Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 12
February 27, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
For a good portion of Michigan’s best, the final week of this high school boys basketball regular season will be like starting the playoffs a week early.
Only a few league championships are left to be decided. But a number of top teams face off for one more test before the season goes into win-and-advance mode with the start of Districts a week from today.
Below is our final regular-season Breslin Bound report – powered by MI Student Aid – before we switch up the format a bit to preview each week of the MHSAA Tournament.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Flint Carman-Ainsworth 99, Saginaw 60 – After beating Saginaw by seven earlier this season, Carman-Ainsworth posted one of its most impressive wins in some time in a crossover of Saginaw Valley League champs, Saginaw from the North and the Cavaliers from the South.
2. Romulus 73, Kalamazoo Central 63 – These Class A powers love to traverse the state looking for strong nonleague competition, and this one actually bodes well for both heading into Districts, although obviously a little better for the Eagles.
3. Wayne Memorial 55, Westland John Glenn 48 – Wayne split with its Kensington Lakes Activities Association South rival in winning the division, and got the tie-breaker with this victory to determine the Kensington champion and earn a spot in the overall KLAA finale.
4. Walled Lake Central 50, Walled Lake Western 45 – Central may have finished a game behind Western in the KLAA North, but beat its rival in their second meeting and followed up with this victory in the KLAA Lakes final.
5. Powers North Central 83, Munising 33 – We’ve seen plenty of impressive wins by the Class D Jets during this record run, but this one is notable too as Class C Munising entered 15-2.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each class making sparks:
CLASS A
Detroit U-D Jesuit (15-3) – After escaping Orchard Lake St. Mary’s with a 51-49 win in the semifinal, U-D Jesuit won its fifth straight Detroit Catholic League A-B title with a 63-56 title game win over Warren DeLaSalle. The reigning Class A champion's losses came either in overtime or by a point this winter.
Macomb Dakota (17-3) – The Cougars, Class A semifinalists last season, battled through multiple injuries to top players to finish the regular season as champions of the Macomb Area Conference Red and MAC Red-White Tournament. The Cougars hit 100 points in that tourney finale and have topped 95 two other times during a 14-game winning streak.
CLASS B
Big Rapids (17-1) – A big loss to Ludington on Feb. 7 not withstanding, Big Rapids has dominated again after making the Class B Semifinals last season. Only two of the Cardinals’ wins have come by single digits, and last week they finished an undefeated run through the Central State Activities Association Gold for the second straight season.
Macomb Lutheran North (15-3) – The Mustangs beat 16-win Riverview Gabriel Richard 70-62 on Sunday to win the Detroit Catholic League C-D title. They’ve made a nice jump from 11 wins two seasons ago to 13 last winter and now 15 with a week until the MHSAA Tournament begins.
CLASS C
Flint Hamady (13-6) – Hamady’s boys normally slot behind rival Beecher among Flint’s best – and finished tied for second to the Bucs in the Genesee Area Conference Red. But the Hawks fell to Beecher by only four in their second meeting earlier this month, and made a statement with a 71-66 win over Class B and 16-win Frankenmuth last week.
Grandville Calvin Christian (14-4) – After coming a 3-pointer from winning the Class C title last season, Calvin Christian is running third in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Silver behind Class B favorite Wyoming Godwin Heights and rising Kelloggsville. The Squires appear poised to strike again in the postseason with 10 wins over their last 12 games.
CLASS D
Pittsford (16-3) – The school’s reigning Class D champion girls don’t have a monopoly on the town’s hoops success. Coming off a 16-6 finish and second place in the Southern Central Athletic Association East last winter, Pittsford’s boys equaled that win total last week while also clinching the league title.
Wyoming Tri-unity Christian (11-7) – It’s just about impossible to go a whole season without checking in on the Defenders, who made the MHSAA Semifinals last season and are a threat to contend even when their regular-season losses approach double digits. Lansing Christian is the only Class D team to beat them this winter.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Grand Rapids Christian (18-0) at Wyoming Godwin Heights (19-0) – Grand Rapids’ two best teams, arguably, and contenders in Class A and B, respectively, give each other a great test during the final week.
Tuesday – New Haven (18-1) at Flint Beecher (15-4) – These two both have championship aspirations as well, New Haven in Class B and Beecher in Class C.
Tuesday – Southfield Christian (15-3) at River Rouge (17-1) – Rouge loaded up the schedule as it prepped for a Class B run, and Class D favorite Southfield Christian will provide another strong challenge.
Thursday – Wayne Memorial (16-3) at Walled Lake Central (14-5) – The KLAA championship game pairs a Wayne team that went 8-14 last year with a Central team that finished second in its division before this run.
Thursday – Holland West Ottawa (18-1) at Grand Rapids Catholic Central (16-3) – The O-K Blue champion hosts the winner of the Red as they prepare for the Class B and A tournaments, respectively.
PHOTO: Grand Rapids Christian (in blue) and Holland West Ottawa both finish with tough regular-season challenges this week; Christian best West Ottawa 57-49 on Dec. 28. (Photo by Tim Reilly.)
Norris Transforms Grass Lake into Contender for Long-Awaited League Title
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
February 12, 2025
Grass Lake has gone more than 50 years without a conference boys basketball championship. The wait could be over Saturday.
The Warriors, guided by second-year head coach Marshawn Norris, are 18-0 for the first time in school history and have locked in a spot in Saturday’s Cascades Conference championship game.
Norris is the fifth coach for the Warriors in seven years, but he’s off to a fast start in putting his stamp on the program.
“I think that is what is most appealing to me,” he said. “I’m a basketball guy. I think I have a chance to change the village of Grass Lake into a basketball town.”
Grass Lake athletic director Brian Zalud said the community is building excitement over what’s happening with basketball. The team already has the school record for wins in a season.
“In the two years that Marshawn has been at Grass Lake he has been able to get our kids to buy into what he is trying to get them to do,” Zalud said. “They play with intensity every time they are on the court. Every kid is willing to do all the little things for him and each other, and that passion and desire comes as a direct reflection of what Coach Marshawn brings to every practice and game.”
Norris is a Jackson native who played his high school basketball at Napoleon, one of Grass Lake’s opponents in the Cascades Conference.
“They were hard-nosed and competitive,” Norris recalled about Grass Lake. “I know they’ve been looking for a basketball coach, not just someone in the job, and I hope I can be that guy for a long time.”
The 18-0 start is surprising for a program that has struggled to maintain consistency over the years. The only Cascades Conference boys basketball championships in the trophy case are from 1955 and 1971.
“Coming into the season, we knew we had a special group,” Norris said. “I told them the faster we get ready and harder we work, we’ll be able to jump on some teams and surprise them. I think we did just that. Now we are in the conference championship game on Saturday and have a chance to accomplish our first goal.”
Norris graduated from Napoleon in 2008 and played collegiately at Mott Community College and Culver-Stockton College in Missouri. He was offered an assistant coaching job at Culver-Stockton in the locker room after his final college game. He served as head coach for two seasons at Jackson College before landing at Grass Lake.
“This is my first high school job,” he said. “I’ve never built a program. I’ve never coached anywhere longer than two seasons. Hopefully this will be my first stop where I’m able to stay more than two seasons and I’m able to build something and people know what they are getting from Coach Norris.”
Norris was hired in June 2023 and quickly pieced together a summer schedule of scrimmages against Jackson-area schools. The Warriors went 11-13 in his first season.
This year, things have turned around paced by a starting lineup of all seniors.
“Four of my guys are 18 years old,” Norris said.
The starters are Brayden Lape, Sal Vitale, Jacob Collins, Bryant Cook and Carmyne Beltran.
Lape leads the team in scoring at 19.8 points a game. Cook, who missed most of last season with an injury suffered during football season, averages 8.1 points and 10.4 rebounds a game, and Collins averages 8.6 points a game and leads the team in steals. Vitale, the leader in assists, is like a coach on the floor.
Norris said the improvement began during the summer.
“We just had June, but we had a good June,” he said. “We fine-tuned some things. Everybody on my team are three-sport athletes.”
The senior class has had expectations for years. In fifth grade they were undefeated, and in eighth grade they also went undefeated, although the season was cut short by COVID-19. Norris said other teams might have more basketball ability, but no team works harder.
“We understand who we are,” he said. “We are a special team who works really, really hard.”
Lape said Norris has helped make basketball fun in Grass Lake.
"I remember even as a kid coming to games, there wouldn't be very many people in the stands," he said. "There's excitement now. Our game against Michigan Center was a pretty cool environment.
“Coach has a winning attitude. We know we are not the most talented team, but we work really hard."
Norris stresses discipline in the program.
“I think the discipline and structure I’m bringing is something they needed,” he said. “The guys know from me if you are missing practice or school or anything that is inexcusable, it is going to be punishable by less playing time. I’m holding guys accountable.
“I tell them all of the time, ‘Men, just do your job.’”
Norris said he got into coaching because of the coaches he had while growing up. He not only coaches Grass Lake but runs a skill development program and coaches youth basketball in Jackson.
“I think I wanted to be a coach because I’ve always had good coaches,” he said. “I never had a bad coach. Coaches were always like father figures to me. Hopefully someday someone will say that about me.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Grass Lake’s Brayden Lape (23) gets to the basket against Michigan Center. (Middle) Grass Lake boys basketball coach Marshawn Norris talks with his team. (Photos courtesy of JTV.)