Irvin eclipses 1,000 points for Tawas in memorable District win over Grayling

On Monday night Tawas and Grayling met at Ogemaw Heights High School for a District 62 first round matchup which Tawas won 76-59.

On this night though it was all about Tawas Senior star Owen Irvin.

Irvin came into the matchup sitting at 999 points just one away from the 1000 point milestone.

It took Irvin a while, but at the end of the first quarter he scored his first basket to reach the four digit numbers but that was just the start for Irvin.

“It felt great to get 1,000. It took me to the end of the 1st quarter to get it so it felt good to get it out of the way,” says Irvin.

Scoring just five points in the first half Irvin kicked it into a new gear in the second half, scoring 34 second half points on his way to 39 which broke the school record of 37.

“I had no idea I was anywhere close to a school record but of course it feels great to get that, and to get it in a big game.”

Tawas struggled more than normal this season going 8-12 but part of that was having a tough schedule playing two Class A SVL teams in Bay City Central and Mt. Pleasant and three big north teams in Traverse City West, Traverse City Central and Alpena twice. Which was part of Coach Kaems plan to get the team ready for this time of year.

“The schedule was tough but helped us a ton because it was nothing new. We dealt with tough pressure a lot of the year and because of that we were pretty confident we'd be fine dealing the pressure of Grayling,” says Irvin.

Although Irvin and the Braves had a big game to start the Districts, Irvin says in order to keep it going they need to keep playing hard and trust Coach Kaems.

“Having someone like Coach Kaems who's been around forever is great. He takes a lot of time preparing and it's pays off. His goal is always to be the best at the end of the season, and I think we played that way against Grayling, we just have to keep it going now.”

Tawas returns to Ogemaw Heights on Wednesday when they to take on old NEMC Rival Standish-Sterling (12-8). The winner will face the winner of Ogemaw Heights/Gladwin in the Distirct 62 Class B championship on Friday at Ogemaw Heights.