-40 in the two seasons prior to their arrival. Last year's team went 9-16 and its five league wins matched the total of the previous two seasons combined.

The Comets are 4-3 in the MIAA, including 4-0 on the road, heading into a Saturday matchup at co-league leader Hope. Olivet already beat Calvin, handing the Knights their only league loss.

This year's Olivet team has already matched the nine wins of the 2007-08 squad and persevered through a non-league schedule that included a near-upset of Trinity (Texas), a game the Tigers won in the final seconds. Olivet has specialized in playing close games, in which case its nice to have the McClarys around. They are 6-5 in games decided by five points or less, and that doesn't include a seven-point overtime win at Kalamazoo.

Brandon McClary, a senior center and team captain, leads the Comets in scoring at 19 points per game on 52 percent shooting. Right behind him is his brother Michael, a sophomore, averaging 14.4 points and 10.1 rebounds. Both score in the post, out to about 15 feet from the basket, with Brandon stepping out for the occasional 3-pointer (he made two in Wednesday's win at Alma). The duo get it on both the offensive and defensive ends, having combined for 49 steals and 42 blocks and should contend for All-MIAA first-team honors after both made the second team last season.

"They play very well together," said second-year Olivet coach Gene Gifford, who also coached Brandon at Muskegon Community College. "You talk about brothers having an instinct for each other ... I believe that's true. They're very good at the high-low game, and the low-high game. They're both very good at block-to-block passes. They're both very unselfish, not just with passing to each other, but also to kicking the ball back out. We're trying to build a program here and these two provide a very solid foundation for us."

That's nothing new. The McClarys previously starred at Bellaire High (in a town with a population of about 1,100, located in central Michigan), taking their high school team through an unbeaten regular season all the way to the Class D (small-school) title game, which they lost on a last-second shot.

Brandon went to Muskegon while his brother was finishing high school, then enrolled at Olivet to play for then-coach Kurt Soderburg. When Soderburg resigned, Brandon was pleased that Gifford became the head coach. He was able to convince Michael, who was looking into playing junior college, to enroll in school there as well. The decision has worked out well for everyone.

"Coach has brought in some good players," Brandon said, "a point guard (sophomore Andre Evans) and some shooters (among them, Evans, and junior Andy Clark). We have a good chemistry. We know how to play with each other. My role as captain is to keep composure on the court."

Brandon is more of the flashy player ("but not too flashy," he said), one who aspires to either play professionally, or become a police officer. Michael is more recognizable on the court, since he sports a nifty Afro that stands out in a crowd. That has led to opposing fans teasing him with Ben Wallace comparisons, though Michael noted he shoots free throws at a considerably better rate -- 80 percent, a shade better than his brother's 78 percent.

The fire that drives Michael comes not from the automobile mentioned at the beginning of this story, but the desire to match or better his brother.

"I do strive to be better than him," Michael McClary said. "That pushes me to play my hardest. He has more experience that I do at the college level, but I've only had two years under my belt. I'm inching my way there."

ON WISCONSIN: Two top ten women's teams meet in Eau Claire this weekend as the Blugolds host the UW-Whitewater Warhawks on Saturday afternoon.

The Blugolds are looking to avenge a 12-point loss earlier this year in Whitewater, while the Warhawks are on the warpath after suffering a nine-point upset by UW-La Crosse at home Wednesday evening.

UW-Whitewater has its work cut out going to Zorn Arena. The Blugolds have won every home game this year and their average margin of victory is better than 14 points per game. The last time UW-Eau Claire lost at home was March 1, 2008, in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship against UW-Stevens Point.

The last regular season home loss for UW-Eau Claire was Nov. 24, 2007.

"We have right now in [D3hoops.com's] rankings three teams that are considered in the top ten in the country," said UW-Eau Claire coach Tonja Englund. "Even beyond those three teams, we have teams that are going to make a difference in the conference standings. They understand that the two games we lost on the road against Whitewater and Stevens Point, we didn't feel like we played well.

"Not to take anything away from the wins for Point and Whitewater, we just did not perform the way that we're capable of on the road," she added. "For us to be able to come back home and play better games during this critical stretch is a challenge for the team. We're really fortunate; we had 1,500 people at our game last night. We've got that great fan following that gives us a home court advantage in Zorn Arena."

"Eau Claire always plays well at home," UW-Whitewater coach Keri Carollo said. "They traditionally are ten points better than any team before the tip even goes up. They have a great fan base. The crowd is definitely in their favor and loud. The expectation for them to win at home is extremely high."

UW-Whitewater shot 32.8 percent from the floor in the loss to La Crosse. They also turned the ball over 23 times. From three-point range, the Warhawks knocked down six of their 28 attempts.

Defensively, they allowed La Crosse to shoot 47.9 percent from the floor and convert five of ten shots from three-point range.

"(Thursday's) practice sets the tempo going into Eau Claire Saturday," said UWW center Tiffany Morton. "[We are trying] to get better on our defense, figure out the areas we had problems with last night and fix those before Saturday. We were a little rattled last night. I'm not sure why because we've seen zones. More or less, we just weren't ready to play when it came time to tip off. Some of us were just on a different page, weren't ready to go." "We have pretty high expectations for ourselves and when we don't play to our ability level, then there's definitely a feeling of disappointment," said Carollo. Our girls are resilient and we're going to get back after it today and get ready for Saturday. Whether it's running our half-court offense or just getting after people defensively and executing our defensive schemes, we have to have five people on the floor that are on the same page and disciplined within our system."

Conversely, UW-Eau Claire looked good in its victory, a 27-point dismantling of UW-Superior. Defensively, the Blugolds forced 22 turnovers and held UW-Superior to 28.8 percent shooting.

On the offensive end of the floor, UW-Eau Claire connected on 56.9 percent of its shots and 53.3 percent of its three-pointers. Thirteen different players scored for the Blugolds against UW-Superior.

"We have five seniors that have played a lot time in our program and I think they know that this is the time where they've got to start playing great basketball," Englund said. "We've played well all season, but probably not to our potential yet. This stretch right now is critical for us. Last night was the first night that I thought we played somewhat of a complete game."

"We knew we had to play well to bring that momentum into Saturday's game," UW-Eau Claire senior guard Heidi Arciszewski said. "It was very important to play a complete game on Wednesday, get some of the younger players some playing time. On any given night, anyone on our team can go off offensively. We're not worried about who's putting up the points. It's a matter of moving the ball, getting the right person the open look and knocking it down. Everyone has that confidence."

In the first meeting of the year, Morton and Kelsey Hendrickson scored 19 points each for Whitewater. The Warhawks were 22 of 47 from the floor and connected on six of 11 three-pointers. They also had a one-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio. Whitewater had 15 assists against 15 turnovers.

Eau Claire had just 12 turnovers but struggled shooting the ball from the outside. The Blugolds made just four three-pointers in 15 attempts.

"It's a combination of taking the correct shots and making the extra pass," Englund said. "Part of it was the shots we were taking. Right now, we're taking better shots from the perimeter and shooting with confidence because we've really focused on that at practice. We want to make an extra pass, go inside, relocate [and] spot up. The team is starting to respond to that.

"Tiffany Morton's a great post player in our league and they got her the ball at the right time," added Englund. "This time around, both teams are better. They've played really good competition since we matched up. The difference for us now is that we've really grown our line-up. We've got more balance now. What it will come down to Saturday is taking care of the ball."

"I expect them to pound it inside," Carollo said. "They're going to play their big kids and try to get the ball in the paint. I don't think they're going to settle for three-point shots. Tonja does a great job and her players are always extremely disciplined. They're going to take it at us and try to get Tiffany in foul trouble. We can't back off people and allow them to pass the ball around the perimeter wherever they want. We have to get after them and try to create easy opportunities for ourselves."

If you have a tip or note, send it to atn@d3hoops.com.

2008-09 columns
Feb. 20: York (Pa.), no cliche
Feb. 13: St. Thomas writing history
Feb. 6: George Fox on hunt
Jan. 30: Brother, brother
Jan. 23: Growing a program
Jan. 16: Dudek's rare feat
Jan. 9: Ravin' about Anderson
Dec. 18: Chicago marooned at 0-9
Dec. 12: De Luca back on track
Dec. 4: Ithaca surprises
Nov. 21: Augie gets some delp
Nov. 13: Is repeat possible?

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