Safety concerns cause cancellation of Muskegon Heights vs. Shelby game.

SHELBY — In what would have been a “great match up” between two of the top Class C boys basketball teams in the area has been cancelled due to safety concerns.

Shelby was scheduled to play at Muskegon Heights Academy Wednesday, March 2, for the Heights’ final home game of the season, but Shelby school officials made the decision last week to cancel the game due to safety concerns in light of the shootings earlier this month on the Muskegon Heights’ school campus.

In a memo dated Feb. 26, Muskegon County Prosecutor DJ Hilson writes:

“March 2, 2016 marks the final home game for the Muskegon Heights varsity basketball team. This is also parents’ night for the seniors. They were scheduled to play Shelby in what would be a great match up. Early this week, Shelby informed Muskegon Heights that they were not going to come and play as they were concerned for their safety.”

In the memo, Hilson states that Kalamazoo Lakeside Charter School has agreed to come to Muskegon Heights to play Wednesday in place of Shelby.

Hilson also wrote that he and his family plan to attend the game “to cheer on the Muskegon Heights Tigers.”

“It is time that our community unites to show not only Shelby, but the rest of the State of Michigan, that we are one,” Hilson states. “It is time for us as a community to say enough is enough.”

An offer was made to play the game at Shelby, but it was turned down, according to Shelby school officials, and neither team will receive a forfeit.