The journey: Everest Collegiate responds to baptism under fire with fine third season

CLARKSTON — Sometimes the odds are stacked against you, especially when the numbers are not there to support it.

Ann Lowney has had to face that at Clarkston Everest Collegiate, which added a high school four years ago. It’s been a climb, but a somewhat surprising rapid climb towards the top despite being such a small school.

There were just 20 students that first year at the tiny Catholic school just northeast of Clarkston, all in ninth grade, and the school’s athletes competed in the cooperative programs at nearby Class D school Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes. Everest only had middle school teams back then.

In 2009-10, Everest Collegiate opted to have its own boys basketball team — the only sport the Mountaineers had on their own at the time — and they began to climb with a nine-member squad of all sophomores and freshmen at the time.

The Mountaineers, perfectly nicknamed as the school’s first team would face a slow climb if it were to be successful on the big stage — on any stage for that matter — began its climb from the bottom to the summit.

Everest played a hodge-podge schedule that first season, playing a wide variety of small Christian, Lutheran, Catholic and charter schools from around southeastern and mid-Michigan, whoever Lowney could find to put on the schedule. The Moutaineers showed some spark that season, defeating a senior-heavy team from Lake Orion Baptist by two points and several other wins, some by wide margins, some close in nature.

Despite no seniors and juniors in the lineup, Everest finished a fine 14-6 in that debut campaign.

In the MHSAA postseason, the Moutaineers were issued a dose of reality with a 40-point beat-down by Waterford Lakes, the same school that Everest has a co-op program with in several sports.  It was an ending of a season of baptism under fire. They didn’t start out with a junior varsity and then add a varsity team later.

“It’s never easy starting something new,” admitted Lowney, a former girls basketball coach at Clarkston High School and a longtime CYO coach. “We didn’t have very many kids the first year. We had around 40 kids total in our high school. The kids we had the first year either played (junior varsity) in the co-op program with Lakes as freshmen or they were in eighth grade the year before.

“But when they play other sports, most of them are in that Lakers jersey. It wasn’t easy losing that game by that much,” recalled Lowney.

Last season, the Mountaineers continued their slow trek and added a 14-8 record to its resume. The Mountaineers were middle of the pack in the CHSL Intersectional Division at 6-4 and did not make the Catholic League playoffs.

In the Class D postseason, the team was knocked out by Auburn Hills Oakland Christian by 27 points, and that same Lancers squad reached the Class D regional finals.

Everest, which also added girls basketball to its program in 2010-11 but kept its cooperative programs with Lakes for all other sports, is in its third season of varsity boys basketball and what a campaign it’s been for a team of a combined 10 seniors and juniors. There are 10 underclassmen on the junior varsity as well.

The Mountaineers reached the CHSL playoffs for the first time, have set a school record with 17 wins against six losses, and captured both their first CHSL Intersectional Division and class D district championships. The Moutaineers defeated Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes in the district title game last Friday on their home court, posting a 43-41 overtime victory.

Lakes had defeated Everest twice in the regular season, handing the Moutaineers their only two league losses, but Everest gained its sweet revenge in the postseason and made a statement for a team not yet finished with its third campaign.

“That is a major accomplishment, winning a league and district in our third year,” said Lowney. “We weren’t even in the Catholic League in our first year. We played a bunch of other small schools. Now we win a league and district in our third year. That’s a credit to these boys and how much they have worked and dedicated themselves in the past couple of year. They have matured.”

Still, it’s not that Everest has a massive pool to choose from this season. There are 84 total students in grades 9-12 this season and only 38 boys. By law, the Mountaineers could use eight graders under the national and state sub-100 student rule, but have opted not to at this time.

Of those 38 students, not all play a school sport — “we have I think five hockey players who play travel hockey,” said Lowney — and there a couple others that are in the drama. Everest had 20 boys come out for basketball this year, and split them up evenly between varsity and junior varsity.

“We encourage these kids to play two or three sports and a lot of them do,” added Lowney, who grew up a multi-sport athlete and graduated from Lakes in 1991. “Some of these guys don’t play AAU basketball, they come straight into basketball season from football or soccer. But it’s the offseason where they really improve. I always tell them when they have a few free minutes, pick up the basketball and work on some things. These kids have done that.”

Everest will add another first on Monday night at Birmingham Roeper, when the unranked Mountaineers take on Class D state-ranked Southfield Christian in a regional semifinal, their first regional appearance.

“We know what we are up against. Southfield Christian is very talented,” said Lowney, who scouted the highly-touted Eagles a few weeks ago. “I know the boys are looking forward to it. It will be a great experience.”

Perhaps this section of the Moutainneers’ journey will end this week. But there is still much mountain to climb. In the grand scheme of things, they have come a long ways in just a short period of time.

“This team had come a very long way in three short years,” said Lowney. “There’s such a smart team, too. They were coming some of the plays out there and we even called some plays that we haven’t really practiced this year and they guys remembered them from last year.”

That’s a step up from last year. After all, it’s all about the climb for the Mountaineers of Clarkston Everest Collegiate. They are well on their way to the Summit.

PRESEASON CAPSULES:  http://northoaklandsports.com/2011/12/30/2011-boys-basketball-team-casules/

(Daniel Stickradt is Senior Editor of the AdaVan Media Group’s www.northoaklandsports.com and founder of the Stickradt Media Group Public Relations. He can be reached by e-mail at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com. Follow NOS on Twitter at @LocalSportsFans or on dozens of social media networks.)

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