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.)
Vance in New Role Has Muskegon Heights Academy Rolling In Regional
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 5, 2025
MOUNT PLEASANT – Cartier Vance could only smile when he looked out at the big throng of Muskegon Heights fans that made the two-hour trek to watch his team play in Tuesday’s Division 4 Regional opener at Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart.
“Basketball is a big deal in Muskegon Heights – always has been,” said Vance, one of the senior leaders on an experienced Tigers’ roster.
“Where I come from, it’s hard sometimes, so this is great.”
Vance made it worth the trip for all of the orange-and-black clad Tigers’ fans, scoring 13 of his team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter as Heights held off a strong Pentwater team, 74-63.
Heights (12-10), which entered the postseason sub-.500 at 9-10, advanced to face No. 3 Fowler (22-3) in Thursday’s Regional Final.
The Tigers were a totally different team at the start of the season, stumbling to a 2-5 start, when Vance came to longtime Heights coach Dalrecus Stewart with an idea.
“He told me that he thought it would be better for the team if he came off the bench,” said Stewart, a 1989 Heights graduate and former standout player. “How many high school kids are mature enough to say something like that?”
Stewart made the lineup adjustment and the Tigers caught fire, winning their final four games of the regular season and now three in a row in the tournament.
Vance, a varsity starter since his sophomore year, had been getting into foul trouble on a regular basis, which either forced him to the bench or forced him to change his trademark aggressive style of play. Coming off the bench has allowed him to play more freely and have extra energy in the fourth quarter, Stewart said.
That was certainly the case Tuesday night. When Pentwater went to a zone in the fourth quarter to try and contain the Heights “bruise brothers” – seniors D’Marion Buchanan and Marcus Bradford – Vance made them pay with three 3-pointers, followed by a pair of driving layups to essentially put the game away.
“When I come in, I just try to bring extra energy and help out wherever we need it,” said Vance, who averages 14 points per game. “This game, I had some open shots and just tried to finish the job.”
Experience has been a big part of Heights’ postseason run, with five senior starters. Buchanan and Bradford are the 1-2 inside punch, Willie Hector is the point guard and facilitator, while Jamarion Taylor (the leading scorer at 16 points per game) and Robert Wallace are slashers and scorers.
Vance is the first one off the bench, followed by talented freshman Cardiyah Harris, who had a huge offensive rebound and putback in the fourth quarter to thwart Pentwater’s comeback attempt.
“Once we get all of our guys involved, we can be a very good team,” said Vance, also a standout student who hopes to play college basketball. “Us seniors have been through a lot together. We all have different talents, so we try to build each other up.”
The veteran team has certainly caught the hearts of the city’s residents, who have seen the school’s enrollment decline as it transitioned to Muskegon Heights Academy. Many of those residents took the school’s fan bus to the game, while others listened to Frank St. James’ broadcast of the game on the hometown station, WUVS-FM 103.7, The Beat.
Stewart, who also serves as Heights’ dean of students and athletic director, has worked hard to maintain the program’s high standards despite lower student numbers. He said this season has unfolded the way he thought it might.
“We started with some big schools, so I knew we could get beat up in December,” said Stewart. “Then I thought we could level out in January and then get rolling in February, which is kind of how it worked out.”
Now the Tigers are trying to advance at least one step farther than a year ago, when they lost to Sacred Heart in the Regional title game. They face a huge challenge in a strong Fowler team, which rallied in the fourth quarter Tuesday to knock off host Sacred Heart.
“I know one thing for certain – these kids are going to play extremely hard,” said Stewart. “Everyone who knows me knows that I bleed orange and black, and that I love my community.
“These kids, the way they play and how hard they work, are a source of pride for our community.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Muskegon Heights Academy’s Cartier Vance (0) gets to the rim during his team’s 59-46 District Final win Friday at Fruitport Calvary Christian. (Middle) Vance makes a move just outside the 3-point arc. (Photos by Michael Banka/Local Sports Journal.)