It was a "family affair" Friday at The Palace of Auburn Hills as Harold and Helen O'Brien of Empire and nearly their entire clan gathered to watch two of their own take center court.

MEMBERS OF the O’Brien family (left) show signs that were displayed at The Palace of
Auburn Hills during Glen Lake basketball games Friday. At right, Harold and Helen O’Brien and Matt O’Brien (32) pose with other family members from the stands.

Matt O’Brien is a freshman on the Laker varsity boys’ basketball team. His older cousin, Lauren,
suits up for the Lady Lakers’ roundball team. Both teams faced their counterparts from Buckley on the NBA court. Afterward, they stayed to watch the Detroit Pistons top the Orlando Magic, 101-93.
“It was a wonderful weekend,” said grandmother Helen O’Brien, whose contingent of 18 was the biggest group of relatives at the Palace.

LAUREN O'BRIEN was among the Glen
Lake girls who played Buckley at The
Palace Friday.

Also gathered at the venue were Fred (Glen Lake ‘70) and Sharon O’Brien of Empire (Matt’s parents); Tim (Glen Lake ‘74) and Rhonda O’Brien of Empire (Lauren’s parents); aunt, Colleen King of Maple City (Glen Lake ‘76); aunt, Julie Brott of Traverse City (Glen Lake ‘81); and uncle Bob O’Brien of Novi, a 1990 Glen Lake graduate.

The only O’Brien offspring missing was Tom and his wife, Wendy, of Empire.

“All of them participated in sports. The boys played three sports,” said Harold O’Brien, former Glen Lake administrator and coach of the Lakers’ 1959 state championship boys’ basketball team. “Julie was on the team when they went to the state (girls’ basketball) finals.”

Family members watched as Lauren O’Brien played with the girls’ team, then took in the boys’ game in which Matt played.

All team members were introduced prior to the tip-off of each game. All of the players also had the opportunity to dress for the game and receive playing time. Starters cheered on their teammates in the final minutes of the game from the sidelines, proud that they could share the occasion with them.

TRAVIS WILTJER (left) was one of several Glen
Lake youths who took part in a scrimmage
at The Palace.

As an added bonus, more than 30 elementary and middle school basketball players from Glen Lake had an opportunity to scrimmage at halftime of the varsity contests.

Eleven 6th and 7th grade girls had a full-court scrimmage, and 38 third, fourth and fifth grade boys played half-court.

Both scrimmage opportunities were organized by Bob Ewing of Glen Arbor.

After the Laker wins, families had a 3-hour break before they returned to The Palace for the Pistons game.

In total, Glen Lake sold 484 tickets for the event while Buckley sold 226.

“The Pistons management was just great to work with,” Glen Lake athletic director Paul Christiansen said. “But I guess they should have been. We generated a lot of money for them.”

Tickets for the two varsity games and the Piston contest were $35.

“People think it was a money generator for us, but it cost us about $5,000,” Christiansen said.

The school had to buy tickets for players and referees, and pay the referees to officiate the games. Costs were also incurred to transport the teams and house them overnight Friday in the Detroit area.

Logan McDonough passes the ball to a teammate
during a scrimmage Friday, Jan. 25, at The Palace
involving Glen Lake girls.

Many attendees remained in the Detroit area Saturday and made a weekend of the experience. The O’Briens went to dinner and visited with their son, who lives nearby.

“It doesn’t get any better,” grandpa O’Brien said.

Even the Christiansens got into the act.

“We don’t get south of Clare very often. So we figured we should take in other events,” Christiansen said.

His wife, Joie, visited an IKEA store outlet, and he took in the Detroit Auto Show.