Bear Lake's Harless Twins Both Eclipse 1,000 Points, Have More Milestones in Mind
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
January 30, 2026
Grady and Myles Harless will end their high school basketball careers among the highest scorers in Bear Lake history.
The twin brothers are the latest Lakers to join the 1,000-point club, but scoring is not how either one of them wants to be remembered. Their preferred legacy, as they look to play at the next level, is a strong work ethic.
“You can be athletic as you want, but if someone outworks you they'll be better than you,” Grady Harless said, noting his message is to current and future high school basketball players. “If you're from a small school, hard work will get your name out there.”
Myles Harless has a similar message for those competing on the hard court.
“Even if you come from a small school or a small community, you can be great,” he said. “It doesn't matter what part of the state you're from – if you're good, you're good.”
With the Harless twins leading the way, the Lakers are off to a 13-4 start and share first place in the West Michigan D League at 8-1. Grady Harless is scoring 23 points per game while also averaging six rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.7 steals. Myles Harless is averaging 20.7 points per game while dominating the boards with almost 18 rebounds per contest.
“Those two have been the definition of what I view Bear Lake basketball is and should be going forward,” said fifth-year Lakers coach Christian Novak. “I've seen some pretty solid twins that have played together and what not, but I've not seen any accomplish the same thing these two have.”
Myles Harless pulled down 25 rebounds and scored 28 points Tuesday night as the Lakers stayed in first place with an 87-49 win over Mesick. Grady Harless added 27 points and six assists.
Joining the 1,000-point club had been the twins’ goal since they first played for Bear Lake as eighth graders. With an enrollment far fewer than 100, Bear Lake applied for and was granted an MHSAA waiver to permit eighth graders like the Harless boys to compete in junior varsity and varsity play.
The twins played sparingly on the varsity as eighth graders, mostly benefiting from the fifth-quarter rule.
“Myles and Grady are the exact definition of what Bear Lake basketball is — show up, go to work, put in the extra time with grit and all the extra stuff,” Novak said. “I would say from their eighth-grade summer until all the way up till now, they did the work and I doubt they missed more than a handful of training opportunities.”
The Lakers are riding a five-game winning streak and have four league games remaining. They’ll finish the regular season at Baldwin, a team they topped 66-48 at home. Baldwin currently shares the league lead.
Senior Easton Nowak has been on a tear of late for Bear Lake as well. He had 13 points, four steals, two assists and a blocked shot against Mesick and is now averaging almost 10 points per game. Just prior to playing Mesick, Nowak had double-digit games of 20, 16 and 10 points.
“Easton started off slow this year, but he's been picking it up a lot recently,” Novak pointed out. “He is looking to score, and everything has just opened up the twins so much to where it's made everything so much easier for them.”
Mesick was the opponent earlier this season when Myles Harless, who has also topped 1,000 rebounds in his career, joined the 1,000-point club. The milestone point was scored with a slam dunk.
“The coolest part was when Myles was at the point of reaching 1,000, he got a steal and got a dunk,” said Novak, himself a past all-state player for Bear Lake. “That's the perfect way to cap your thousand – go throw it down.”
Prior to the first meeting with Mesick, the 1,000-point club recognized just one Harless, Grady. The Lakers were prepared to immediately recognize Myles’ accomplishment.
It was an extra special moment for the twins and not just because the pressure of both getting into the club had been lifted. They were both on the court during the second quarter as the game was temporarily halted.
“It was pretty special — they unveiled the banner during the game,” recalled Grady Harless. “Having both of our names on those banners back-to-back, it really shows it’s worth putting in so much time and effort into one thing.”
Myles Harless admitted it was quite a relief the moment he joined his brother in the club. He started the season 91 points shy.
“My goal was to hit it before Christmas break, and thankfully I did,” Myles acknowledged. “I kind of just wanted to not really think about it and just play because if you just play, you'll score and just play hard and do the work. But once I did hit it, all the pressure went away.”
Myles’s Harless was quick to point out there is more to achieve for the Lakers moving forward. And no one knows that more than Novak.
Bear Lake hopes to win the District championship – which has eluded the Lakers since 2008 – in addition to a first conference title since 2018. They had both in their sights as the season tipped off, and they have not wavered despite a tough loss to Marion early that reminded the Lakers they have to show up every night.
“It's been a while for both so it was just kind of let's get a conference title – we're kind of the favorites – and then let's go into Districts, handle business there and try to get that and then move on to Regional,” Novak said. “So it's always been kind of the goal to accomplish as much as we can with all the guys we have and put the work in.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Grady Harless (10) brings the ball up for Bear Lake against Traverse City Christian, while Myles Harless (4) puts up a shot against the Sabres. (Middle) Grady Harless directs the offense against Mason County Eastern. (Below) Myles Harless elevates for a jumper against Leland. (Traverse City Christian and Leland game photos courtesy of the Traverse City Record-Eagle. Mason County Eastern game photo courtesy of Miles Joseph/milesflics.)
Breslin Bound: 2023-24 Boys Report Post-Break
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 8, 2024
Another action-filled holiday break is behind us, and it’s full speed ahead over the next seven weeks as the 2023-24 run to Breslin Center nears the halfway point for Michigan’s high school boys basketball teams.
This is always the time as well that we begin turning our attention to the Michigan Power Ratings, used each winter to seed the top two teams in each District bracket based on results against other MHSAA Tournament opponents during the regular season.
Those lists, showing all teams together, separately by division or broken down even further by District, can be found on the MPR page. A “snapshot in time” look of the top 20 in each division will be provided every Monday on the Boys Basketball Rankings page.
Read on for some of the most notable action from the break and a look at what’s coming up during the week to come. Rankings noted above and reports below all are based on schedules and results reported to MHSAA.com. “Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. East Kentwood 47, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice 42 The Falcons (4-2) already were a team to watch this season again, and expectations no doubt grew with this win over Rice (8-2) at the Mike Turner Classic at Albion College.
2. Detroit Catholic Central 80, Davison 65 The Shamrocks (7-2) are making their bid to be the best in the Catholic High School League Central and followed up a 55-53 win over Brother Rice last week with this one over the Cardinals (5-3) at the Grand Blanc Showcase.
3. East Lansing 60, Detroit Martin Luther King 41 The Trojans (8-0) earned perhaps their most impressive win of a strong start over the Crusaders (8-3) at the PSL Holiday Classic at Cass Tech.
4. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central 56, Wyoming Tri-unity Christian 52 On the way to winning the Cornerstone University Holiday Tournament Blue title, FHC (8-1) handed Tri-unity (8-1) what remains its lone loss of the winter.
5. Big Rapids 52, Traverse City St. Francis 51 (OT) The Cardinals (7-2) opened the new year by getting past the reigning Division 3 runner-up Gladiators (4-3) in overtime.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
North Farmington (8-0) Off a 22-2 finish a year ago, North Farmington is riding another notable start that’s included only one single-digit win – 66-57 over Zeeland West at Northville’s Winter Shootout. The Raiders opened the season with 58-46 victory over King, and a 17-pointer over Clarkston and 15-pointer over West Bloomfield also are among results jumping off the page.
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (7-1) A late rush last season ended with a trip to the Division 1 Semifinals, and St. Mary’s picked right back up to start this winter with its only loss to Detroit U-D Jesuit on Dec. 18; they meet again Jan. 19. The Eaglets bounced back from that defeat with wins over Flint Beecher, Detroit University Prep, Warren Lincoln and Warren De La Salle Collegiate.
DIVISION 2
Flint Powers Catholic (8-1) After finishing 16-8 last season, Powers is halfway to equaling that win total with five of these early victories over teams with winning records including 92-65 over Fenton and 72-67 over Saginaw Arthur Hill on Friday to start the Saginaw Valley League schedule. The lone loss came to Division 1 power De La Salle at the Motor City Roundball Classic, and Arthur Hill is the only other opponent to come within 13 points of catching the Chargers.
Warren Lincoln (6-1) As noted above, Lincoln lost to St. Mary’s, 65-58, at the Roundball Classic. That remains the Abes’ lone defeat as they’ve downed West Bloomfield, Port Huron Northern and Grosse Pointe South among others – the latter two show up among the top 20 in Division 1 MPR as of today. The schedule is filled with several more high-level matchups as Lincoln looks to build on last season’s 19-5 finish.
DIVISION 3
Menominee (8-1) The Maroons finished last season 14-11 overall but with an 8-2 run, and they’ve exceeded that to start this season with their lone loss to the Milwaukee School of Languages. A 67-58 win over St. Ignace on Dec. 8 was especially strong, and Menominee opened the Great Northern Conference schedule with a 70-59 win over reigning runner-up Escanaba as the Maroons look to bounce back from finishing fourth in 2023.
Niles Brandywine (8-1) A 57-55 loss to Riverview Gabriel Richard at the Roundball Classic is all that’s kept Brandywine from a perfect start after finishing last season in the Division 3 Semifinals. Bridgman last week is the only other opponent to give Brandywine a single-digit game, as the Bobcats prevailed 55-46. And the game to circle is Friday’s, as Brandywine heads to Benton Harbor – more on that below.
DIVISION 4
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart (9-1) The Irish have bounced back from an early loss to Wyoming Tri-unity Christian with eight consecutive victories all by at least 12 points. Seven of those wins were against opponents that are above .500 or would be without the loss from Sacred Heart, and the Irish are atop the Mid-State Activities Conference in part because of a 59-39 win over second-place Fulton.
St. Ignace (5-2) That loss to Menominee (see above) and another to Division 2 Detroit Voyageur at the Roundball Classic haven’t kept the Saints from an early No. 3 ranking in Division 4 MPR. Wins over Harbor Springs and Boyne City have helped feed that rise, and Tuesday’s first of two matchups this season with undefeated Pickford should be telling as well.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Detroit Catholic Central (7-2) at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (7-1) – These Catholic League Central rivals are Nos. 2 and 1, respectively, in Division 1 MPR this week, and DCC won both matchups last winter.
Tuesday – Ann Arbor Pioneer (6-0) at Ypsilanti Lincoln (8-1) – This is the first of two matchups between two of the early leaders in the Southeastern Conference Red.
Friday – Grand Rapids Christian (7-0) at Grand Rapids Northview (5-0) – The early leaders in the Ottawa-Kent Conference White face off for the first time after Northview swept last season’s series.
Friday – Niles Brandywine (8-1) at Benton Harbor (9-0) – This is the first of two Lakeland Conference matchups between these two, and Benton Harbor handed Brandywine its only two losses before Breslin Center last season.
Saturday – Detroit Cass Tech (7-0) vs. Davison (5-3) at Ferndale – The night after a likely tough league matchup with Detroit Renaissance, Cass Tech plays in arguably the most intriguing of the Horatio Williams MLK Freedom Classic.
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PHOTOS (Top) Braylon Isom gets to the basket for Saginaw Heritage during the Hawks’ 73-66 win over Chelsea on Dec. 29 at the Motor City Roundball Classic. (Middle) Iron Mountain's Oskar Kangas goes up for a shot while being defended by Ishpeming Westwood's Edward Anderson during the Mountaineers’ 67-43 win Friday. (Photos by Terry Lyons and Cara Kamps, respectively.)