Breslin Bound: Boys A-B Semis Preview
March 20, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Some semi-ancient history is at risk of being updated during the Class A and B Finals this weekend at Michigan State University's Breslin Center.
Detroit Southeastern is seeking is first title since 1926 and Grand Rapids Christian since 1938. Wyoming Godwin Heights will play for its first championship game berth since 1960, but also as one of three Class B Semifinalists looking to win it all for the first time.
Standing in the way? In Class A, it's reigning champion Saginaw and heavy favorite Romulus. In Class B, one of the state's most successful programs ever, Detroit Country Day.
Below is the schedule for all four Friday Semifinals and Saturday Finals, plus broadcast information and a look at all eight A and B Semifinalists.
Semifinals - Friiday
Class A
Romulus (25-1) vs Grand Rapids Christian (20-6), 1 p.m.
Detroit Southeastern (20-5) vs Saginaw (23-3), 2:50 p.m.
Class B
Cadillac (21-4) vs Detroit Country Day (23-3), 6 p.m.
Detroit Community (17-9) vs Wyoming Godwin Heights (23-2), 7:50 p.m.
Finals - Saturday
Class A - Noon
Class B - 6:30 pm
Class C - 4:30 pm
Class D - 10 am
Tickets cost $8 per pair of Semifinals and $10 per two-game Finals session. All Semifinals will be streamed live on MHSAA.tv and available on a pay-per-view basis for $3.95 per day or $6.95 for the weekend. Saturday's first three Finals will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Detroit, with the Class B game on Fox Sports Plus and then re-broadcast on Fox Sports Detroit at 10:30 p.m.. 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.
Class A
DETROIT SOUTHEASTERN
Record/rank: 20-5, honorable mention
League finish: Second in Detroit Public School League East
Coach: George Ward, fourth season (82-15)
Championship history: Two MHSAA titles (most recently 1926), one runner-up finish.
Best wins: 54-49 (OT) over honorable mention Macomb L’Anse Creuse North (Regional Final), 54-49 over Rochester (Quarterfinal), 71-52 over Class B No. 4 Harper Woods Chandler Park, 48-44 over Class B No. 10 Detroit Douglass.
Players to watch: Jovone Haynes, 6-0 sr. G; Kenyatta Singleton, 6-0 sr. G. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: Although Southeastern’s championships came in 1925 and 1926, they finished Class A runner-up only two seasons ago and with Singleton a prominent player off the bench. That Southeastern was likely the third-best Detroit PSL team during the regular season speaks to the league’s strength again this winter, and the Jungaleers lost to reigning Class A champion Saginaw and No. 8 Detroit Cass Tech by one point apiece and Ann Arbor Pioneer and River Rouge by only two each.
GRAND RAPIDS CHRISTIAN
Record/rank: 20-6, honorable mention
League finish: First in O-K White
Coach: Steve Majerle, first season (20-6)
Championship history: Lower Peninsula Class B champion 1938, one runner-up finish.
Best wins: 72-69 over No. 9 East Kentwood (District Semifinal), 64-61 over honorable mention Lansing Waverly (Regional Semifinal), 78-70 over honorable mention Holt (Regional Final), 64-61 over Muskegon, 70-59 over Class B No. 6 Wyoming Godwin Heights.
Players to watch: Drake Harris, 6-4 jr. G; Wuoi Mach, 6-4 sr. C. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: Grand Rapids Christian has been surging with 10 straight wins and avenged a previous 24-point loss by beating Muskegon in the Quarterfinal. Harris is the catalyst and will try to add a basketball championship to the football title in which he played a large role at the end of November. Majerle previously coached Rockford to the 2003 Class A championship.
ROMULUS
Record/rank: 25-1, No. 2
League finish: First in Western Wayne Athletic Conference Blue
Coach: Nate Oats, 11th season (220-52)
Championship history: Class A champion 1986, one runner-up finish.
Best wins: 93-91 over No. 1 Detroit Pershing (Quarterfinal), 82-71 over No. 4 Saginaw Arthur Hill, 93-63 over No. 6 Saginaw, 75-65 over Class B No. 1 Detroit Country Day.
Players to watch: E.C. Matthews, 6-4 sr. G (16.2 ppg, 6.0 rpg); Leonardo Edwards, 6-8 sr. C (11 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 2.1 bpg), Wes Clark, 6-0 sr. G (11.8 ppg, 5.7 apg).
Outlook: Throw in wins over Lansing Sexton, Detroit Community, Detroit Douglass, Detroit Consortium, Chicago Seton and Indianapolis Cathedral, and no team in Michigan has defeated as impressive a slate. The Eagles’ lone loss was to Pershing by six in their second game this season, and Romulus avenged that Tuesday. Senior forward Jalon Plummer (11.2 ppg, 47 3-pointers) also adds double-digit scoring. Matthews has signed with Rhode Island, Clark with Missouri and Edwards with Louisiana Tech.
SAGINAW
Record/rank: 23-3, No. 6
League finish: Second in Saginaw Valley Association North
Coach: Julian Taylor, second season (48-5)
Championship history: Six MHSAA titles (most recently 2012), four runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 75-64 and 86-76 (District Final) over No. 4 Saginaw Arthur Hill, 57-56 over honorable mention Detroit Southeastern, 86-61 over Class B No. 4 Harper Woods Chandler Park.
Players to watch: Julian Henderson, 6-2 sr. G; Keyon Addison, 6-1 jr. G. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: The Trojans have won three of the last six Class A championships, and Henderson was the second-leading scorer in last season’s title game win over Rockford. Saginaw already avenged its early loss to Arthur Hill, and no doubt would like to face Romulus again after falling to the Eagles in the regular-season finale.
Class B
CADILLAC
Record/rank: 21-4, unranked
League finish: Tied for first in Big North Conference
Coach: Jeff McDonald, 19th season (303-124)
Championship history: Has not played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 41-29 over No. 8 Big Rapids (Semifinal), 47-46 over Petoskey, 56-53 over Traverse City West.
Players to watch: Nick Paquet, 5-9 sr. G (15 ppg, 45 3-pointers); Jalen Brooks, 6-4 jr. F (12.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg).
Outlook: Cadillac is 63-11 over the last three seasons with Regional championships to cap off each. The Vikings also won a share of their league title this season by avenging early losses against other sharers Petoskey and Traverse City West. They have good size, with five players 6-4 or taller, and plenty of balance; four more join Paquet and Brooks to average between four and seven points per game.
DETROIT COMMUNITY
Record/rank: 17-9, unranked
League finish: Second in Michigan Metro Athletic Conference
Coach: Venias Jordan, Jr., first season (17-9)
Championship history: Has not played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 50-47 over honorable mention Jackson Lumen Christi (Quarterfinal), 61-48 over Class C No. 8 Melvindale Academy for Business & Technology,
Player to watch: Byron Zeigler, 6-6 sr. F (statistics not submitted).
Outlook: Don’t be fooled by Community’s nine losses. Instead, consider some of the teams they came against: Class A top-10 teams Detroit Pershing (by two), Cass Tech and Romulus, honorable mention Detroit Southeastern, ranked Class C Detroit Consortium and reigning Class D champion Southfield Christian, among others. Zeigler has signed with South Florida.
DETROIT COUNTRY DAY
Record/rank: 23-3, No. 1
League finish: Does not play in a league.
Coach: Kurt Keener, 35th season (676-180)
Championship history: Eight MHSAA titles (most recently 2010), one runner-up finish.
Best wins: 75-57 over No. 4 Harper Woods Chandler Park (Regional Semifinal), 73-51 over No. 10 Detroit Douglass (Regional Final), 68-48 over Class A honorable mention Macomb L’Anse Creuse North, 86-61 over Class A No. 4 Saginaw Arthur Hill.
Players to watch: Edmond Sumner, 6-3 jr. G (16.1 ppg, 6.2 apg); Austin Price, 6-3 sr. G (12.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 63 3-pointers, 3.2 spg); Mory Diane, 6-2 sr. G (12.1 ppg).
Outlook: A few fun Country Day facts: The last time the Yellowjackets didn’t make it to Breslin was 2009; the last time they finished a season with fewer than 20 wins was 2004. Country Day starts out small (relatively speaking; no player is shorter than 5-11) but can get big with future Texas Tech offensive lineman Poet Thomas (6-7, 285 pounds) off the bench. Price has signed with Lehigh and makes nearly 40 percent of his 3-point shots.
WYOMING GODWIN HEIGHTS
Record/rank: 23-2, No. 6
League finish: First in O-K Silver
Coach: Chad Conklin, sixth season (98-39)
Championship history: Two runner-up finishes (most recently 1960).
Best wins: 79-72 over No. 7 Comstock Park (Regional Semifinal), 56-52 over No. 2 Stevensville Lakeshore (Quarterfinal), 60-58 over Class D No. 1 Wyoming Tri-unity Christian
Players to watch: Jamal Bland, 5-10 sr. G (14.9 ppg, 3.2 apg); Quantrell Hastings, 6-1 sr. F (15.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg).
Outlook: One more win and Godwin Heights will have improved on or tied the previous season’s win total in all six of Conklin’s winters running the program. Senior guard Braima Hai (10.9 ppg, 5.2 apg) runs the show, and sophomore guard Delaney Blaylock (11.2 ppg) also scores in double figures.
PHOTO: Saginaw junior Joseph Williams-Powell (44) drives against a Midland defender during the Trojans' Regional Semifinal win last week. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 3
December 18, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The third week of this Michigan high school boys basketball season was topsy-turvy, to say the least.
The first month of the season always includes a lot of sorting out as top teams face off in nonleague play – and in the end, of course, the most important games are when those teams potentially meet again at the end of the winter.
But after how some of the state’s best took turns defeating each other last week, we might have a hard time knowing what to expect down the road.
Breslin Bound is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com. To offer corrections or fill in scores we’re missing, email me at [email protected].
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Okemos 63, Rockford 29 – The headliner of the Battle of I-96 Classic at Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills went to Okemos, which moved to 6-0 with its second-biggest victory of the season.
2. Rockford 65, Muskegon 47 – This Friday night stunner of the annually contending Big Reds was set for the top spot on this list until Saturday’s matchup with the Chiefs; Rockford fell to Muskegon by 16 a year ago.
3. Grand Rapids Catholic Central 50, Grand Rapids Christian 45 – The was expected to be the big game of the week for the Cougars, but wasn’t even their closest as they then survived with a two-point overtime win over Grand Rapids Covenant Christian on Friday.
4. Detroit U-D Jesuit 57, Grand Blanc 44 – The Cubs have had one of the toughest early schedules in the state, and this win was made more impressive when Grand Blanc beat Flint Carman-Ainsworth by 10 to end the week.
5. Ann Arbor Skyline 66, Belleville 56 – The Eagles came back from a loss earlier in the week to Sterling Heights Stevenson to win their fifth straight against Belleville, which rebounded last season to make the Class A Quarterfinals.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
• Grand Rapids Northview (3-0) – The Wildcats have held on through three overtimes over their last two games to keep a perfect start intact, the most recent Friday in a 77-69 win over always-powerful Wyoming Godwin Heights. Northview is looking to take another step after improving five wins to 15-7 last winter.
• Utica Eisenhower (5-0) – The Eagles have nearly equaled last season’s seven wins and haven’t played a game in single digits since defeating Romeo by five on opening night. Eisenhower can make an even louder statement tonight against another quick starter in Sterling Heights Stevenson.
DIVISION 2
• Alma (6-0) – The Panthers are off to another fast start in trying to build on last season’s league and District championships. Alma has three double-digit wins but also has pulled out victories of six or fewer points against Fowlerville, Frankenmuth (in overtime) and Carrollton.
• Williamston (6-0) – The Hornets can make an argument as the Lansing area’s best team and have high aspirations after going 22-3 and falling to eventual champion Benton Harbor in the Quarterfinals last season. Despite needing overtime against Howell last week, Williamston is winning this winter by nearly 19 points per game.
DIVISION 3
• Carson City-Crystal (5-0) – The Eagles have shared three straight Mid-State Activities Conference championships and already own a one-win advantage in the league standings this winter thanks to a 47-41 win over reigning co-champ Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart two weeks ago. A 46-35 win over Division 2 Lansing Eastern last week was eye-catching.
• Hanover-Horton (5-0) – League titles and 20-win seasons are frequent accomplishments for the Comets, and they appear on the way toward chasing both again. Hanover-Horton took a big step toward repeating as Cascades Conference champ with a 66-56 win over reigning league runner-up Michigan Center last week – the Comets’ closest game so far.
DIVISION 4
• Bessemer (4-1) – The Speedboys fell from sharing a league title two seasons ago to finishing third last winter, but look like the team to chase in the Copper Mountain Conference’s Porcupine Mountain division again. Bessemer handed 2017-18 Class D semifinalist Dollar Bay a 73-60 loss last week, Dollar Bay’s first regular-season defeat since Feb. 17, 2017.
• Carney-Nadeau (4-0) – The Wolves frequently are league title contenders but might be the team to beat in the Skyline Central Conference Small-school division. Although the 61-43 win Thursday against Powers North Central did not count in the league standings, it was a good sign against the reigning league champ.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Detroit Martin Luther King (2-0) at Detroit Cass Tech (3-1) – The last time these two met, King advanced in last season’s District with a two-point overtime win. They are back in the same league this winter.
Tuesday – Clinton Township Clintondale (5-0) at Madison Heights Madison (6-0) – It’s early in the Macomb Area Conference Silver, but this could end up one of the most meaningful games of the league schedule.
Tuesday – Utica Eisenhower (5-0) at Sterling Heights Stevenson (4-1) – Noted above as well, this could be telling as the MAC Red gets rolling. League foes Roseville and Macomb Dakota also are off to strong starts.
Tuesday – Escanaba (3-1) at Marquette (4-2) – Marquette swept Escanaba to win last season’s Great Northern Upper Peninsula Conference title by one victory.
Wednesday – Wyoming Godwin Heights (1-3) at Grand Rapids Catholic Central (3-0) – Against strong competition, Godwin Heights is off to a slow start. But it’s all relative, and GRCC won’t take the Wolverines lightly.
Second Half’s weekly “Countdown to Calvin” reports are powered by MI Student Aid, a part of the Student Financial Services Bureau located within the Michigan Department of Treasury. MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information, including various student financial assistance programs to help make college more affordable for Michigan students. MI Student Aid administers the state’s 529 savings programs (MET/MESP) and eight additional aid programs within its Student Scholarships and Grants division. Click for more information and connect with MI Student Aid on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.
PHOTO: Alma is off to an unbeaten start this winter, earning a victory last week over Essexville Garber. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)