Corunna's Pleasant New Addition

Meet the new Corunna varsity boys basketball coach, John “Rocky” Buscemi. Residents of Corunna may ask why people call him Rocky, “My middle name is Rocko and I was never called John a day in my childhood”.

However, he does have a conspiracy to why his middle name is Rocko, “Rocky The Movie came out in 1977 and that is when I was born. Another part of me thinks maybe my dad just really liked the movie. Trust me, I was not a boxer.” Only his father would know the true meaning of

his son’s middle name.

Rocky hails from Detroit Loyola (all male prep school) where he has coached and taught for 16 years. One of his major highlights has been taking his previous team to the state championship where they lost to Flint Beecher in a very close game. Buscemi is now happily married to his wife

Chloe and has a 14 month old baby daughter named Charlie. Like all new parents are, he stated, “It’s all about the little one”, which was what lead the Buscemi’s to our passionate community. “Our whole idea is to plant roots and raise our daughter in this community while building this program.” The Buscemi’s have recently moved and they love everything about their new home. Rocky, who is used to morning rush traffic into Detroit Loyola has been very relieved that he does

not have to deal with all of the rush anymore. “A 25 minute drive with barely any traffic in the morning is really refreshing.”

Corunna basketball’s future seems to be in good hands as Rocky made it very clear that he hates losing more than anyone he knows. “We won’t know the true success of our program until four, five, even 10 years down the line when guys come back to help out our program because it meant so much to them. Or when they come back just to tell me that they got

married, found a career, etc. That’s when we will know how successful this program is.”.

From our conversation during a school day, Rocky seems to be optimistic about the new era of Corunna basketball. “I love

it here, it’s better than I could have ever imagined. Everyone is so supportive here. I’d be lying to you if when I took this job,

I didn’t think about the movie ‘Hoosiers’.” If the upcoming season is anything like the movie “Hoosiers”, we are in for one wild ride.

Being from Corunna, I have taken a lot of liking to the food that our little town has to offer. When I asked Rocky about

his “go-to” meal, his response was very simple, “I always love a good burger.” I suggested that he should go try out

“South 401” right in the heart of Corunna. If anyone else has any suggestions to where our new community member

should sit down and eat, tell him about it!

With time ticking away as Mr. Buscemi and I talk about his life, a closing remark that I would say touched base with not only me but everyone I know was stated “The more I get out of the way and trust the direction that God is taking me, the better things seem to turn out. We truly feel that we are in a great place”.

Join me in welcoming our newest Cavalier coach! JOHN “ROCKY” BUSCEMI

What a time to be a Cavalier!

– Josh (Richy) Richardson

Corunna Puts Panthers in their Place

As I walked into Mt. Morris high school, I could feel the energy in the building. It was the first road game for the boys which I must say, the black Moneyball jerseys kept me entertained all night. By far the best uniforms in Mid-Michigan.

Upon my arrival, the Lady Cavs were just finishing up where they advanced to victory over the Lady Panthers 61-45. I must say, they looked quite impressive and looks like they have potential that will escalate in march. Keep up the good work!

In addition, the boys game was a real dandy. It was a fun game to witness and had lots of horrific screeching from the Mt. Morris student section that made you think they were in the game the entire time (not the case). I kid you not, the Mt. Morris student body could have been categorized in 4 items. Ugg boots, Timbs, Leggings, and Buckle Jeans. What a sight eh?

In warmups, you could tell the Cavaliers were ready for battle. As I watched the Cavs warm up, one person stood out, Ethan (Jabrill Peppers) Quinn. You could tell he was ready to play. During lay-up lines I witnessed EQ doing good form jumping jacks. He was biting at the bit and fired up till the final buzzer.

On another note, the Cavaliers had a new addition to the starting lineup as they started the big-man roster. Cooper “Big Smooth” Clapp was a huge contributor to seal the win against the Panthers. One hysterical moment for Clapp is when he kept trying to make a bank shot layup, he was either too short or too long. On the positive note, no one was going to stop him from getting his own board. I would assume he was just trying to stuff his stat sheet (I would have done the same). He brought dominant post presence that the Cavaliers needed. Hopefully Clapp can keep up his great play. It would be very beneficial to the black and gold.

Anywho, back to the game. At end of the 1st quarter the score was Corunna 16 & Mt. Morris 5. As you can infer from the scoring, Corunna had the Panthers on LOCK. On the offensive side, the Cavs started out a little shaky, but after Ethan “Mr. Everything” Quinn and Jerod “The Arrow” Fattal’s back to back three point WALLUPS near the end of the 1st quarter, things started rolling. As the game itched on, the Panthers kept it below a double digit lead all the way till halftime. At the break the Cavs were only up by 4, 25-21.

Halftime was a story of its own. It started as a typical halftime break, but suddenly, Mt. Morris students came rumbling onto the court in a single file line at half court. It definitely gave the fans a show as every kid took a turn to try to hit a half-court shot. SPOILER ALERT- No one was even close (besides one lucky shot).

Coming out of halftime, Chris “Carson Wentz” Wooley ignited the Cavs by putting his body in front of the very physical small forward tatted out #40 and got the offensive charge. What a guy.

With the game pretty much decided at this point, Mt. Morris tried making one more comeback. However, sophomore Mitchel Skym had something to say about it. At the end of the third quarter Skym flashed his shooting ability and splashed a trey ball. Don't worry folks, he was just warming up. I few minutes into the 4th, Logan Lepage finds Skym in the corner and “The Corunna Sniper” buries another long ball. You would think they would at least put a hand in his face right? Wrong. From the same spot yet again, Skym WALLUPS yet another shot from behind the arc.

On a low key note, when I glanced at the stat sheet after the victory, something caught my eye. Logan Lepage had a very silent 21 points. The silent assassin was scooping up rebounds and batted down passes and turned them into two points every time he got the chance. Logan is an exciting player to talk about reckoning that he was only a sophomore. He has a lot of ball left and I hope he definitely makes the most of it. He will carry on the legacy of Corunna basketball.  

From this point on, the Cavaliers closed out the game by hitting the majority of their free throws to seal the Cavalier victory!

Come out and support your boys December 27th @ Atherton High School!

Stay safe and have fun in the winter wonderland!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

What a time to be a Cavalier!

-Josh (Richy) Richardson

Top Performers
JERSEY #	NAME	POINTS	REBOUNDS	ASSISTS
4	Logan Lepage	21	3	1
45	Cooper Clapp	12	5	2
21	Mitchel Skym	11	2	2

TOTAL ROSTER STATS
JERSEY #	NAME	GP	POINTS	REBOUNDS	ASSISTS
1	Owen Walter	3	13	6	4
2	Ethan Quinn	3	3	1	3
3	Jaron VanFleteren	3	14	5	6
4	Logan Lepage	3	21	11	3
5	Chase Ardelean	0	0	0	0
11	Jerod Fattal	3	5	6	6
12	Chris Wooley	3	13	23	1
15	Logan Rugg	3	0	0	0
21	Mitchel Skym	3	23	4	4
23	Zach Sawyer	3	16	4	6
25	Sage Walker	0	0	0	0
45	Cooper Clapp	2	21	5	3
55	Johnny Pavka	3	0	0	1

Bucs Loot Cavaliers

I’m gonna keep it short and sweet with this blog folks as there isn't much to be said about our performance.First, let me write about our “Corunna Crazies” because what’s a Richy blog without mentioning those wild-childs. In easiest terms, they surely had me feeling jolly (no pun intended)! The theme of the night was Christmas and I must admit, it had me excited for Ole’ Saint Nick. The student section had some electrifying energy and really came to chant tonight. I still would’ve liked to have heard more Christmas spirit themed chants, but it is what it is and the crazies aren’t my circus to guide. Jack Thayer definitely gave the crowd a chuckle when he stumbled into the gym in a Santa Suit. That kid gives the world a spur of hope sometimes.

Anywho, Flint Beecher started the game nearly perfect by nailing a triple in the corner and quickly adding to it bucket by bucket. From the very start of the game Flint Beecher was clicking. They were hitting on any and all cylinders. Anything they threw at the orange circle resulted in two or three points. On the other side of the court, it couldn’t have been more polarized. It was almost as though there was a clear plastic lid over our hoop. At the half, Beecher was up by a score of 39-11. The Bucs just kept getting further and further ahead until the final buzzer rang and we were down by 41 points.

Helping out with the deficit, two former Cavalier ballers Dakota Ryan and Spencer Mort were making their presence felt watching from the first row of the home bleachers. It was giving me some chuckles watching them flip out on the refs. It is almost like they have been waiting for that moment all year. Was it worth the wait guys? Definitely. When former players come back, it is always a sight to see.

To wrap things up, the Cavaliers can’t forget about this game, but for the greater good of the season, must move on. Max Nations, a senior at Corunna High School and proud fan, was quoted with “Who we got next?” and I believe that’s the mindset that everyone in Corunna needs to have. The fans are ready for the future and are ready to move on to a Cavalier victory!

What a time to be a Cavalier!

Josh (Richy) Richardson

Top Performers
JERSEY #	NAME	POINTS	REBOUNDS	ASSISTS
45	Cooper Clapp	9	0	1
3	Jaron VanFleteren	6	3	1
23	Zach Sawyer	2	0	1

TOTAL ROSTER STATS
JERSEY #	NAME	GP	POINTS	REBOUNDS	ASSISTS
1	Owen Walter	2	8	5	3
2	Ethan Quinn	2	0	1	2
3	Jaron VanFleteren	2	14	4	4
4	Logan Lepage	2	0	8	2
5	Chase Ardelean	0	0	0	0
11	Jerod Fattal	2	2	3	1
12	Chris Wooley	2	9	16	0
15	Logan Rugg	2	0	0	0
21	Mitchel Skym	2	12	2	2
23	Zach Sawyer	2	6	2	2
25	Sage Walker	0	0	0	0
45	Cooper Clapp	1	9	0	1
55	Johnny Pavka	2	0	0	1