Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 1
December 12, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Michigan’s top boys basketball teams traditionally waste little time each December seeing how they match up against the rest of the elite.
And last week proved no different, as major matchups and a few upsets in the Detroit and Grand Rapids areas no doubt caused some re-ranking in those regional pecking orders.
Below is a look at 10 teams who stuck out with their play last week. It isn't a state ranking – merely one of the week's notable performances.
Records and results are based on what has been reported to the MHSAA.com Score Center.
1. Detroit Pershing (2-0) – The Doughboys have been considered by most one of the top two teams heading into the season, along with Romulus. Pershing beat Romulus 83-76 and also downed River Rouge – another elite team – 68-48 during opening week.
2. Muskegon Heights (2-0) – Heights may have gone through a number of changes over the last year, but it remains elite on the court. The Tigers opened with a 74-50 win over Way Point, then defeated reigning Class A runner-up Rockford 60-59.
3. Grand Rapids South Christian (2-0) – The Sailors opened with a 54-42 win over Wyoming before notching a solid upset of 2012 Class A Quarterfinalist Grand Rapids Christian, 69-63.
4. Romulus (1-1) – The Eagles may have fallen to Pershing already. But they also opened with a 69-67 win over Dearborn Heights Robichaud – which earlier in the week beat Westland John Glenn, another considered among the elite heading into the season.
5. Holt (2-0) – The Rams have been more spoiler than contender of late in the powerful Capital Area Activities Conference Blue, but they could be back in the hunt. Holt opened with a 54-51 win over Lansing Waverly and followed by beating Lansing Eastern 69-60.
6. St. Joseph (2-0) – The Bears were a middling 11-10 last season, but opened this winter with two solid victories. They beat usual power Kalamazoo Central 73-65 and followed with a 53-37 win over Portage Northern.
7. Brown City (2-0) – Dan Blemaster was the point guard on the DeWitt team that made a surprise run to the 2004 Class B Final, and he has opened his coaching career with a pair of wins. Brown City beat Peck 37-33 and Armada 70-56.
8. Bloomfield Hills Andover (2-0) – Andover is playing its final season before merging with Lahser next fall. And after finishing 10-11 last season, the Barons got it going right last week with a 51-46 win over Farmington and a 78-48 victory over Cranbrook-Kingswood.
9. Muskegon (2-0) – The Big Reds are expected to do big things under coach Keith Guy, who came over from Heights this fall. So far, so good, with a 60-45 win over Holland West Ottawa and a 70-67 victory over Benton Harbor.
10. Grand Rapids Catholic Central (1-1) – The Eagles lost a tough one at the end of the week, 69-66 to Zeeland West. But they opened with a 77-67 win over Grand Rapids Christian.
PHOTO: Saginaw, last season’s Class A champion, opened last week with a 78-60 win over Mount Pleasant. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
After Lead Fades, Concord Stays Together to Stop Reigning Champ Tri-Unity in OT
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 12, 2026
EAST LANSING — Dethroning a champion is never easy, a fact Concord found out first-hand against Wyoming Tri-unity Christian in a Division 4 Semifinal on Thursday.
Concord jumped out to a big halftime lead and remained ahead by nine points late in the fourth quarter, but were stunned when Tri-unity Christian junior Cody Osbun forced overtime with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer during the final second of regulation at Breslin Center.
But in a credit to its resolve, Concord refocused and ended Tri-unity’s pursuit of a third-straight title, ending the game on an 11-0 run to earn a thrilling 50-40 overtime victory.
Concord (24-4) advanced to meet Detroit Douglass in the Division 4 Final at 10 a.m. Saturday in what will be its first championship game appearance.
“That was one of the hardest games we’ve ever had to play,” Concord head coach Marcus Gill said. “Hats off to them. That is a great team and a great program, perennial power. They are here every year. We just wanted to come out and be us.”
After Concord senior Jett Smith split a pair of free throws with 4.2 seconds left in regulation to give the Yellowjackets a 38-35 lead, Tri-unity (25-2) put the ball in the hands of Osbun, who drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key as time expired to tie the game at 38-38 and force overtime.
“That was actually a botched play,” Osbun said. “We had a different play where I was supposed to get the ball at half (court), which I did, but we were supposed to have someone running down far and I was supposed to pitch it up to him. But they were face-guarding them. So I just turned and subconsciously threw up a shot, and it just happened to go in.”
Tri-unity Christian then took its first and only lead of the game at 40-39 with 2:29 remaining in overtime on a basket by senior Nolan DeMots.
From there, Concord took over.
Senior Connor Stevens hit a layup with 1:54 remaining to give Concord a 41-40 lead, and then freshman Zack Stevens made two free throws with 1:33 left push the margin to three.
Two more free throws by Connor Stevens with 1:00 remaining made it 45-40 Concord. Following a couple of stops, Concord then took a 48-40 lead with 18 seconds to go on two free throws by Smith.
“I couldn’t be prouder of a group of guys for standing together,” Gill said. “Some guys are not together after having that meltdown in the second half. There’s no way a team that’s not together would have won that overtime. So proud of these guys for staying together and being who we are all year.”
Stevens had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Smith added 13 points for Concord, which came out attacking and aggressive, taking an 18-5 lead after the first quarter and going up 29-13 by halftime.
Concord held a 37-28 lead late in the fourth quarter, but Tri-unity Christian cut its deficit to 37-35 with 48.2 seconds remaining in the game on a 3-pointer by senior Clayton Rowlader, a layup by junior Jake VanKlompenberg and a putback basket by Osbun.
Osbun had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead Tri-unity.
“Obviously we would have liked to have gotten off to a better start,” said Tri-unity first-year head coach Brent Voorhees, who took over this year after the retirement of longtime coach Mark Keeler. “But the kids you saw in that second half, that’s who we are. That’s Tri-unity basketball. That’s the guys that I coached all year.”
PHOTOS (Top) Concord players including Brady Garrett (4) celebrate during the Yellow Jackets’ Division 4 Semifinal win Thursday. (Middle) Darrell Dean Jr. (10) drives to the basket with Tri-unity’s Andrew Hofmann (24) defending. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)