Breslin Bound: Boys Report Post-Break
January 7, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The first full week of January means changing lanes for the high school boys basketball season, with many of the mega nonleague matchups in the rear-view mirror and league championship chases up ahead.
But first we have a few weeks of catching up to do after another highlight-filled holiday break showed us a few more contenders to keep an eye on as we settle into the local portion of our annual winter hoops run.
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. Canton 64, Grand Rapids Catholic Central 57 – The Winter Jam at Lawrence Tech was filled with great matchups, but Canton’s win over the reigning Class B runner-up – GRCC’s lone defeat – was the most impressive.
2. Benton Harbor 79, Saginaw 70 – These two are MHSAA championship contenders most seasons, and the Tigers moved to 10-0 with this win at Grand Blanc’s GottaGetIt Classic as they continue to build on last year’s Class B title.
3. Flint Beecher 57, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 50 – The Division 3 Bucs are up to 8-0 this winter after winning a rare matchup with this one of their Division 1 neighbors.
4. Detroit Martin Luther King 45, Kalamazoo Central 43 – The Crusaders came up with arguably their best win of a great start by handing the Maroon Giants their lone defeat during Friday’s Muskegon Classic.
5. Muskegon 55, East Kentwood 53 – The Big Reds are 3-2 while playing another tough early slate, and this win over the Falcons at the Hall of Fame Classic has been the highlight.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
• Muskegon Reeths-Puffer (7-1) – The Rockets are climbing after finishing 10-12 and tying for fifth in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Black a year ago and winning just three games total in 2016-17. Annual league favorite Muskegon awaits, of course. But Reeths-Puffer has looked up to the task so far with wins over Ludington and Holland West Ottawa and the only defeat by five Dec. 7 to one-loss Zeeland West.
• Saginaw Heritage (5-1) – Since opening with a loss to still-undefeated Sanford Meridian, the Hawks also are perfect – and compared to a 3-4 start last season. They started the new year with a 64-53 win over Frankenmuth as they seek to build on last season’s 14-7 finish.
DIVISION 2
• Flat Rock (7-1) – Just 6-15 two seasons ago, Flat Rock improved to 18-6 and second in the Huron League last winter and last week edged Grosse Ile 42-40 after splitting with the Red Devils in 2017-18. Flat Rock’s only loss this season came by four Dec. 11 to Temperance Bedford. On Friday, the Rams get the first of two opportunities against reigning league champ Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central after being swept by the Falcons last season.
• Holland Christian (6-0) – The Maroons jumped 10 wins last season to finish 14-8 and second in the O-K Green, and might be starting on another leap. Holland Christian handed Maple City Glen Lake its only loss this season, 48-44 on Dec. 28 at the Lakeshore Cup at Grand Haven, and then downed Petoskey 66-59 the next day. Up next is reigning O-K Green champ Hudsonville Unity Christian, which defeated the Maroons three times last season.
DIVISION 3
• Kalamazoo Hackett (6-1) – The Irish bounced back from their only loss, to Division 1 Rochester Hills Stoney Creek, by handing Schoolcraft a 72-56 defeat Dec. 18. That win has Hackett just ahead of Schoolcraft in first place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley standings after the Irish finished second to Kalamazoo Christian (and 18-4 overall) a year ago.
• North Muskegon (7-0) – The Norsemen’s encore to last winter’s 20-4 finish has been perfect, including handing Ravenna the latter’s only defeat, 61-51 on Dec. 21. That victory has North Muskegon one win ahead of the Bulldogs in the West Michigan Conference, and no other opponent has come closer than 14 points.
DIVISION 4
• Athens (8-0) – After going 16-5 last season, Athens has big games this week against Jackson Christian and Battle Creek St. Philip (both 5-3) as it goes for a perfect first half. Union City gave the Indians their closest game Dec. 20, an eight-point win, and Athens came up big in December against Hillsdale Academy – which, although struggling, was a Class D semifinalist a year ago.
• Camden-Frontier (9-0) – The Redskins have the early lead in the Southern Central Athletic Association East after finishing second to Hillsdale Academy last winter, and doubled up the Colts in their Dec. 13 meeting. Camden-Frontier also repeated as the Pat Paterson Holiday Tournament champion with double-digit wins over Hillsdale and Reading to get halfway to besting last year’s 17 wins.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Novi (3-3) at Canton (5-1) – Novi beat Canton by five in last season’s Kensington Lakes Activities Association semifinals and then by two when they met again in a District Semifinal; they were the Chiefs’ only defeats of the season.
Tuesday – Macomb Dakota (6-1) at Sterling Heights Stevenson (6-1) – These two are tied for first in the Macomb Area Conference Red after Dakota edged Stevenson for the title by a win a year ago.
Thursday – Bellevue (6-0) at Camden-Frontier (9-0) – Both lead or are tied for the lead in their respective divisions of the SCAA, plus might end up among the top-ranked in all of Division 4.
Friday – Frankenmuth (4-3) at Bridgeport (7-0) – The same may not end up true this winter, but a year ago Bridgeport’s sweep of Frankenmuth gave the Bearcats the Tri-Valley Conference East title ahead of the runner-up Eagles.
Saturday – Grand Blanc (7-2) at Kalamazoo Central (5-1) – Coming off a key league matchup with Davison on Friday, Grand Blanc heads west to see another statewide Division 1 contender in Central.
Second Half’s weekly “Breslin Bound” 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: Flint Beecher’s Earnest Sanders works for post position during his team’s win over Flint Carman-Ainsworth on Dec. 27. (Photo by Terry Lyons.)
Nearly 25 Years After Leading Unexpected Run, Morton Directing Life-Changing Mission
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
August 11, 2026
Nearly a quarter century after presiding over arguably one of the most improbable boys basketball state championships in Michigan history, the same fight and underdog mentality still exists for Tim Morton.
Back in 2002, Morton was the head boys basketball head coach at Auburn Hills Avondale, which produced a Hollywood-type run during that season’s Class B tournament.
Unranked and without a future Division I college player in the lineup, a Yellow Jackets team headlined by seven seniors went on a quest that stunned many statewide observers.
Avondale avenged the disappointment of not getting out of the District round the previous year and then recorded a stunning upset of a highly-ranked Flint Southwestern team in their Regional Final, winning in double overtime. But after squeaking out a six-point win over a solid Williamston team in a Quarterfinal and earning an 11-point win over Comstock Park in the Semifinals, surely midnight was going to strike for Cinderella in the championship game. After all, Avondale was up against a powerful Grand Rapids South Christian team which had multiple future Division I college players on its roster.
It didn’t matter as Avondale, led by tough-as-nails captains Mike Lewis and Wes Whiteside, senior Dionte Miller and sophomore Dave Holston, completed its stunning run with a 70-65 win to capture what still stands as the program’s only Finals basketball championship.
Morton said he thought his team the previous year that couldn’t make it out of Districts was more talented, but there were intangibles the 2001-02 team possessed that couldn’t be matched.
“I think that nobody really thought that they’d have a shot,” Morton said of his team. “I think that is why we were unranked, because of what had left. But you’ve got to have something to fight for, and I think the reason was the year before. We were motivated. I think playing that underdog role, we just loved it. We won games in so many different ways and got on that roll.”
This past March, Morton and other alumni of the Avondale team certainly were thrilled to see this year’s squad advance to the Semifinals for the first time since their 2001-02 team did so. This time, the Yellow Jackets suffered a three-point Semifinal loss to eventual Class A champion Rockford.
Today, Morton is also heading another team that has an underdog mentality but is motivated to fight for each other and surrounding communities.
Morton is the multi-area director for the Southeast Michigan chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which aims to serve kids, coaches and communities by promoting through activities faith, self-esteem, serving others and being the best version of yourself.
The organization has roughly 50 student-led “huddles” that meet at high schools or middle schools, where students can have a safe haven to talk about problems, promote successes, go over scripture and bond during a challenging time of life.
Through volunteers and other staff members, the organization also conducts camps throughout the state for coaches, athletes and others to learn from each other and grow as leaders.
The chapter will have its annual golf outing Sept. 28 at Oakland University’s Sharf Golf Course.
“We just want to be really good at cultivating those relationships, making sure that we’re following up with people, and sharing what the Lord is doing so people feel like they can be connected to something bigger than themselves.”
Playing for something bigger than themselves certainly worked for the 2002 team, and Morton said there is a 25th anniversary reunion in the works for next spring.
But while he nor anyone else in the Avondale community will forget that run in 2002, these days Morton is spearheading a team he said is playing for an even greater purpose, one he tried to describe to a group of youth football coaches in Flint during a recent gathering.
“I had only about 15 to 20 minutes to share with these guys,” Morton said. “I shared that we won a state title in 2002 and I was driven to be the best coach I could possibly be. A lot of great things happened, and the state championship happened. I’m on my way home from the state championship and we’re watching the video, and it’s crazy because this fear came over me. How are we going to do this again?
“Every coach that puts his or her full identity in the performance of the team, that’s scary and that’s not good. I got out six years later because of that fear. The most important relationships of my life were not good because I had to be validated by the performance of my team. That conversation kind of led into, “Why are you coaching? Why are you doing what you are doing? I wanted them to be motivated to be the best versions of themselves, for those kids, their wives and children. That’s why I’m in FCA. That’s my cause to fight for.”
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PHOTOS At left, Tim Morton raises the Class B championship trophy in 2002. At right, Morton now a director for Fellowship of Christian Athletes. (Middle) Morton, kneeling, speaks to his team during the championship win at Breslin Center. (MHSAA archives)