Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 11
February 22, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half
This week’s list of Michigan boys basketball teams to watch next month includes quite a few that have taken next steps toward elite this season, plus a few looking to hold on to top spots.
Most weeks during the season, we check in with four teams from each class that have been especially impressive. After a bit of a hiatus, we’re back for the rest of the winter starting with this look at 16 more.
Class A
Detroit East English (15-3) – The Bulldogs won a nail-biter over Detroit Collegiate Prep to advance to the Detroit Public School League tournament final, then won their first PSL tournament championship with an 86-62 victory over Renaissance.
North Farmington (15-2) – The Raiders have been surging since last losing Jan. 14 to Clarkston; they’ve won eight straight, including beating Clarkston 58-53 on Feb. 12, and are tied with Clarkston for first in the Oakland Activities Association Red standings with two league games to play.
Petoskey (15-1) – The Northmen are a perfect 10-0 in Big North Conference play and have lost only to Cheboygan, by a point Jan. 5. Petoskey must beat Gaylord tonight and then finish a season sweep against second-place Traverse City Central on Friday in order to clinch the league title outright.
Ypsilanti Community (15-1) – The Grizzlies are Class A contenders and have their destiny in their control; they can clinch the Southeastern Conference White title outright by winning out.
Class B
Birch Run (15-2) – Save for a two-game losing streak over six days in early January, Birch Run has been on point and sits second in the Tri-Valley Conference East. The Panthers take on league leader Frankenmuth on Wednesday with a chance to take a share of first place.
South Haven (14-2) – The Rams have clinched the outright Wolverine Conference North championship after tying for second in the South a year ago. A one-point loss last week to Edwardsburg was the team’s first since opening night.
Wayland (15-1) – The Wildcats earned a share of the Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold title with an 81-41 win over Hastings on Friday and have won 12 straight since their only loss, 63-56 to Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central on Dec. 29. Wayland finished second in the league last season.
Wyoming Godwin Heights (15-2) – The Wolverines earned a share of the O-K Silver title by beating Hopkins 77-42 on Friday, coming off a surprise three-point loss to Portage Northern three nights before. The reigning Class B champion hadn’t fallen since opening night, but Northern is solid in Class A at 11-5.
Class C
Kalamazoo Hackett (16-0) – The Fighting Irish have won the Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley title and need only one more win to equal last season’s team that finished 17-7. They haven’t had an opponent come within single digits since Schoolcraft – their next opponent – did so Feb. 1.
Muskegon Heights Academy (13-2) – The Tigers’ only losses were to Class A teams – Rockford last week and Battle Creek Central in December. They’ve equaled the 13 games won all of last season and with four more to play before the tournament begins.
Niles Brandywine (13-5) – The Bobcats came back from a three-game losing streak Feb. 5-12 to win twice on back-to-back nights last week and hold a half-win lead on Bridgman in the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference Red with a league game to play.
Southfield Christian (16-1) – The Eagles have won 14 straight since falling to West Bloomfield by a point in overtime Dec. 12, and they can finish a perfect run in the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference Blue by beating fourth-place Ann Arbor Greenhills this week. They own wins over Belleville by a point and Southfield by three.
Class D
Bellaire (15-1) – The Eagles have won 12 straight since falling to East Jordan on Dec. 18 and can clinch a share of the Ski Valley Conference championship against fourth-place Indian River Inland Lakes tonight after handing second-place Johannesburg-Lewiston a loss on Friday.
Frankfort (15-1) – The Panthers finished their first back-to-back league titles since 1961-62 by beating Buckley on Friday to clinch the Northwest Conference championship; they lost only to Traverse City St. Francis, by a point Dec. 17.
Onekama (15-2) – The Portagers clinched the West Michigan D League title outright with a win over Custer Mason County Eastern on Friday after tying annual league power Baldwin for the title last season; Onekama has a two-game lead on Baldwin this time.
Wyoming Potter’s House Christian (14-3) – The Pumas’ 80-50 win over two-loss Kalamazoo Heritage Christian last week earned them the Alliance League South title; their losses this winter were by a combined six points, and they beat Pewamo-Westphalia 55-53 on Friday to extend their winning streak to 11.
PHOTO: Rivals Saginaw and Saginaw Arthur Hill are among many teams prepping for tournament runs with Districts set to begin in two weeks. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 10
February 17, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Plenty can change – and change again – over the course of a four-month high school basketball season.
Below are this week’s highlighted teams in each class that have jumped out of late – including a number that started slowly this winter but are playing their best with the postseason less than a month away.
CLASS A
Birmingham Brother Rice (11-4) – The Warriors’ basketball program certainly is overshadowed by the football and perhaps hockey teams. But Rice went 3-1 over the second half of the Detroit Catholic League Central season and avenged an earlier 16-point loss to champion Detroit U-D Jesuit by handing the Cubs their only league loss this season, 58-53 last week.
Davison (12-3) – The Cardinals likely can’t catch leader Flint Northwestern in the Saginaw Valley Association South title chase, but can celebrate coming back strong off two straight sub-.500 seasons. Their only losses in 2014-15 are two to Northwestern and the third to Flint Southwestern Academy.
DeWitt (9-6) – An 0-4 start knocked down expectations a little for the reigning Capital Area Activities Conference Red champion. But the Panthers came back with a five-game winning streak and on Friday beat Haslett for the second time this winter to push into a first-place tie with the Vikings. All but one loss were by six or fewer points.
Grand Rapids Northview (13-3) – Last season’s runner-up in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Bronze is a win over reigning champion Forest Hills Northern on Friday from clinching a share of the league title. Northview is undefeated in league play and winner of nine of its last 10 games.
CLASS B
Benzonia Benzie Central (12-2) – The Huskies trail both Frankfort and Maple City Glen Lake by half a loss in the Northwest Conference standings, but play both during the final two weeks of the season. Until then, Benzie Central will try to build on a five-game winning streak and nine victories in their last 10 games.
Big Rapids (10-5) – The Cardinals trail Grant in the Central State Activities Association Gold and will need help if they’re to climb into first, but beat Grant 43-36 on Feb. 6 and added another league win Friday to stay within one of the lead.
Leslie (12-2) – The Blackhawks joined the Greater Lansing Activities Conference in the fall after a few seasons as an independent, and they’re in contention for the championship after beating first-place Lake Odessa Lakewood 43-41 on Friday. Lakewood, on Jan. 9, handed Leslie its last loss before this nine-win run.
Milan (14-2) – The reigning Class B champion is back in fine form, with its only losses this season to Class A teams that won league titles – U-D Jesuit and Romulus. The Big Reds are undefeated in the Huron League but face second-place Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central twice over their final four regular-season games.
CLASS C
AuGres-Sims (8-7) – Its overall record is just over .500, but AuGres-Sims is holding on to a slim lead in the Little Dipper division of the North Star Conference. The Wolverines have won three straight league games and have three to play, including a pair against opponents that are a combined 4-20.
Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest (12-2) – The Crusaders hold a slim lead in the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference Blue thanks to a 66-52 win over Sterling Heights Parkway Christian on Thursday – after they lost to Parkway on Jan. 30. Lutheran Northwest finished 1-20 and last in the Blue a year ago.
Ironwood (15-2) – The Red Devils have followed last season’s run to the Regional Finals with another impressive performance; their only losses are to Wisconsin teams, and they edged Bessemer (see below) by a bucket on Friday to complete a season sweep.
Ishpeming (10-5) – The Hematites didn’t play their first game until Jan. 2 and are accustomed to late starts after three straight trips to the Football Finals at Ford Field. A loss to rival Negaunee on Friday broke a six-game winning streak that included a win over first-place Iron Mountain on Feb. 6.
CLASS D
Bessemer (12-5) – The Speedboys opened 2-3 and have absorbed a second loss this season from Ironwood. But they also have claimed a share of the Porcupine Mountain Conference title and can make it an outright championship March 5 against Ewen-Trout Creek – which beat Bessemer on Dec. 19.
Brethren (10-5) – The Bobcats are tied for fourth in the West Michigan D League, but their losses to first-place Onekama and second-place Baldwin over the last three weeks were both by only two points. Brethren gets Baldwin one more time, in its regular-season finale March 3.
Climax-Scotts (12-4) – Despite a seven-point loss to Battle Creek St. Philip near the end of January, Climax-Scotts remains in first place in the Southern Central Athletic Association West. The Panthers have won five of their last six and will equal last season’s win total with their next victory.
Hillman (16-1) – The Tigers will at least share the North Star League Big Dipper title and sit undefeated in the league standings, their only loss on opening night to still-undefeated Cedarville. Hillman hasn’t had a win by fewer than 10 points.
PHOTO: Grand Rapids Northview needs one more win to claim the O-K Bronze title, thanks in part of to a 75-50 win over Greenville on Friday. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).