Breslin Bound: 2024-25 Boys Report Week 9
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 27, 2025
While sub-zero temperatures froze out several games during the first half of last week, the state’s boys basketball scene warmed up plenty on the way to the weekend as Michigan’s hopefuls continued to build their title aspirations with just about a month remaining before District play begins.
This week will see our first league champions crowned, conference tournament play begin, and a flurry of other key matchups as we move closer to the final stretch of the regular season.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid 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. Riverview Gabriel Richard 88, Jackson Lumen Christi 65 RGR (13-2) sits alone atop the Catholic High School League AA after handing the Titans (13-1) their only loss this season in what also was a matchup of statewide Division 3 contenders.
2. Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice 66, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 64 The Warriors (14-1) avenged a string of three losses to St. Mary’s (8-6) from last season, including in their Division 1 Quarterfinal.
3. Grand Rapids Northview 57, Grand Rapids South Christian 55 Northview (11-3) held onto the top spot in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold, but now alone in sending the Sailors (9-4) into second place.
4. Allen Park Inter-City Baptist 70, Southfield Christian 65 (OT) Inter-City (12-2) broke a first-place tie with Southfield Christian (11-3) in the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference Blue in a meeting of top Division 4 teams statewide as well.
5. Flint Powers Catholic 60, Warren Fitzgerald 58 The Chargers (13-0) remained perfect on the season in edging Fitzgerald (12-2) at the Downtown Showdown at Detroit Cass Tech.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Detroit U-D Jesuit (14-1) The Cubs have emerged from another elite group in the CHSL Central this season and clinched a share of the league title with Friday’s 60-58 win over Toledo Central Catholic. That came just two days after a 79-78 edging of Ann Arbor Huron, one of several notable wins this winter. Jesuit handed Brother Rice its lone loss, 58-44 on Dec. 6, and owns a 63-54 win over Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and a 65-52 victory over Clarkston among other highlights. The Cubs will get a few more tests before the CHSL Tournament begins Feb. 8, most notably against reigning Division 2 champion Warren Lincoln on Feb. 4.
Marquette (10-2) After starting the season 1-2, Marquette has been on a roll defeating three double-digit win teams – Ishpeming Westwood (11-4), Iron Mountain (11-2) and Kingsford (10-2) – plus Grand Blanc 66-65 after a long trip downstate Jan. 18. Marquette leads Kingsford by a game in the Great Northern Conference heading into the second half of the league schedule. The two losses came on back-to-back nights during the first weekend of December at Traverse City West and then Traverse City Central and by a combined seven points, and the Sentinels could see both again in District play after West halted their 20-4 campaign last season in a District Final.
DIVISION 2
Warren Lincoln (10-4) The reigning Division 2 champion sits atop the Macomb Area Conference Red standings but additionally has navigated a schedule loaded with Division 1 contenders. The Abes have wins over Ann Arbor Huron and Muskegon, plus a rising Clinton Township Chippewa Valley team, and the losses came to East Lansing, Byron Center (by two points), Brother Rice and Northview (by four points). As noted above, a major matchup is coming Feb. 4 when Lincoln hosts Detroit U-D Jesuit, and the Abes will close the regular season against Warren Fitzgerald during their 313 Classic.
Yale (14-1) The Blue Water Area Conference has five teams (of eight) at 8-5 or better, and Yale tops the league with its only loss this season to MAC Gold contender St. Clair (12-4) on Dec. 17. The Bulldogs won their first meeting with second-place Imlay City 46-33 three weeks ago and will host the rematch Feb. 18; Imlay City was first and Yale second in the BWAC last season as Yale finished 16-6 overall. Yale has had only three single-digit games this winter, but shined downing Lapeer by three, Linden by three and Harbor Beach (12-1) by two in consecutive games over the second half of the holiday break.
DIVISION 3
Ithaca ((10-3) The Yellowjackets bounced back Friday from two straight losses to get past Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary 34-32 and maintain a tie for first with Saginaw Valley Lutheran atop the TVC Blue. A 50-48 defeat to Valley Lutheran was Ithaca’s closest of three this season, and the rematch is Feb. 14. The Yellowjackets also lost to last season’s league champion Saginaw Nouvel but will get an opportunity to avenge in the regular-season finale Feb. 21. Wins over Jack Pine Conference Division 1 leader Standish-Sterling (12-2) and Highland Conference leader Beal City (10-2) have shown their potential, and the third loss came to Big Thumb Conference White co-leader Millington (12-1).
Schoolcraft (10-3) Few teams have a more impressive list of losses, as Schoolcraft has sharpened itself in defeats to Flint Powers (13-0) and Lumen Christi (13-1) and in their first matchup against Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley foe Parchment (10-2). The Eagles will meet Parchment again Feb. 7 with hopes to taking back at least a share of first place, but they also have sizable tests coming up against reigning Division 4 champion Wyoming Tri-unity Christian (10-2), Southwest 10 Conference co-leader Centreville (10-1) and Grand Rapids Covenant Christian (11-2). Schoolcraft defeated Tri-unity and Centreville last season on the way to finishing 22-4.
DIVISION 4
Wyoming Tri-unity Christian (10-2) The Defenders have celebrated coach Mark Keeler’s 700th win this season and of course would love to send him into retirement with a seventh Finals championship in March. They have an early lead in the Alliance League and win over reigning champion Wyoming Lee after finishing second to Lee the last two seasons, and their only losses have come to Fowler (13-2) by three points Dec. 3 and Division 2 Grand Rapids West Catholic by seven during the Cornerstone University Holiday Classic at the end of last month. Tri-unity also owns wins over Adrian Lenawee Christian (12-2) and Grand Rapids Covenant Christian (11-2) with the above-noted matchup with Schoolcraft and a later one with Beal City good tests before the postseason.
Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian (11-2) Last season’s Northern Lakes Conference co-champion leads the new West division and does have a win over East leader Alanson, 58-47 after those two shared the formerly-combined NLC title a year ago. All of Harbor Light’s 11 wins this winter have come by nine or more points, and they’ve taken good losses to Traverse City Christian (12-2) and Pickford (11-1). The Swordsmen will get another chance against TC Christian at home Feb. 11, and a matchup with Harbor Springs (11-2) the night before also will be telling of the team’s potential to continue building on last year’s 20-5 finish.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Monday – Hartford (11-1) at Centreville (10-1) – This will be their first of two meetings, and they are both undefeated in league play and tied atop the Southwest 10 Conference.
Thursday – Haslett (11-1) at Mason (12-1) – Mason has a one-game lead atop the Capital Area Activities Conference Red thanks to a 65-63 win over second-place Haslett on Dec. 13.
Thursday – Onsted (13-0) at Adrian Madison (10-3) – Onsted’s one game lead on Madison in the Lenawee County Athletic Association came from a 59-34 win over the Trojans on Dec. 12.
Friday – Traverse City West (11-1) at Cadillac (9-4) – West also owns a slim lead atop the Big North Conference thanks to a 60-46 win over Cadillac in their first meeting Dec. 12.
Saturday – Grand Rapids Christian (9-4) vs. Detroit Cass Tech (11-1) – This is the 2:45 p.m. game at the Red Hawk Showcase at Aquinas College and will come about 17 hours after Christian plays Grand Rapids Catholic Central for first place in the O-K White.
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PHOTOS (Top) Iron Mountain's Oskar Kangas (0) dunks the ball off a fourth-quarter inbounds pass during his team’s 58-32 win over Ishpeming Westwood on Thursday. (Middle) Detroit Cass Tech’s Donavin Eddins (12) gets up a shot in traffic during his team’s 68-57 win over Rochester Adams on Dec. 30. (Iron Mountain/Westwood photo by Cara Kamps. Cass Tech/Adams photo by Team Arreguin Photos.)
'Who Will Cheer for the Nimrods?' Peterson IV, Watersmeet Found Fans Worldwide
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
July 15, 2025
WATERSMEET — George Peterson IV talks to a lot of people through his job as a police officer in the Green Bay, Wis., area. When some of those folks are headed up north for the weekend, he tells them he’s from the Upper Peninsula.
Many are expecting to hear about one of the bigger towns located a couple of hours drive from Green Bay, like Iron Mountain or Escanaba. But they usually know his hometown, too.
“There’s more people than I would have thought know exactly – ‘Oh Watersmeet, the Nimrods,’” Peterson said.
Some surely know the tiny town because it’s not light years away from Green Bay – only about three hours. But Watersmeet’s dot on the map got a little bigger when Peterson was in school two decades ago, thanks to a run of media exposure that all started with an ESPN commercial that wondered: Without sports, who would cheer for the Nimrods?
Peterson and his teammates can look back on a high school sports experience unlike pretty much anyone else’s, which included the popular ESPN commercial, an appearance on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno, and an eight-part miniseries and media exposure from print and television outlets throughout the country. All because of their quirky nickname that has come to be an insult but was chosen because the biblical figure Nimrod was a mighty hunter, and hunting is a big deal in the U.P.
That era also coincided with the best basketball Watersmeet has ever seen. The 2004-05 team, with Peterson was a junior, won its only MHSAA Regional championship and only U.P. small-school team of the year award.
“Great memories from that year,” Peterson said.
The first moments he mentions from his time in high school sports as a aren’t of going to Hollywood – although that certainly came up later – or of being on ESPN. He instead recalled the camaraderie with his teammates, the bus rides, and proving people wrong even in elementary school that Watersmeet could be good.
“The Watersmeet Nimrods weren't supposed to be good,” he said. “We weren’t supposed to win elementary tournaments; we were supposed to fall apart.”
They definitely didn’t do that, as one of the smallest high schools in the state enjoyed instead an unforgettable three-year run.
The cameras first showed up when Peterson was a sophomore. ESPN staff came to get footage early that season, during a December 2003 game against rival Bessemer. The cameras didn’t faze the Nimrods, who upset the rival Speedboys that night; Peterson remembers Bessemer putting 100 on them later that season.
No one told the Nimrods when the commercials were going to air. Then one came on one night when Peterson was watching ESPN.
“That was really cool, just little surprises you weren’t expecting,” Peterson said.
Watersmeet was featured in major newspapers, “CBS Sunday Morning” came to town, and Nimrods merchandise flew off the shelves.
They were even on “The Tonight Show.”
“I would say Jay Leno was probably the coolest experience,” Peterson said. “A small-town kid from Watersmeet, all of us that went, getting treated like we were important, something that a lot of people don’t get to experience. They flew us out, we had limos, we had a hotel right down the road – I think it was a Hilton.”
After the national attention died down during their very successful 2004-05 year – which included the run to the Class D Quarterfinals – the cameras were back for Peterson’s senior year. This time it was the Sundance Channel for an eight-part miniseries about life in his team’s small town.
Those cameras were around that entire season. But if something came up along the way – and it did – the team could just ask the filmmakers to go away while they hashed it out privately. Peterson said they didn’t pressure him to do anything, and the staff members were great to he and his teammates, while doing what they could to make them feel comfortable.
The buzz for the miniseries wasn’t quite the same as for the commercials. But Peterson enjoyed going to a screening ahead of its debut in Madison, Wis. And he can look back on scenes with his late grandfather.
“Now I can show my kids when they get older,” he said.
The basketball part of Peterson’s high school days was a pretty big deal as well.
Growing up, Peterson’s dad George Peterson III took him to the Regionals in Marquette each year. Rooting for area teams like Ewen-Trout Creek kept the fire going.
“I’d go back home, I’d shoot hoops and play ball,” Peterson IV said.
As he and his teammates entered in high school, the Nimrods finished well under .500 his freshman year. The next year, they flipped their regular-season record to 14-6, which included the early season upset of rival Bessemer with ESPN’s cameras recording commercial material.
“And then we were kind of like, ‘OK, we got something here,’” Peterson said.
They went to Michigan Tech’s basketball camp the following summer and won pretty much every game, including against the U.P.’s big schools like Marquette and Iron Mountain.
The Nimrods also won constantly early in the 2004-05 season – until Baraga gave them another piece of humble pie. But that proved to be a quick bump in the road. They won their District tournament at home and then both Regional games by double figures.
Watersmeet then lost a heartbreaker in overtime in the Quarterfinal against Posen, but it didn’t diminish what they had accomplished.
For Peterson, he got to do it with his dad coaching, his brother Jordan playing with him and the whole community cheering for them. He still remembers the bus ride home and the reception they got going through Bruce Crossing, part of the E-TC school district.
“We got to experience something we never got to experience before,” Peterson said. “That was probably one of, if not my favorite, moments from my junior year.”
He learned a lot of lessons from that time in his life — just from playing sports but also from playing for his dad and with the kind of spotlight most small-school athletes don’t see.
“Being an athlete and working in law enforcement, a lot of the lessons learned go hand-in-hand with my profession, because you have to be teachable, you have to be coachable and you have to take the losses,” Peterson said. “Obviously in sports, every time you step foot on the court, we didn’t win. There’s some things in life that you don’t get what you want, but you just learn you gotta work harder for it and strive to be better. That helps me in my profession.”
His dad, who recently retired from coaching boys basketball after walking the sideline for more than three decades, taught his son many things like humility, how to be respectful, patience, and how to respond when things don’t work out.
“That doesn’t mean the door’s closed; you just gotta find a whole different way to get what you want,” Peterson IV said. “I remind myself of that every day when I’m at work.”
As for being in the spotlight, he took valuable lessons from that as well.
“It’s helped me learn to take a step back and not get too excited about certain things,” he said. “Like when I’m around a crowd or when I have stuff going on, like board meetings, or we just have a crowd where people could be mad or people could be in support. It’s helped me to learn to take a step back and mentally just prepare, take that deep breath and everything seems to run smooth.”
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PHOTOS (Top) At left, George Peterson IV (12) puts up a jumper playing for Watersmeet in 2004. At right, Peterson holds his son George V while pictured with wife Elise and daughter Braelynn. (Middle) This Ironwood Daily Globe photo from 2007 shows Peterson talking with “Nimrod Nation” director Brett Morgan. (Past photos by Jason Juno; current photos courtesy of the Peterson family.)