Breslin Bound: 2022-23 Boys Report Week 8
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 30, 2023
There were so many games of note in Michigan high school boys basketball last week, the original list was 15 strong before we ended up highlighting the five under “Week in Review” below.
But here’s a quick glance at more:
In something of stunners, Ishpeming Westwood and Adrian Lenawee Christian handed Iron Mountain and Lake Leelanau St. Mary, respectively, their first losses, while Flint Carman-Ainsworth gave Detroit Loyola its first defeat and Kalamazoo Central delivered the same to Mattawan.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central downed South Christian, and Northview got past Grand Rapids Christian to establish leads in Ottawa-Kent Conference divisions, while Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice took the same step ahead in the Detroit Catholic League Central against U-D Jesuit. We highlight Wyoming Tri-unity Christian’s win over Schoolcraft below, but Potter’s House Christian may have shaken up the Alliance League by edging the Defenders three days later.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Ann Arbor Huron 53, Port Huron Northern 50 This matchup of undefeated teams highlighted the Fast Break Invitational at Belleville, with Huron (11-0) earning its third three-point win of the season in sending Northern to 12-1.
2. Detroit Cass Tech 69, Flint Beecher 63 The Technicians (15-0) closed their Downtown Throw Down with the night’s premier matchup; the Bucs fell to 11-3, but all three of Beecher’s losses have come against elite larger opponents during showcase events.
3. Wyoming Tri-unity Christian 51, Schoolcraft 46 Last season’s Division 4 champion Tri-unity (9-3) edged the reigning Division 3 title-winning Eagles (9-5).
4. Hudsonville 54, East Kentwood 45 The Eagles (10-4) have bounced back from an early deficit in the O-K Red standings to join a first-place tie with the Falcons (9-4) and Rockford.
5. Boyne City 50, Traverse City St. Francis 44 The Ramblers (12-1) broke an 11-game losing streak against the Gladiators (9-2) as the two met with first on the line in the Lake Michigan Conference.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice (13-1) The Warriors and U-D Jesuit have risen to the top of another loaded CHSL Central, and Brother Rice’s 68-53 win over the Cubs made it the team to chase the rest of the way. The Warriors followed up with a 55-46 win over Warren De La Salle Collegiate avenging its lone loss of this winter from Jan. 6. Warren Lincoln, Grand Blanc, River Rouge and Kalamazoo Central all have double digit wins this season, but fell to Brother Rice – all but Warren Lincoln by double digits.
Grand Blanc (11-2) The Bobcats also fill their schedule with the state’s elite most weekends, and this one included a 53-50 win over O-K Red co-leader Rockford at the 2K23 Showcase at Aquinas College. Add that to impressive victories over Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, Flint Carman-Ainsworth and Saginaw among others – plus impressive defeats to Brother Rice (see above) and North Farmington (10-1). Grand Blanc and Davison are the only teams without a loss in Saginaw Valley League play, and they meet Friday.
DIVISION 2
Benton Harbor (11-2) Subtract their losses to the Tigers, and all but one of Benton Harbor’s opponents so far would be .500 or better as that program also lines up top competition all winter long. Benton Harbor’s defeats came to North Farmington (10-1) and Grand Rapids Union (9-3), while the Tigers handed the lone losses this season to Watervliet and Niles Brandywine and earned perhaps their best victory 64-62 over Beecher two weekends ago. Benton Harbor also leads the first-year Lakeland Conference with the rematch against second-place Brandywine on Feb. 17.
Ludington (13-0) The Orioles have averaged nearly 15 wins per season over the last five, so they’re no strangers to success. But they’ve nearly reached that win total already this winter with only a couple of nail-biters. Ludington is coming off a 76-74 overtime win over Traverse City Central, but nine victories have been by double digits including a 63-52 defeat of Whitehall (10-4) that has the Orioles alone atop their new West Michigan Conference Lakes standings.
DIVISION 3
Saginaw Nouvel (12-3) Few teams with multiple losses have been closer to perfection, as Nouvel’s three defeats were by a combined six points to opponents that are a combined 29-9. Nouvel also has its share of impressive wins, with its latest five-game streak including an 11-pointer over 13-win Chesaning and Saturday’s 77-75 overtime edging of 12-win Bridgeport. The Panthers have a one-game lead on Ithaca in the Tri-Valley Conference 10-2, with that rematch Feb. 24 – but in the meantime, keep an eye out for the Feb. 14 meeting with undefeated Standish-Sterling.
Watervliet (10-1) Aside from that 71-68 loss to Benton Harbor (see above), Watervliet has been almost unstoppable with only Buchanan (one point) and Bridgman (six) coming within single digits of catching the Panthers. They lead the Southwestern Athletic Conference Lakeshore by two games after sharing the title and finishing 19-4 overall last season. The next four games should say a lot as all four opponents have nine wins this season, including reigning Division 3 champion Schoolcraft.
DIVISION 4
Gaylord St. Mary (12-1) The Snowbirds have won 12 straight since opening with a loss to Hillman, and including a 72-71 overtime victory over Indian River Inland Lakes on Friday. St. Mary also has a 19-point win over Ellsworth and a 15-pointer over Onaway, and both those opponents have reached 10 wins this season. The Onaway win from Jan. 10 has St. Mary atop the Ski Valley Conference standings, with their second meeting Feb. 15 – and before that a nonleague matchup with Lake Leelanau St. Mary (11-1) coming up this Friday.
Hillman (10-1) That 61-40 win over Gaylord St. Mary kicked off a great first half for the Tigers, who are a 57-54 overtime loss to Division 1 Alpena from perfection. It’s been a strong follow-up after last season’s only loss was to Nouvel in a Regional Semifinal. Only Alcona and Ogemaw Heights have come within single digits of catching the Tigers this winter. Hillman has a one-game lead on Posen in the North Star League Little Dipper thanks to a 62-47 victory Jan. 5 – with the rematch Tuesday.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Monday – Powers North Central (9-1) at Iron Mountain (10-1) – Both are coming off their lone defeats this season, but this still features two of the strongest Division 4 and 3 contenders, respectively, in the Upper Peninsula.
Wednesday – Cass City (11-1) at Bad Axe (11-1) – Bad Axe won the first meeting 50-41 on Jan. 6, but winner in this one could take all eventually in the Greater Thumb Conference West as they sit tied atop the standings.
Saturday – North Farmington (10-1) vs. Muskegon (12-0) at Aquinas College – The 2K23 Showcase continues with a pair of contenders in Division 1 topping the ticket with a 5:15 p.m. tipoff.
Saturday – Benton Harbor (11-2) vs. Ann Arbor Huron (11-0) at Aquinas College – These two definitely could take some of the spotlight at Aquinas kicking things off at noon.
Saturday – Grand Blanc (11-2) vs. Cadillac (11-1) at Traverse City St. Francis – The Northern Michigan Showcase has some intriguing matchups as well, and Cadillac could make a major statement for the Big North Conference in arguably the event’s headliner.
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PHOTOS (Top) Davison’s Teon Armstrong (2) pushes the pace against Flint Carman-Ainsworth during an 85-70 win Jan. 24. (Middle) Marshall defenders wall off an Otsego player driving to the basket during a 52-43 win Jan. 6. (Top photo by Terry Lyons; middle photo by Gary Shook.)
Southfield Christian Claims 3-Peat in D
March 22, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – First one and then a second starter fouled out of Saturday’s Class D Final as Southfield Christian tried to catch Adrian Lenawee Christian with only a few minutes remaining.
Fortunately for the Eagles, they had a few more players left with experience finishing a championship run.
Southfield Christian had never during the last three seasons played from situation it faced early Saturday afternoon. But a number of its players had helped win one or both of two straight MHSAA championships – and that no doubt assisted those left on the floor as they claimed a third.
Junior guard Bakari Evelyn scored five of his game-high 28 points after teammates Lindsay Hunter IV and Damarco White fouled out in the fourth quarter, and 2013 championship game standout Marlo Brown also scored during the same stretch as Southfield Christian claimed its third straight MHSAA title with a 63-61 nail-biter over Adrian Lenawee Christian.
“It was tough once I saw we were losing Lin and Damarco for a few quarters. My whole objective was to keep the game as close as possible,” Evelyn said. “I thought we were going to come out with the win, through the whole game and everything. It was good to finally be right.”
Evelyn, who started last season’s Class D Final and came off the bench in 2012 as a freshman, also had seven rebounds, four assists and four steals and handled the ball almost exclusively after Hunter fouled out with 16 points, 3:47 left to play and the Eagles trailing 54-51.
The 6-foot-6 White fouled out just more than a minute later with only two points, but five rebounds and five blocked shots after spending most of his morning defending Lenawee Christian’s trio of 6-7 post players.
But Evelyn had plenty of help down the stretch. Sophomore guard Jalen Bouldes played only 38 seconds during the closing minutes, but scored, was fouled and made the ensuing free throw to give Southfield Christian a 56-55 lead with 3:09 to play. Brown scored a minute later to push the lead to three. Evelyn then made five of six free-throw attempts over the final 1:13 to keep Lenawee Christian just a few points short.
“We’ve never had this where all of our main guys were in foul trouble. Other guys like Harding (Fears) and Benny (Cookinham) had to step up,” Eagles coach Clennie Brundidge said. "I’d put (Hunter and White) back in here and they’d get another foul. I told them that at the end, our depth was going to win this.”
Fears grabbed eight rebounds in 12 minutes and junior guard Kameron Garner – a starter last season who this winter came off the bench – had five points and five rebounds despite taking a hard fall during the first half. Brown had only four points, but both baskets put Southfield Christian up at points in the game.
Lenawee Christian (21-5), an honorable mention in the Class D poll heading into the postseason, came back from an early nine-point deficit to make it back-and-forth over the final three quarters.
Senior center Kingsley had 22 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the floor and with sophomore forward Maxwell (11 points) allowed the Cougars to slow the game’s tempo and keep Southfield Christian’s usually active fastbreak to only 11 points.
“We wanted them to come beat us at our game, and I think for the most part we were able to control tempo,” Lenawee Christian coach Scott McKelvey said. “Our free-throw shooting hurt us (19 of 31), but we got opportunities and we couldn’t ask for anything more than that. It’s a team that probably no one in the state thought we could beat.”
“If we could’ve had two more minutes,” Kingsley added, "I’m pretty confident we could’ve changed something.”
Senior forward Grant Hohlbein, also set to accept an MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award later Saturday, added 15 points for Lenawee Christian. The Cougars’ Semifinal on Thursday was its first since 2001, and the championship game berth was their first ever.
Brundidge said that after seeing Lenawee Christian in a summer game, he knew that was the team his Eagles would face if they returned for a third straight Final. Southfield Christian’s only loss this season was to Class A No. 5 Saginaw Arthur Hill, and it finished 26-1 and 74-5 over the last three seasons – good to tie for eighth-most wins over a three-season span.
“I’m in awe,” Hunter said. “My freshman year we lost in the first round of Districts to (Bloomfield Hills) Roeper, went 2-19. I never thought we’d be sitting here in this position with three state championships.”
Click for the full box score and video from the press conference.
PHOTOS: (Top) Southfield Christian’s Bakari Evelyn (22) works to get to the rim around Adrian Lenawee Christian’s Maxwell and Grant Hohlbein. (Middle) Lenawee Christian’s Nick Mewborn dribbles upcourt with Southfield Christian’s Kameron Garner defending.
HIGHLIGHTS: (1) Southfield Christian uses a block to start a fast break, resulting in a basket – and one – for Jalen Bouldes. The free throw gave the Eagles the lead to stay in the Class D finale. (2) With 12 seconds to go, Grant Hohlbein of Lenawee Christian scores on an inbounds pass and draws a Southfield Christian foul. Hohlbein completed the three-point play to pull his team within a point at 62-61.