Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 12
February 26, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Special for Second Half
Soon we’ll be celebrating District, Regional and Finals champions in boys basketball.
But as we roll into the final week of this regular season, we’ve got a few more memorable stories to tell.
Take, for example, Burton Bentley, which clinched its first league title in 41 years earlier this month after going 9-12 a year ago. Or Okemos, which made an impressive yet at least a little bit unexpected closing run mentioned more below. Last week had a few more surprise wins too that could make storylines more interesting as we get into tournament mode.
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. Novi 71, Canton 56 – The Wildcats have rattled off six straight wins and with this one not only earned a spot in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship game, but also handed Canton its only loss this season.
2. Okemos 64, East Lansing 56 – Okemos had beaten the Trojans without star Brandon Johns on Jan. 19, but this win over East Lansing with him clinched for the Chiefs the outright Capital Area Activities Conference Blue title.
3. Maple City Glen Lake 53, Frankfort 47 – This tied things up at the top of the Northwest Conference with Glen Lake, Frankfort and Buckley in line to share the title with one last league game to play.
4. Ishpeming 53, Iron Mountain 47 – Second place Ishpeming can’t catch Iron Mountain in the Mid-Peninsula Athletic Conference, but on this night the Hematites handed the Mountaineers their lone defeat this winter.
5. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood 52, Madison Heights Bishop Foley 36 – After going 12-10 last season, Cranbrook is 18-1 and won the Catholic League C-D tournament title with this victory.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each class making sparks:
CLASS A
Detroit U-D Jesuit. (16-3) – The Cubs are Detroit Catholic League Central and A-B tournament champs again, and haven’t lost a game instate since Dec. 15. Jesuit opened this season with a four-point overtime win over Detroit Edison, and will see now-Detroit Public School League champ Edison again Thursday in an Operation Friendship game.
Flint Carman-Ainsworth (17-2) – The Cavaliers won the Saginaw Valley League by three games and gave reigning Class A champion Clarkston one of its few challenges this season, falling by just five on Dec. 7. The only other loss came to Holland West Ottawa (17-2), and nonleague wins over Grand Blanc (16-3), Detroit Renaissance (11-5) and Flint Hamady (13-5) should have Carman-Ainsworth prepared as well.
CLASS B
Detroit Voyageur (18-0) – The Cougars are an intriguing team to watch over the next few weeks coming off Michigan Metro Athletic Conference division and tournament championships and with a win as well over Ypsilanti Arbor Prep (14-4). The Gators and MMAC Black runner-up Detroit Community (10-5) are the only opponents that have come within single digits.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central (16-1) – Considered a Class B contender from the start this season, GRCC has lost only to another in Wyoming Godwin Heights. The Cougars since have won 13 straight and all by double digits, including a pair against Spring Lake (15-4).
CLASS C
Hanover-Horton (16-2) – The Comets have clinched a share of the Cascades Conference title after tying for second last season, and are well on their way to equaling or bettering last year’s 19-4 overall finish. Only second-place Michigan Center (15-2) has come within single digits during Hanover-Horton’s 12-game winning streak.
Kalamazoo Christian (18-1) – The Comets have built on last season’s surprising run to the Quarterfinals with a perfect one through the Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley. The only loss came to SAC Lakeshore winner Coloma (17-2), 58-52 on Jan. 23.
CLASS D
Ellsworth (16-3) – Friday’s win over Vanderbilt clinched a shared Northern Lights Conference title for Ellsworth, which improved from finishing runner-up a year ago. The Lancers haven’t had a game closer than 28 points since falling Jan. 26 in their second meeting this season with eventual league co-champ Wolverine (16-1).
Flint International Academy (17-2) – In its first season in the conference, International can clinch the North Central Thumb League Stars championship outright Tuesday against Kinde-North Huron and has won 12 straight including avenging an earlier loss to second-place Dryden (12-6). Two more big wins have come over Kingston (16-3).
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Waterford Mott (16-3) at White Lake Lakeland (15-4) – Both have doubled their win totals from last season, and Mott can clinch the inaugural Lakes Valley Conference title outright.
Thursday – Hazel Park (17-1) at Clarkston (17-1) – The Wolves won the first meeting big, but a Hazel Park return favor would mean a shared Oakland Activities Association Red title as long as neither trips up Tuesday.
Thursday – Grand Rapids Catholic Central (16-1) at Holland West Ottawa (17-2) – These league champions get one more tune up before going their separate ways for the tournament.
Thursday – Benton Harbor (18-1) at Wyoming (15-4) – The Wolves also are a league champ and can get one more test before the Class A tournament against this Class B favorite.
Thursday – Novi (12-7) at Grand Blanc (16-3) – The KLAA championship game will pit Gold champion Grand Blanc against the runner-up Wildcats for the third time after winning the first two meetings.
PHOTO: Okemos, here against Grand Ledge, clinched a league title last week by finishing a season sweep of East Lansing. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Film Fills In Picture of 'Fennville Flash'
By
Ron Pesch
MHSAA historian
December 28, 2017
We’ve been here before, but not in this way.
The last time was for a retrospective, covering one of the most impressive and awe-inspiring prep careers in Michigan high school history. That time was in print, and included a handful of still images that tried to illustrate the unbelievable.
But this time, the story is in documentary form. It’s woven together from grainy, scratched, faded silent film, a format of capturing memories familiar to thousands of people from generations past, as well as a series of modern-day high-resolution interviews.
Here, the basketball life of the athlete known as the “Fennville Flash” delivers on many levels. Yes, there is a Richie Jordan.
JordanVille, a documentary by John Mooy & Anne Colton, recalls a time when legend spread via word of mouth, newsprint and AM radio.
While it’s hard to comprehend for many today, the exploits of our athletic heroes were formed by “poets in the press box” who sat with pencil and paper, a typewriter, a microphone or a telephone, and described to their audience what they witnessed. On the receiving end, readers and listeners conjured up visualizations based on the facts, phrases and superlatives designed to create an image.
“Traveling left to right on your radio dial” helped listeners feel they were a member of the crowd, seated in the stands, in on the action and a witness to the mayhem. “Packed to the rafters,” reminded fans the importance of what was happening. An exciting game, presented by those with skill, created an event you longed to see. If a broadcast couldn’t be picked up on a transistor or tube radio, the final result might not be known, at the earliest, until the following day’s newspaper arrived.
I’ve told Jordan’s story via the MHSAA before; how he latched on to athletic training, weights and repetition to mold himself into a well-rounded athlete, able to leap to heights unexpected for a kid with a 5-foot-7 frame. The tales of his unfathomable accomplishments slowly leaked beyond the city limits of Fennville into Kalamazoo and greater Southwestern Michigan, then to Detroit. When Detroit Free Press writer Hal Schram relayed Jordan’s feats, the secret traveled across the state and beyond its drawn borders.
From there the legend of Jordan’s accomplishments grew. In Fennville, as in many small towns across the country, the city shut down when a game was played. The Jordan story was so enticing that thousands would travel vast distances to see him play with their own eyes. Today, his single season scoring average of 44.4 points per game during the 1964-65 campaign still remains the top mark in the MHSAA record book.
JordanVille runs just shy of a half hour. Contained within is insight into the athlete that is challenging to relay in print form. Thanks to access to home movies and a series of interviews with Jordan, former teammates, past opponents and his high school coach, the determination, dedication and drive of a kid who wouldn’t let physical size be a deterrent from achievement radiates from the screen. On display is small town America at its finest, and perspective formed over 50+ years.
For Mooy, it completes a filmmaking journey started six years ago. But the story of Jordan, in his eyes, date back to his school days. Mooy first heard about Jordan as a 7th-grader from a math teacher. A second-team all-St. Joseph Valley League selection, Mooy played at Marcellus High School and scrimmaged against Jordan and the Fennville Blackhawks.
He couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Everyone wanted to see this kid play,” said Mooy in 2011. “He was the first high school player I saw sign an autograph.
Today, with the interviews complete, and the film ready for viewing, Mooy sees more than just a sports story:
“With the benefit of years now passed, I look at the Rich Jordan story with a new respect. JordanVille created a place that was welcoming no matter who you were, or what color your skin happened to be. It was the 1960s. Rich was growing up Jewish, the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing, and the Vietnam War was on everyone's mind. And in Fennville, Michigan, from 1961 to 1965, the Jordan high school years, there were lessons beyond sports being learned by everyone that would last a lifetime. The Jordan household, under the guidance of (his parents) Tuffy and Sylvia Jordan, is where the story begins."
The film speaks of a time that has departed. Competition for our attention was less focused; phones hung on walls or sat on tabletops, communities were tighter, the training table featured peanut butter and chocolate milk instead of protein powder. A city could easily be renamed for a day.
The film also reminds us that those days were far from perfect.
If all goes as planned, the public will see the finished product come the flip of the calendar. In West Michigan, JordanVille is scheduled to show on New Year’s Day at 6 p.m. on WGVU, and will repeat on WGVU-Life at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 5.
Seek it out, and spread the word, just like in days of old.
Ron Pesch has taken an active role in researching the history of MHSAA events since 1985 and began writing for MHSAA Finals programs in 1986, adding additional features and "flashbacks" in 1992. He inherited the title of MHSAA historian from the late Dick Kishpaugh following the 1993-94 school year, and resides in Muskegon. Contact him at [email protected] with ideas for historical articles.
PHOTOS: (Top) Richie Jordan runs Fennville's offense during his thrilling high school career in the 1960s. (Middle) Jordan memorabilia, as captured by Bill Williams.