Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 7
January 27, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The winter may be half over, but dig a bit and you may still come up with a few surprise contenders this boys basketball season.
Sure, there are obvious favorites to watch over the next few months – see Clarkston among them below. But a few more key wins here and there, and some of the other teams we’ve noted this week should be in the hunt when March rolls around.
Class A
Ann Arbor Skyline (7-3) – The Eagles are chasing Ann Arbor Huron after falling to their rival by 20 on Dec. 20, but remain tied for second in the Southeastern Conference Red thanks in part to five straight wins including one over Ann Arbor Pioneer. The last two victories have been nonleague but arguably their most impressive – 79-76 over surging Belleville and 60-54 over Southeastern Conference White second-place Dexter in overtime Friday.
Clarkston (11-0) – The Wolves have surged with the increased competition this month, beating Oak Park 69-63 in overtime and Southfield 55-39 last week after a 24-point win over Detroit Pershing on Jan. 17. Only Oak Park has come within 15 points. A major matchup with North Farmington on Friday should give the winner a nice advantage in the Oakland Activities Association Red.
Redford Thurston (10-1) – These Eagles are only a six-point loss to undefeated Walled Lake Western from being perfect themselves, and lead the Western Wayne Athletic Conference Red after running past second-place Dearborn Heights Crestwood 69-57 on Friday.
Taylor Kennedy (7-2) – Kennedy finished second in the Downriver League a year ago to rival Truman, but enters this week tied for first with Allen Park and Southgate Anderson (and with the first of two matchups with Truman coming up Feb. 3). The Eagles have won five straight since falling by 10 to Detroit Community at Romulus’ holiday classic.
Class B
Allendale (6-3) – The Falcons took a tough 55-53 overtime loss last week to Hamilton, but remain in first place in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue after successive wins earlier this month over contenders Grand Rapids West Catholic and Coopersville. Allendale was third and .500 overall a season ago.
Battle Creek Harper Creek (9-1) – An upset loss last week to Parma Western aside, Harper Creek looks good to increase its win total for the third straight season and sits tied for first place in the first-year Interstate 8 Athletic Conference with Jackson Lumen Christi – which the Beavers beat by 10 on Jan. 13.
Otsego (9-2) – Thanks to a mid-December loss to Plainwell, the Bulldogs are tied for first in the Wolverine Conference East and with Plainwell up again next week. But since that loss, Otsego is 6-1 and handed Class A Stevensville Lakeshore its only defeat this season.
Yale (11-0) – We’ve seen the Bulldogs for ourselves, and there are a few reasons they have 10 wins by double digits – notably the inside-outside combination of forward Josh McClelland and guard Cody Kegley. Up next are Blue Water Area Conference first-place (with one more win) Richmond and third-place Imlay City.
Class C
East Jordan (6-1) – Last week’s 60-53 overtime loss to Kalkaska was a misstep, with East Jordan otherwise off to a strong start. The Red Devils are tied with Boyne City and Elk Rapids atop the Lake Michigan Conference standings after finishing runners-up to Boyne last season.
Iron Mountain (9-0) – The toughest opponent comes tonight – Mid-Peninsula Athletic Conference rival Negaunee, also undefeated in the league – but Iron Mountain should be ready to win close after two victories of four or fewer points over the last two weeks. The Mountaineers handed Negaunee their last league loss – in the regular season finale of 2010-11.
Quincy (8-0) – The Orioles’ drive for the Big 8 Conference championship has been steady with all eight wins this season by 10 or more points and the latest no doubt the sweetest to date. Quincy, after finishing second to Homer by a win last season, beat Homer 63-48 on Friday to remain tied atop the league standings with Concord.
Vestaburg (8-0) – The Wolverines won only 24 games total over the last four seasons and need just two more victories this winter to equal the 2013-14 total. They’re tied for first place in the Mid-State Activities Conference with tonight’s opponent, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart.
Class D
Bellaire (7-2) – The Eagles’ aspirations for a fourth-straight league championship got a major boost with a 57-51 win over Class C and second-place Johannesburg-Lewiston last week. Third-place Onaway broke Bellaire’s 36-game conference winning streak earlier this season and host the Eagles next week in a Ski Valley Conference showdown.
Boyne Falls (8-0) – The Loggers last lost a league game Jan. 28, 2011, and sit atop the Northern Lakes Conference standings with a 41-point win over second-place Mackinaw City to their credit. They also own a 25-point win over Johannesburg-Lewiston.
Lake Linden-Hubbell (9-0) – The Lakes have won 26 straight league games and again lead the Copper County Conference after beating second-place Republic-Michigamme 66-31 on Monday. No opponent has come within 32 points.
Waterford Our Lady (11-0) – The Lakers are shaping up as a Class D favorite, with the only single-digit wins this season against Class A Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and Class B Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood. The other nine wins have come by at least 12 points.
PHOTO: Clarkston remains undefeated in part thanks to a 78-54 win over Detroit Pershing on Jan. 17 at Warren Fitzgerald. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
Forest Park Working to Make Most of Every Second in Drive to Return Downstate
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
March 3, 2026
CRYSTAL FALLS — The Crystal Falls Forest Park boys basketball team appears to be on a mission as it progresses through the postseason.
Forest Park is fresh from earning its third-consecutive Division 4 District basketball title with a 73-38 defeat of Norway on Friday in Crystal Falls.
The Trojans (19-4) resume at 5 p.m. (CST) tonight when they face Felch North Dickinson in a Regional Semifinal at Kingsford.
“(North Dickinson has) a real good team,” Forest Park coach Jason Price said. “Nothing’s easy in the tournaments.”
The teams split during the regular season with North Dickinson taking a 57-55 decision at Crystal Falls on Jan. 20 and the Trojans rolling past the Nordics 77-39 on at North Dickinson on Feb. 2.
Junior Vic Guiliani, an all-state selection last winter who missed his junior football season due to a torn meniscus, returned to the Trojans’ basketball lineup shortly after the holidays.
“It feels real good to be back,” he said. “It took a lot of work to get back. It took a couple games to get back into the flow.
It also feels good to get three (District titles) in a row. We feel very lucky. Not every team can do that.”
The Trojans opened their postseason journey with an 80-38 triumph at Powers North Central last Wednesday, scoring four players in double digits in each District game.
A year ago, they reached the Division 4 Semifinals at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center, where they fell to eventual champion Wyoming Tri-unity Christian 67-46.
In 2024, Forest Park bowed to St. Ignace 68-51 in a Quarterfinal contest at Gladstone.
This year’s Trojans, with no seniors in the lineup, was led by junior Dax Huuki’s 23 points in Friday’s District Final.
They are wearing T-shirts which have “1920” printed below their team logo.
“That’s on there because that’s the number of seconds there are in a basketball game,” Huuki said. “That’s the type of effort we need all the time.
“This feels good. We worked hard for this all season. Coach told us to settle down and play our game.”
Forest Park turned the ball over just five times in Wednesday’s District opener and committed 10 turnovers in Friday’s championship contest. The Trojans know they’ll need to continue taking care of the ball tonight.
“They have three big guys,” Guiliani said. “They played in the state football finals last fall. They have some real good athletes. We’re playing unselfish basketball. I think we’re the most dangerous when we’re in a fast-paced game and hitting shots. We can also slow it down.”
Norway attempted to slow the pace early in Friday’s contest. The Trojans, however, led 36-20 at halftime and picked it up even more in the second half.
Huuki also has plenty of respect for the Nordics.
“They work as hard in the summer as we do,” he said. “The first game with them was hard. We just tried to learn from that. We have to play the way we know we can. We grew up together and know each other and how we play. Communication is so important.”
Tonight’s winner advances to Thursday’s Regional Final at Negaunee to face the winner of today’s Wakefield-Marenisco/Dollar Bay contest.
“These juniors have played together their whole lives,” Price said. “These are hard-working kids. They put the time in during the offseason. We settled in and played very unselfish again (Friday). We’re defending very well.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS (Top) Crystal Falls Forest Park's Vic Giuliani makes a move to get around Marquette's Halen McCollum and take a shot during a loss to the Sentinels on Feb. 17 at Northern Michigan University. (Middle) Trojans coach Jason Price talks to his team between the third and fourth quarters against Marquette. (Below) Forest Park's Dax Huuki goes up for two against Marquette's Carter Fierstine at the Vandament Arena. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)