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| The High family: women's basketball senior Jamie, men's head coach Jon, senior Josh and freshman Jared. North Central (Minn.) athletics photo |
Amy High’s winter nights are much more convenient these days.
That’s because the other four members of her basketball-loving Minnesota family now compete in the same gym almost every weekend.
First, Amy’s daughter Jamie High, a senior, takes the court for the North Central women. Then her sons, senior Josh and freshman Jared follow with the men’s team, under the direction of her husband, Jon.
But at one time, this situation was rarely a thought, much less the plan.
Jon High’s first three years at North Central were his eldest son’s last three years at Buffalo High School. Josh was naturally a recruit.
Yes, there’s a nice tuition benefit for children of employees. But Jon never put pressure on his children to attend NCU.
“I wanted them to come because they wanted to come,” he said.
Josh instead chose UMAC rival Northwestern. He played in every JV game for the Eagles as a freshman and also suited up and traveled with the varsity squad.
That commitment took a toll, and Josh decided to give up basketball the next year.
“It was a good experience,” Josh said. “I loved playing there, loved the guys, learned a lot. But I was kind of run down after that year.”
Meanwhile, Jamie, who is a year younger, decided North Central was the place for her. She averaged 8.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in her first season with the Rams.
Jared entered his second year of high school with a future at NCU already in mind – “I was pretty sure about where I was going freshman year of high school,” he said.
That was supposed to be it.
Then Josh kept going to games. The itch was inevitable.
Perhaps that wasn’t going to be the end of his career.
Dad offered some words of wisdom.
“I think I said you need to get back and play if you really miss it,” Jon said. “Now is the time. You’re going to miss out on this opportunity. This is part of your college experience.”
Only Jon wasn’t expecting his son’s response. He wanted to play at North Central.
“It just felt like that’s what I was supposed to do,” Josh said. “If I was gonna play basketball again, I was gonna play there. It was really nothing against Northwestern. I loved the school, loved the program, but it just kind of felt like that’s what I was supposed to do.”
“I think (my dad) was surprised. I think he had put it out of his mind that I was gonna play (at North Central) ever.”
So Josh, a 3-point specialist, joined the Rams and averaged 11 points in his first two seasons.
The High children played together plenty in the driveway growing up. But because of the age difference, Josh and Jared were never teammates, even in pick-up ball – a senior in high school and an eighth grader are typically playing with different crowds.
Josh’s year off, though, meant the chance to play together at North Central his senior season, something they never thought would happen.
“That is awesome,” Jon said with pride. “Really cool.”
This was already a special story, one that will fill up a family scrapbook. It’s not over, though. In fact, it’s getting better.
Few projected success on the court for this family reunion. The Rams graduated their two statistical leaders and were picked to finish eighth in the nine-team league.
Instead North Central has shot out to a 7-1 record through the first half of conference play.
Jon admitted he was frustrated by the preseason tab, but he understood, as even he wasn’t quite sure what this team was capable of.
He found out in their second conference game on Dec. 11.
Trailing Minnesota-Morris by 22 late in the first half, North Central scored 57 second-half points and rallied for an 82-80 victory.
“That kind of sparked us and showed us what we can do when we play like a team, when we find each other, hit some shots,” Josh said. “We showed ourselves what we could do there and that gave us the confidence going forward.”
It all came together in a 76-71 win at perennial power Northwestern just after the New Year. The Rams stumbled at Bethany Lutheran, but took control of first place by beating St. Scholastica last Saturday.
The brothers are two of six Rams averaging in double figures on a balanced team. Josh, a 6-1 guard, averages 10.9 points and is shooting 41 percent from 3-point range. Jared, a 6-4 wing/forward, is at 13.3 points and 4.3 rebounds, leading the team with a .519 mark from deep.
Playing for your dad, with your brother, on a league-leading team – what more could you ask for?
“I’ve had the most fun playing basketball this year than I have in any of my years playing before,” Jared said with emphasis. “Best year of basketball of my life right now.”
“Seeing that dynamic on the court is really, really interesting and really fun,” Jamie said. “They get excited for each other because they’re teammates, but it’s even more fun because they’re family, they’re brothers and it’s fun to see that on the court because I’ve never been able to watch them play together before.”
Travis Voigt (15.1 points), Joel Cline (14.9), Cody Martin (11.3) and Isaiah Rustad (10.1) are the other top contributors for a team that has every intention of becoming the first UMAC team not named Northwestern to play in the NCAA Tournament.
Jamie’s team hasn’t been quite as successful, sitting at 4-11 overall and 1-7 in the conference. But she’s averaging a double-double (14.3 points, 11.3 rebounds) and soaking this in.
After years of back and forth for the parents to catch their children competing, and the siblings missing each other’s games while playing in their own, one year all under the same roof has been cherished by all five.
“This is great. This has been fun. I think even just at North Central and within our conference, the back-to-back men’s and women’s schedule, your teams develop a sort of bond and connection with each other,” Jon said. “It’s brought our family closer together.”
Yellowjackets superior so far
The UW-Superior women have had a smooth transition to the UMAC so far, going 8-0 through the first half of the schedule.
The Yellowjackets (13-2) beat Northwestern (12-4, 7-1) Saturday to take full control of first place. They have won every league game by double digits, keeping the streak alive with a 60-50 win over the Eagles.
Hailey Kontny leads the team with 13.5 points per game while Hadley Skalmoski averages 9.5 points and 6.6 rebounds.
UW-Superior won the WIAC last year and hopes to get a chance to be the first UMAC team to win an NCAA tournament game – the conference is 0-7 in its short history.
The Yellowjackets could be in uncharted territory come March, as the fewest losses for a conference school entering the NCAA tournament stands at six – achieved by Minnesota-Morris in 2011 and Martin Luther the following year.
The men’s team hasn’t had quite as nice a welcoming, standing at 4-4 at the midway point.
Luther sails
Many in the Iowa Conference thought Wartburg had overtaken Luther in women’s basketball with an impressive non-conference showing.
But the Norse showed why they were an NCAA Tournament team by leading for 38 minutes in a 78-68 victory over the 13th-ranked Knights.
Luther scored another impressive victory Saturday over Coe, 80-62, to move to 4-0 in the IIAC before dropping Wednesday’s game to Loras and falling into a tie for first with the Duhawks.
Wartburg’s stay in the polls was short-lived, falling out after an 83-80 overtime loss to Buena Vista.
Whitworth hangs on to top spot
Whitworth lost a believer after needing overtime to beat Willamette as the new No. 1 team in the country last week.
The Pirates have 14 first-place votes this week – down from 15 a week ago – but it’s still enough to keep them in the top spot.
Whitworth trailed by four with less than two minutes to go but didn’t allow the Bearcats to score again in regulation. Kenny Love’s two free throws with 35 seconds left tied it and the Pirates never trailed in the extra session for an 81-77 victory.
Elsewhere in the West Region, St. Thomas remained No. 6 while Whitman jumped five spots to No. 16.
George Fox held steady at No. 3 on the women’s side while St. Thomas and Whitman vaulted to Nos. 14 and 21, respectively.
Big week for Tommies
The St. Thomas men don’t get a break after cruising to an 85-73 win in the Tommie-Johnnie game last Wednesday.
Alone in first in the MIAC, the Tommies meet the two Northfield teams tied for second this week – St. Olaf on Wednesday (a Tommies win) and Carleton on Saturday.
Saturday’s game is particularly circled after UST blew a 15-point lead in a 67-66 loss to the Knights at home in December, the Tommies’ only defeat this season.
