Forest Park senior Kevin Giuliani (44) battles for a layup against North Dickinson on Jan. 21 in the Carl F. Lemin Gymnasium. (Terry Raiche photo)

CRYSTAL FALLS — When Forest Park boys basketball head coach Jason Price played prep ball, his Okemos High School teams ran up one regular-season victory after the other.

In Price’s three seasons on the varsity squad, the Wolves won 57 of their 60 regular-season games and were highly ranked in the state’s Division 1 poll every year.

Yet, despite that success, Price’s teams never got out of the district.

“We were in the ‘farmers’ conference and we played in the ‘city’ conference’ in the tournament,” Price explained, referring to the Capital Area Conference’s divisional alignment. “I wished Okemos would have moved into the city conference, which I think would have helped us.

“We were well-ranked all year, but we didn’t play the kind of competition that we should have every year.”

And that was the genesis of the idea Price brought to this year’s Trojans — to increase the difficulty of their schedule to help prepare the squad for what could be a long tournament run.

The Trojans, ranked No. 1 in the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Division 4 poll and No. 2 in the Associated Press Division 4 state poll, begin district play Wednesday at home against the winner of Monday’s first-round matchup between Stephenson and Hannahville Nah Tah Wahsh.

UPSSA third-ranked Norway (17-5) will host the winner of the Monday’s North Central vs. Carney-Nadeau first-rounder on Wednesday.

The semifinal winners will face each other for the district trophy on Friday with a site to be determined.

Forest Park will take the court at Eddie Chambers Gymnasium with a 20-2 record, having rampaged through much of its slate. The Trojans have won their 20 games by an average of 26.6 points per game on their way to Skyline Central Conference-Small title.

The two losses? Well, they came against the top two-ranked Division 1-3 schools, Marquette and Kingsford.

Though the Trojans and the Flivvers have a yearly matchup, the contests against Division 1 Marquette, Division 2 Escanaba and Division 3 Menominee represent new additions to the Forest Park slate, courtesy of the efforts of Price and Forest Park Athletic Director Lisa Olson.

The purpose of those non-conference games was simple.

“It just helps us in Division 4 to get out and play in those stressful games, Price said.

“(Those teams) are bigger, stronger and quicker. Those schools have more kids to pull from. So yes, my high school experience played into that a little bit.”

While that all sounds good in theory, no coach is going to lead his kids purposely into games in which they can’t compete. So Price needed talented, athletic, driven and competitive players to make this idea work.

And he has them.

Simply put, the 2024-25 Trojans are loaded.

From powerful interior players like seniors Kevin Giuliani and Matt Showers to 3-point shooters like senior Gabe Quevedo and freshman Aiden Waldo to three-level scorers like sophomores Vic Giuliani, Dax Huuki and Izaiah Tarter, Forest Park can fill a scoresheet in a hurry.

And the fact that all seven have bought into playing a variety of tough, aggressive defenses, the Trojans appear to be a team without a weakness.

While the SCC certainly has talented and dangerous teams like North Dickinson, Norway, Munising and Stephenson, the games against the larger schools were meant to add to FP’s run-up to the tournament.

Forest Park’s last two seasons have led up to this point.

In 2022-23, the Trojans compiled a 15-9 record but lost to Watersmeet in the District 99 final.

Last season, Price’s team went 22-5 and won both the District 99 and Regional 25 trophies before falling to St. Ignace in the state quarterfinal round.

This season, the Trojans seem more mature in their play but more deadly in their execution.

Like many successful prep teams, that starts with the big men.

“Kevin is a four-year starter on varsity,” Price began.

“You can tell he’s a senior this year.

“He’s a little more relaxed, playing his role well and letting the game come to him. If you don’t have a big, strong man to guard him, he is tough to guard.”

Prior to the regular-season finale against L’Anse (an 83-59 win), Giuliani was averaging 14.8 points and 7 rebounds per game.

Showers averaged 5 points and 5 rebounds per game and supplies Forest Park with a formidable and physical one-two punch in the post.

“Matthew doesn’t need to score but he affects the game,” Price continued.

“He can defend anybody on the court and he can rebound and he can post, too.”

On the perimeter, the Trojans are led by Vic Giuliani, an lanky left hander who is quick off the dribble, can dunk easily and who can hit the mid-range shot along with an occasional triple.

The younger Guiliani is Forest Park’s top offensive threat, averaging 22.7 points per game.

He also grabs 6.4 rebounds and hands out 3.1 assists per contest.

“He’s just a tough (player) to guard,” Price said. “Like against (Norway in a 64-44 win on Feb. 11), we could go inside with Matt and Kevin and then we have Vic slicing and dicing with layups. And if he can make a 3 and a pull-up jumper, then you’re in trouble.”

Huuki is an intriguing player who would likely be a star on many teams.

On Forest Park, he can be overlooked by outsiders at times, but his skill set is obvious to his coach and community.

“Dax can knock in a 3, his pull-up jumper is tough and he’s usually guarding the other team’s best guard.”

Huuki’s statistics bear out his all-around game.

He’s averaging around 7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2 assists and is the Trojans’ top 3-point shooter by percentage, sinking 20 of 48 (42 percent prior to the L’Anse game.)

The other two guards – Quevedo and Tarter – have battled injury problems through the season but appear ready to go for the tournament.

Both are talented 3-point shooters who can handle the ball.

“Gabe can knock down a 3 and Izaiah is really talented too, can shoot 3s, go off the dribble and (drive for) layups,” Price said.

Joining this group is Waldo, a sharpshooter who plays with the poise of an upperclassmen. Price said the other members of the team had no problem with accepting a rookie into their midst.

“They’re an unselfish group of kids and Aiden came up and played right in there.”

Given all that, the Trojans were able to take their show on the road to Menominee, Kingsford and Marquette as well as hosting Escanaba this season.

Forest Park defeated the Eskymos 53-40 on Jan. 9, nipped the Maroons 44-41 on Dec. 17 before falling to the Flivvers 56-39 on Jan. 6 and the Sentinels 82-67 on Feb. 18.

In those two defeats, Forest Park played evenly for long stretches of the games.

So it’s likely that the Trojans have already played against the toughest competition they’ll face until a possible Breslin Center appearance in the state’s Division 4 semifinals.

And that was the point all along.

“If you want to be good or be the best, you need to go play the best,” Price said. “So you need to go figure out where it is.”

Yet, that was the regular-season campaign. Price knows he has some top-notch challengers in his own backyard.

“When you get into the tournament, it goes to another level. The district is going to be tough. We’re going to need to be ready to play. It’s a scary district.”

Still, Price realizes he’s bringing a team into the district that will be very difficult to beat.

“We have all the pieces. We can play many different styles of the game,” he said.

“I think we’ve put together a pretty good regular season. They’ve gone and battled with everybody and done pretty well.

“They’re ready to go, so I’m excited to see where it goes.”