Tecumseh basketball teams ready for season's biggest challenge

Kristopher Lodes, The Daily Telegram

February 1, 2022 at 4:00 AM·3 min read

The Tecumseh girls basketball team stands for the national anthem prior to Friday's game against Adrian.

TECUMSEH — Both the Tecumseh boys and girls basketball teams are enjoying remarkable seasons on the hardwood.

The two times are a combined 22-2 and 7-0 in the Southeastern Conference White Division.

While the girls program has had its fair share of success as of late, both with winning records and moving student-athletes on to the collegiate level, starting 14-0 and being ranked eighth in Division 2 is new.

The girls have done it with one senior in the starting lineup (Jaden Benschoter), along with two juniors and two freshman while a third freshman is first off the bench. The program has been dominate as well on the floor, with the closest game being a 60-45 win against Pinckney.

The boys are in uncharted territory for the program sitting at 8-2 overall before Monday's game against Springport and 3-0 in the SEC White, the last remaining unbeaten team in conference play.

"We control what's in front of us," said Tecumseh boys head coach Jamison Webster. "We don't have to worry about what other teams did as long as we can win the game ahead of us."

What's ahead for both Tecumseh teams is perhaps the biggest challenge either will have all season, Chelsea.

The girls team is up first at 7 p.m. today when it hits the road to face the Bulldogs.

Chelsea is 8-2 and 4-0 in the SEC White and the Bulldogs were honorable mention's in the AP poll last week.

Chelsea has beaten Tecumseh 12-straight times, the last win for Tecumseh coming on Feb. 19, 2016.

"We've got to play great defense," Zajac said. "Everyone on the floor can shoot threes, so we've got be able to close out and get out on those 3-point shooters. Especially with Leila Wells and Megan McCalla. They are great players and we have to find ways to shut those two down."

Tecumseh's Alli Zajac goes up for a layup during Friday's game against Adrian.

The boys will get their shot at Chelsea at 7 p.m. Wednesday when they host Bulldogs.

They will do so without junior starter Jobe Benschoter, re-injured his collarbone during a game against Madison on Jan. 18 and will miss the rest of the season.

Since the injury, Tecumseh's depth has shined as many have upped their game, including fellow junior Ryder Zajac.

"We thought losing Jobe would hurt us a lot," Zajac said. "We were really confident with him, but guys like Gavin (Chenevey), Jake (Burns) and Aden (Schmidt) have stepped up and are playing huge minutes."

Despite the injury, Tecumseh has won six-straight, including its first three SEC White games against Pinckney, Jackson and rival Adrian. The team is in first place in the conference after spending bulk of the last decade as conference cellar dwellers.

"It's different for us," Zajac said. "It feels awesome being up there, we don't talk about it too much because we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. We have a long way to go."

The Tecumseh boys basketball team celebrates with the student section as Adrian walks off the floor following Friday's game in Tecumseh.

A win against the Bulldogs would be big on its own, but it would also put Tecumseh at 4-0 in the conference with wins against each of the three teams trying to keep pace (Chelsea, Jackson and Adrian).

"They are an extremely tough team to guard," Webster said. "They are kind of like us, they have five guards that play and not really a true post. They try to make you help on the drive and are looking to kick it out for the three. They want to play fast."

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Tecumseh boys and girls basketball teams set to clash with Chelsea

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