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.)
Balanced Muskegon 'D'-termined to Reign
January 10, 2017
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
Jermayne Golidy emerged as the “go-to” player on Saturday in Muskegon’s first real test of this young basketball season.
But the smooth, 6-foot-4 senior wasn’t even in the starting lineup on the previous night in a lopsided win at cross-town rival Muskegon Mona Shores.
“That’s the kind of team we are – you never know who will be the leading scorer,” said Golidy, who finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots as Muskegon rallied from a halftime deficit to post an impressive 68-55 win over visiting powerhouse Chicago Whitney Young in the final game of the Muskegon Showcase tournament at Redmond-Potter Gymnasium. “I came out a little shaky and nervous, but I knew I had to start playing if we were going to win.”
Defense has always been paramount for Muskegon basketball, but fifth-year head coach Keith Guy knows that in order for the Big Reds to get back and compete for another Class A championship after winning it all in 2015, it will take three other Ds:
Diversity on offense, depth and good decisions.
“We don’t have one guy on this team; we have 10 guys who can put it on the floor and score,” said Guy, whose team is off to a 6-0 start. “We have to use all of our weapons and we have to make good decisions with the ball. If we do that, we’ll be fine.”
It’s a change from recent Muskegon teams which featured a marquee player surrounded by a supporting cast. DeShaun Thrower (2014) and Deyonta Davis (2015) were back-to-back Mr. Basketball Award winners, and last year’s team relied on the senior backcourt duo of Michael Littlejohn and Linwood Lee at crunch time.
This year’s team may not have any five-star college recruits, but the sum of its parts may be better than any other team in the state.
Golidy was one of those supporting cast members the past two seasons who is still trying to adjust his mindset in his senior year.
He started off the season with a game-high 20 points in a victory at Rockford, then was relatively quiet over the next three games, seemingly slipping back into his understudy role.
So his coach benched him.
“We thought we could get more out of him,” explained Guy, who has a 96-13 record at Muskegon, where he is assisted by Maurice Sain, Louis Murray and Josh Wall. “He had a rough week of practice, so he did not start against (Mona) Shores. We put him back out there, and he responded.”
After playing just 13 minutes and scoring eight points in the win over Shores, Golidy came out with renewed purpose against Chicago Whitney Young, an elite magnet public school which boasts such distinguished alumni as Michelle Obama and Jahlil Okafor of the Philadelphia 76ers. Golidy basically never left the floor, playing 30 of 32 minutes.
Muskegon trailed 23-21 at halftime, but it was a 3-pointer early in the third quarter which put the Big Reds ahead to stay. When defenders came out on him, Golidy drove his lean frame to the basket, while also scoring on offensive rebounds and putbacks. Golidy finished 10 of 15 from the floor (with two 3-pointers) and 6 of 8 from the free-throw line.
“I feel like I can play all-around,” said Golidy, who helped the Big Reds to the Class A Regional Finals last year, where they were upset by Hudsonville. “Each game might be different. If we are getting out-rebounded, I’ll go down in the paint. If we need a 3, I’ll take that.”
The problem for Muskegon opponents is that Golidy is just one of four extremely versatile seniors in the Big Reds’ starting lineup who all measure between 6-4 and 6-6 and can play both inside and outside, thereby creating a matchup nightmare.
Markell Jackson (6-6) is the tallest and thinnest of the four, with a massive wingspan that has allowed him to grab a team-high 9.4 rebounds per game. Anthony Bethea III (6-5) is the strongest and most natural post player, and has a nice left-handed shooting stroke. Sam Cornett Jr. (6-5), who joined the Big Reds after formerly playing for his dad Sam at Grandville, supplies speed and ball-handling skills of a guard.
One of the biggest challenges for Guy is keeping those seniors engaged and challenged throughout the long season.
Muskegon, frankly, has not been tested much in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Black since Guy came over from Muskegon Heights in 2012. Therefore, he has made it a point to seek out the best nonconference opponents he can find, often in early-season tournaments.
Already this winter, Muskegon has knocked off East Kentwood in the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame Classic over Christmas break and Chicago Whitney Young at the Muskegon Showcase last weekend. Next up is a tussle with host school Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills in Saturday’s fourth and final game at the annual Floyd Mayweather Basketball Classic.
“We love these big games; that’s where we play our best,” said Golidy. “We’re trying to go 28-0, get a ring and get a state championship. Those are our goals.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Muskegon senior Jermayne Golidy looks to make a move during the Big Reds' 68-45 win over East Kentwood in the Meijer Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame Classic on Dec. 28 at Muskegon Reeths-Puffer High School. (Middle) Muskegon coach Keith Guy and his bench look on during the Big Reds' win over East Kentwood. (Photos by Tim Reilly.)