Belleville's home game at EMU

Most players in any sport like to have a home field or a home court advantage. This week the Belleville basketball teams took to the hard courts of Eastern Michigan University to face a familiar foe in Romulus.
The games were considered home games for the Belleville Tigers and the Lady Tigers. Part of the reason the teams played at EMU was because Belleville High School is because they are getting a new school and the parking lot is completely torn up and it would have been impossible to host the Eagles’ and their fans for this classic hoop matchup.
Tiger Athletic Director Rod Fisher said they had a game at EMU about six years ago before he was the athletic director.
“It was when Ypsilanti and Belleville were both ranked in the state,” Fisher said. “It went well.”
He said last year during the home game against Romulus they had to turn people away at the gate because they couldn’t hold that many in the gym at Belleville.
“I anticipate that we will have a crowd between 1,200 and 1,400,” he said. “The first time we played it was close until the fourth quarter.”
Junior Kaylynn Counts said it felt different to play a game in the university setting.
“We practiced here the day before,” Counts said. “It didn’t feel at home.”
Fellow junior Diajah Ruffin made an interesting point about the game.
“It is not about the arena,” Ruffin said. “It did take away an advantage.”
Tiger coach Don Hickman said that it a good experience for his players to be able to play on a college court but also said that it doesn’t always make for the best games.
“I would have preferred to have played at Belleville,” Hickman said after the loss. “It was a great experience for our kids but we didn’t have all the pomp and circumstances.”
Hickman said there wasn’t much they could do without a parking lot so they were very grateful that the people at EMU and the staff were able to let them play a game at their facility.
Tiger junior guard Jerome Pearson said he liked having the game at EMU but admitted it did take something away from the classic Belleville and Romulus basketball battles.
“We had to adapt to it,” Pearson said. “There was not as much hype and it wasn’t as big.”
Whatever the reason for having the game at EMU this rivalry between the two schools is great for high schools sports and I have seen well over s dozen really good battles between these schools and I have to say it is better played on each other’s court.
I don’t think these teams need to play at EMU or any neutral site unless it is the post season and the teams are battling for advancement into the state finals.
I have seen some great players in these matchups. From Belleville’s Mohamed Conde and Nate Hand from Romulus’ Ron Coleman and Jerret Smith there have been some games that in my opinion were just awesome to watch.
These games last Friday left me with s lot less to remember than the games of the past. I know the arena doesn’t make that much of a difference but for my money I want to watch these teams battle either at Romulus or Belleville.