Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 5
January 13, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
With the beginning of January comes the end of holiday basketball showcases and a switch in focus by MHSAA teams toward local opponents, conference races and the haul of the second half of the regular season.
The first week of 2015 saw the ranks of the undefeated decreased by 35 boys teams statewide to 64 remaining, with some listed below among those that caught my eye during the first days of the new year.
Class A
Alpena (6-0) – The Wildcats not only sit alone atop the Big North Conference standings as they look to repeat as champions, but avenged their two losses from last season – by 10 over Traverse City West before break and by 20 over Traverse City Central last week.
Detroit East English (4-2) – The Bulldogs are early leaders in a Detroit Public School League East Division 1 that includes powers Pershing, Cass Tech, Martin Luther King and Southeastern; East English’s current three-game winning streak started with a big win over solid Southfield and includes a five-pointer over better-than-its-record Cass Tech from last week.
Grand Ledge (5-0) – Last season’s somewhat-surprise Capital Area Activities Conference Blue runner-up isn’t sneaking up on anyone this winter; a strong backcourt has paced a fast start that’s included wins over Lansing Sexton on the first Friday of the season and much-improved Jackson by 15 last week.
Middleville Thornapple Kellogg (5-0) – The Trojans have bounced back from last season’s sub-.500 finish thanks in part to four wins by four or fewer points, including a 49-46 victory last week over Caledonia.
Class B
Detroit Henry Ford (7-0) – Ford is off to a strong start again this season after starting and ending strong a year ago; the Trojans look good to avoid the five-game losing streak they encountered at this time last year, although Cass Tech and Pershing are up next.
Dowagiac (4-1) – A one-point loss to Wolverine Conference West leader Paw Paw before break surely smarted a bit, but the Chieftains came back to start 2015 with a 58-55 win over rival Niles; they pick up league play Friday against Berrien Springs.
Flint Northwestern (5-0) – After struggling mightily the last two seasons, Northwestern has begun like the Northwestern of old, with a nine-point win over Midland and 37-pointer over Saginaw Heritage last week keeping the Wildcats among the undefeated.
Williamston (6-1) – Only a loss to Class A Dexter in the championship game of Coldwater’s holiday tournament has kept the Hornets from perfection – and also from beating all of their opponents by double figures as they did last week versus East Lansing and Fowlerville.
Class C
Burton Bendle (6-0) – The Tigers are halfway to last season’s 12 wins and tied for first in the Genesee Area Conference Blue thanks in large part to a 72-67 overtime win last week over New Lothrop, last season’s league runner-up.
Detroit Loyola (5-2) – The newly-crowned Division 7 football champion has been pretty good at basketball too over the years – but has looked better than that early with its only losses by six or fewer points to much bigger Henry Ford and Detroit Renaissance.
Gwinn (4-2) – The Modeltowners have won four straight after two big losses to start and beat Houghton and Norway on back-to-back nights last week – they took the lead against Norway with 31 seconds to play on the way to winning 43-41.
Laingsburg (5-0) – The Wolfpack have made a smooth transition from coach Greg Mitchell (now at Hope College) to Dan Blemaster (formerly coach of Brown City). Laingsburg sits atop the Central Michigan Athletic Conference by a half-game over Fulton-Middleton (see below).
Class D
Fulton-Middleton (5-1) – The Pirates are right behind Laingsburg in the CMAC after having last week’s game against Bath postponed, but did open the week with a 55-53 victory over reigning Class C runner-up Pewamo-Westphalia – one of only three teams to beat Fulton during 2013-14.
Peck (5-1) – The 8-player football power is strong at basketball too, with its only loss to Class B Richmond, 45-41, on Jan. 3. The Pirates lost only once in 2013-14, to eventual Class D champion Southfield Christian in their Quarterfinal.
Morenci (3-1) – The Bulldogs are following their football success of the fall with a nice start to the winter including a one-point win last week over Whitmore Lake after a two-point win to kick off the new year against Gorham-Fayette (Ohio) on Jan. 3.
Onekama (4-0) – The Portagers sit atop the West Michigan D League standings in part because of a two-point win last week over reigning league champion Baldwin; Onekama followed up with another two-point win against Manistee.
PHOTO: Detroit East English defenders block the lane during their 75-70 win over Detroit Cass Tech last week. (Photo courtesy of the Detroit Public School League.)
Guards Answer Call for Country Day
March 23, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Before Saturday’s MHSAA Class B Final, Kurt Keener challenged guards Edmond Sumner, Mory Diane and Austin Price to carry Detroit Country Day to one more win.
In the recent past, Keener might’ve asked something similar of guys like 6-foot-11 Amir Williams or 7-0 Da’Shonte Riley. But this was not like most teams Keener has coached to 678 wins over the last 35 seasons.
Of course, Country Day has had outstanding guards lately as well – Ray McCallum and Kenny Knight keyed the 2010 title run – but it’s been a while since a Yellowjackets team has been this guard-driven.
But as they’ve done all season, the trio was ready to answer. Price had 15 points, Sumner 13 and an ill Diane seven in just 16 minutes as Country Day survived its closest game of the tournament to defeat Detroit Community 57-49 and earn its ninth MHSAA championship.
“We’re used to it. With our hard work in practice, we knew what to do when we came down the stretch,” Edmond said. “It was nothing new to us.”
But a title is to this group. Although Price played in Semifinals the last two seasons and Diane joined him in the starting lineup in 2012, none had played in a championship game before facing Community, located just 10 miles south of the Yellowjackets’ campus.
Country Day (25-3) was the favorite coming in to the tournament as the top-ranked team in the final Associated Press poll. But Community (18-10) proved to be much closer in ability than the teams’ records indicated.
Much has been mentioned during the tournament of the tough schedules both played during the regular season, and particularly of the ranked Class A teams that handed Community a few losses but also pointed the Hurricanes down the path toward their first championship game.
Although Country Day led by a handful of points for most of the final three quarters, Community tied the score 36 seconds into the fourth.
“Sports at times, you’ve got to just dig deep and make a stop. I just kept saying, ‘one more,’” Keener said. “I asked Mory at one point at halftime, ‘Can you give us one or two plays?’ One or two plays in a game like this make all the difference in the world.”
Diane made the jumper that put Country Day back ahead 46-44 with 7:09 to play. Price hit six free throws and Sumner a pair down the stretch as the Yellowjackets finally pulled away for good.
But not until the final minute did it feel like Community had run out of comeback opportunities.
Country Day broke 100 points twice but scored fewer than 62 points only once before Saturday. The Hurricanes outshot the Yellowjackets 41 percent to 39 and had only one fewer rebound. The difference came in part at the free throw line, where Country Day made 20 of 26 tries and Community made only 9 of 16.
“The pressure bothered us a little bit. … If we made some free throws and layups, I think we’re right there,” Community coach Venias Jordan, Jr., said. “This is right where we wanted it. Going into the game, I told (my players) if we keep them 55ish, we had a chance to win.”
But Country Day and especially 6-foot-4 sophomore Deshawn Thomas also did well in limiting South Florida recruit Byron Zeigler. The 6-6 senior had 17 points Friday, but only nine on five shots in the Final.
“They made it pretty hard for us to get in our spots on offense, made it tough for us in the post,” Zeigler said. “They fronted us, double-teamed us, trapped us. They did everything possible to make us uncomfortable so we couldn’t get into our sweet spots.”
Senior forward Jerrell Martin led Community with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Thomas had six points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench for the Yellowjackets.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Country Day's Maurice Ways (22) and his teammates rush the floor after the Yellowjackets clinched the Class B title Saturday. (Middle) Country Day's Austin Price (14) and Community's Landie Davis go for a loose ball during the championship game. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)