2012 Boys Basketball Finals in Review
April 5, 2012
Did we just watch one of the greatest MHSAA boys basketball champions of all-time?
That’s a question being asked around the state coming off this season’s Boys Basketball Finals at Michigan State’s Breslin Center.
The team that brought up in those comparisons is Lansing Sexton, which won its second-straight Class B championship in convincing fashion. But that run was only one stroke of historical significance to emerge from this season’s Finals.
Saginaw added to one of the state’s strongest traditions with another championship in Class A. Flint Beecher posted the best finish of its successful run by finishing undefeated and champion in Class C. And Southfield Christian set the bar high with its first title run, finishing with one of the sharpest shooting displays in MHSAA history.
We wrap up the winter with a look back at those four tournaments, and a look ahead at teams we could see back at Breslin in 2013.
Four quarters
Saginaw wins No. 6: Class A conveniently played out to end with No. 1 Saginaw vs. No. 2 Romulus – until unranked Rockford crashed with a 62-61 win over the Eagles in a Semifinal. But the Rams, making their second MHSAA Final appearance, nearly earned their second championship. Rockford made 10 3-pointers and was tied with the Trojans as late as 4:36 to play before Saginaw finished on a 14-2 run. (Read the full report.)
Seeing Red again: Lansing Sexton concluded one of the most impressive runs in MHSAA history with a 67-32 win over No. 7 Stevensville-Lakeshore in the Class B Final. The Big Reds finished 27-1, winning all of their games by at least eight points despite playing a schedule loaded with many of the best from Class A. It was Sexton’s third-straight appearance in the B championship game, and second-straight title; the Big Reds also won back-to-back titles, in Class A, in 1959-60. (Read the full report.)
Best of Buc-Town: That’s another argument being made after Beecher became the 12th team in MHSAA history to win 28 games – one more than the best of the school’s other three championship squads. Beecher claimed Class C this season by beating reigning champion Schoolcraft by 20 in the Semifinal and Traverse City St. Francis 74-60 in the championship game. (Read the full report.)
Can’t-miss champs: Southfield Christian tied an MHSAA record with 12 3-pointers in the Class D Final, on 46 percent accuracy, in downing Climax-Scotts 76-44 after escaping Muskegon Catholic Central 78-74 in the Semifinal. Senior Chris Dewberry made 10 of 13 shots from the floor in the championship game, including 6 of 8 from 3-point range. (Read the full report.)
Numbers game
54,823: Total attendance of the eight Semifinals and four championship games, combined, at the 2012 Boys Basketball Finals. The total was roughly 5,600 more than attended in 2011.
74: Wins over the last three seasons by Lansing Sexton, tied for sixth-most in MHSAA history for a boys basketball team over that span of time.
19: Number of games, to one win, that Southfield Christian lost two seasons ago. The Eagles improved to 11-10 last season before going 24-2 and winning the Class D championship last month.
3: Runner-up finishes by Flint Beecher before beating St. Francis to win its first MHSAA championship since 1987. Those just-misses came in 2008, 2003 and in Class B in 2000.
11: Points scored by Saginaw, in a row, to close out the Class A championship game. The Trojans rode that final 11-0 run to a 54-42 win over Rockford.
Quotable
“They have a big influence in my life. Coach Thomas with all the help he has done for me this season; I could call him any time and get advice. And the same thing with Coach Dawkins. We’re brothers. It’s all about love and having that relationship. He texts me at night and lets me know how things are going, and I text him and ask him for advice about things. I was really appreciative of their support.” – Saginaw first-year coach Julian Taylor, on former championship-winning Saginaw coaches Marshall Thomas and Lou Dawkins, who sat behind the Trojans’ bench at Breslin during the Final
“Denzel is every father’s dream. Both my sons, Drew and Denzel. I’ve been very lucky to be able to coach both my sons and for them to enjoy the thing that I love most, basketball. Denzel’s been incredible. He’s done everything we’ve asked of him. His freshman year he had two knee surgeries. The doctor had to put his knee back together. He didn’t know if he was even going to play again, and he fought through some difficult struggles with his knee. We talked about adversity and different things. When he was being recruited by Michigan State, coach (Tom) Izzo said, ‘I’m not going offer you, because you can’t shoot it. You can do everything else.’ So Denzel, when he got done, he went to the gym and shot 500 shots. … That’s the kind of guy Denzel is. He’s going to do extra. I’m really proud of him. I love him. He’s my son, and for the people who doubted him and watched him play, I feel bad for them, because they just missed a fine, fine high school basketball player.” – Sexton coach Carlton Valentine on his son, senior Denzel Valentine.
“It was worth it. We’ve been putting in work all year, the offseason, way before the season; we didn’t just wait for the season to prepare for it. So it was worth a lot. We put a lot into this. And we appreciate this, and not just us, the whole community, the whole coaching staff. We made a lot of sacrifices to get here and finish the job. It’s just a blessing.” – Beecher senior Cortez Robinson, on coming back to win a title after losing in the Semifinals the last two seasons.
“We don’t take anybody for granted. We learned earlier in the year looking at film and seeing guys and going, ‘Oh, this is going to be a cake walk,’ and we come out and guys get up 30 on us and we’re looking like, ‘All right, now we’ve got to find a way.’ We played our hardest, and we just felt like if we played our hardest, we know we put in more work than them. That’s the confidence we have in our work that we put in, so we came out and let that show.” – Southfield Christian senior guard Lindsey Hunter III
See you next year …
Rockford: The Rams certainly were a surprise of the tournament, but won’t be if they make it back in 2013. Seven juniors should return to lead the way, including top guard Chad Carlson and key contributors Chase Fairchild and Kyle Short. (Honorable mention to Macomb L’Anse Creuse North, which made its first Semifinal appearance ever and should return all but two players, including its top two scorers.)
Muskegon Heights: The Tigers look good to return – it’s just a matter of if it will be in Class C or if the school will opt up into Class B, the class it played in this season. Muskegon Heights’ top three players were a junior and two sophomores, and 6-foot-4 forward Mike Davis showed star potential in the Semifinal while carrying more of the load because of an injury to 6-5 leading scorer Juwon Martin.
Beecher: The Buccaneers will graduate seven players off this season’s team, but return two-time reigning Associated Press Class C Player of the Year Monte Morris. With some help, he could carry Beecher back to Breslin for a fourth-straight season.
Climax-Scotts: Three starters during this run were juniors, including 6-7 all-stater Malachi Satterlee. He and the other returnees gained valuable experience during this runner-up finish, as did coach Steve Critchlow, who went 25-1 in his first season running the program.
Link up
To watch all 12 games and press conferences after each, click on MHSAA.tv.
PHOTOS courtesy of Terry McNamara Photography.
Class A-B Preview: Chasing Favorites
March 25, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Similar to the Class C and D Semifinals to be played Thursday, Friday's Class A and B games will feature five teams aspiring to win their first MHSAA championships.
But the field also includes four teams that advanced to Breslin Center in 2014, the undefeated top-ranked team in Class A and the reigning champion from Class B complete with its heroes from last season's run.
All four Class A and B Semifinals will be played Friday, with all four championship games Saturday.
Semifinals - Friday
Class A
Lansing Everett (24-2) vs. Saginaw Arthur Hill (23-3), 1 p.m.
Detroit U-D Jesuit (22-3) vs. Detroit Western International (24-0), 2:50 p.m.
Class B
Milan (24-2) vs. Wyoming Godwin Heights (24-1), 6 p.m.
Cadillac (18-8) vs. Detroit Henry Ford (20-5), 7:50 p.m.
Finals - Saturday
Class A - Noon
Class B - 6:30 p.m.
Class C - 4:30 p.m.
Class D - 10 a.m.
Tickets cost $8 per pair of Semifinals and $10 per two-game Finals session. All Semifinals will be streamed live on MHSAA.TV on a pay-per-view basis. All four Finals will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Detroit, the Class D and A title games on FOX Sports Detroit's primary channel and the Class C and B games on FOX Sports Detroit-PLUS. Free radio broadcasts of all weekend games will be available on MHSAANetwork.com.
And now, a look at the semifinalists in Class A and B. Click on the name of the school to see that team’s full schedule and results from this season. (Statistics are through teams' Regional Finals.)
Class A
DETROIT U-D JESUIT
Record/rank: 22-3, No. 8.
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic League Central.
Coach: Pat Donnelly, seventh season (115-42).
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 56-54 over No. 5 Clarkston in the Quarterfinal, 52-34 over No. 10 North Farmington in the Regional Final, 72-57 over No. 6 Saginaw Arthur Hill, 69-56 over Class B No. 1 Milan.
Players to watch: Cassius Winston, 6-1 jr. G (22.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 5.7 apg); Gary Collins, 6-2 sr. G (9.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.6 apg).
Outlook: Jesuit will attempt to take the next two steps after winning its first Regional title and making the Semifinals last season with Winston also the leading scorer on that team. Although in a 58-49 loss to end the regular season, Jesuit has faced Semifinal opponent Western, which should be beneficial, and also defeated Arthur Hill on Feb. 7. The only other defeats were to Romulus and Catholic League Central runner-up Birmingham Brother Rice.
DETROIT WESTERN INTERNATIONAL
Record/rank: 24-0, No. 1.
League finish: First in Detroit Public School League West D1 and overall.
Coach: Derrick McDowell, fourth season (46-35).
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 58-49 over No. 8 Detroit U-D Jesuit, 69-57 over No. 6 Saginaw Arthur Hill, 72-55 over Class B honorable mention Detroit Henry Ford.
Players to watch: Brailen Neely, 5-10 jr. G (15.9 ppg, 4.3 apg); Josh McFolley, 6-1 sr. G (14.5 ppg, 3.2 apg).
Outlook: This has been a season of milestones for Western under former Detroit Redford coach McDowell. The Cowboys won their first Detroit PSL championship since 1922 and will play in their first Semifinal since 1974. They’ve beaten two of the three teams left in Class A and present a variety of challenges to opponents this weekend – including 6-8 senior center Gerald Blackshear, averaging 11.8 points and 5.2 blocks per game.
LANSING EVERETT
Record/rank: 24-2, No. 9.
League finish: First in Capital Area Activities Conference Blue.
Coach: Desmond Ferguson, third season (36-33).
Championship history: Two MHSAA titles (most recent 2004).
Best wins: 75-52 over No. 2 Muskegon in the Quarterfinal, 91-78 over No. 7 Kalamazoo Central in the Regional Final, 82-77 over honorable mention Ann Arbor Huron in the Regional Semifinal, 57-51 (District Final) and 82-78 over honorable mention Grand Ledge, 64-57 over Class B No. 10 Benton Harbor.
Players to watch: Trevor Manuel, 6-9 sr. F; Jamyrin Jackson, 6-3 jr. G. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: The Vikings have played their way through a strong field after going only 5-16 a year ago; they’ve also avenged both losses from the season's first half, to Grand Ledge and Kalamazoo Central. Manuel was part of a Class B championship team at Lansing Sexton as a freshman before transferring out-of-state as a junior and then moving back to Michigan last summer. He finished third in the Mr. Basketball voting and has signed to play at the University of Oregon next season.
SAGINAW ARTHUR HILL
Record/rank: 23-3, No. 6.
League finish: First in Saginaw Valley Association North.
Coach: Greg McMath, 13th season (251-52).
Championship history: Two MHSAA titles (most recent 2006), five runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 78-59 over Walled Lake Central in the Quarterfinal, 88-66, 90-81 and 83-47 (District Semifinal) over Saginaw, 67-62 over Class B No. 7 Flint Northwestern.
Players to watch: Eric Davis, 6-3 sr. G; Brian Bowen II, 6-7 soph. F; De’Quevion Johnson, 6-4 sr. F. (Statistics not submitted).
Outlook: Arthur Hill enters under the rare scenario of having played all three teams also left in the Class A bracket. Although those three teams dealt the Lumberjacks their losses, Arthur Hill will be plenty prepared for rematches. Davis, who will play next season at the University of Texas, was the Mr. Basketball runner-up. The Lumberjacks are in the Semifinals for the first time since 2006, having dispatched familiar postseason foe Saginaw High during the District.
Class B
CADILLAC
Record/rank: 18-8, unranked.
League finish: Fourth in the Big North Conference.
Coach: Ryan Benzenberg, first season (18-8).
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 59-50 over Essexville-Garber in the Quarterfinal, 48-36 over Petoskey, 50-44 over Class C honorable mention McBain.
Players to watch: Andrew Emington, 6-1 sr. G (12.8 ppg, 36 3-pointers); Quinn Crago, 6-6 jr. C (9.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg).
Outlook: Cadillac is back at the Semifinals for the third straight season and first under Benzenberg, who formerly coached Fife Lake Forest Area and lower levels at Elk Rapids. The Vikings are 13-2 over their last 15 games after a tough start in the mostly-Class A Big North Conference. Emington brings some experience back to Breslin after averaging just fewer than 10 points per game last season.
DETROIT HENRY FORD
Record/rank: 20-5, honorable mention.
League finish: Second in Detroit PSL West D1.
Coach: Kenneth Flowers, eighth season (108-59).
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 61-55 over No. 2 New Haven in the Quarterfinal, 80-73 over Class A honorable mention Ann Arbor Huron, 54-51 over Class C No. 1 Flint Beecher, 59-54 over Class C honorable mention Detroit Loyola.
Players to watch: Joshua Davis, 6-5 sr. F (17 ppg, 6.8 rpg); James Towns, 6-0 jr. G (16.5 ppg, 3.5 apg).
Outlook: Henry Ford is at the Semifinals for the first time, having played in only one other Quarterfinal (1984) before Tuesday’s defeat of previously-undefeated New Haven. Ford bounced back from two straight sub-.500 records with its first District title since 2009 and finished second in its league only to Detroit Western International. The team has only three seniors, including 6-1 guard Antaun Carter, who adds another offensive threat scoring 8.5 points per game.
MILAN
Record/rank: 24-2, No. 1.
League finish: First in Huron League.
Coach: Chris Pope, first season (24-2).
Championship history: Two MHSAA titles (most recent 2014).
Best wins: 69-60 over No. 9 Otsego in the Quarterfinal, 54-43 and 65-49 over Class C No. 9 Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central.
Players to watch: Latin Davis, 6-0 sr. G (19.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.6 apg); Nick Perkins, 6-9 sr. C (16.8 ppg, 8.9 rpg).
Outlook: Milan was a feel-good story of last season’s Finals, winning its first championship since 1948. The main change this winter was the coach – longtime assistant Pope took over a squad returning top scorers Davis and Perkins and a third starter from last season’s championship game, 6-4 senior forward Lance Lewis. He adds another 7.3 points per game, and senior guard Thomas Lindeman chips in 7.9. Davis has signed to play next season at Youngstown State University, and Perkins has signed with the University of Buffalo.
WYOMING GODWIN HEIGHTS
Record/rank: 24-1, No. 3.
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference Silver.
Coach: Tyler Whittemore, first season (24-1).
Championship history: Two MHSAA runner-up finishes (most recent 1960).
Best wins: 63-56 over No. 6 Wayland in the District Final, 76-39 over honorable mention Alma in the Regional Semifinal, 75-61 over No. 9 Otsego, 65-55 over Class A No. 10 North Farmington, 62-53 over Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian.
Players to watch: Delaney Blaylock, 6-5 sr. G (16.4 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 1.4 bpg); Michael Williams, 6-4 sr. F (10.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg).
Outlook: Godwin Heights is seeking its first championship game appearance in more than a half-century, but has been circling for some time with three straight Quarterfinals and now two Semifinal berths in three seasons. The team lost only to league rival NorthPointe Christian, a Class C semifinalist, and avenged that loss. The Wolverines make nearly 50 percent of their shots from the floor and get another 9.8 points per game from junior guard Leon Redd, one of five averaging at least 8.3. Blaylock also started in the team’s 2013 Semifinal, and Whittemore, a first-year head coach, was the varsity assistant for seven seasons before the promotion.
PHOTO: Saginaw Arthur Hill standout Eric Davis drives to the hoop during his team’s Regional win over Davison. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)