Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 9
February 5, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
To say some of last week’s boys basketball results shook things up around the state might be an understatement.
Contenders in all four classes took defeats as others looked to fill their spots among the elite. Those that made our just-miss list this week included impressive upsets – like East Kentwood over Grand Haven and Ravenna over Whitehall – and the titanic Bridgeport win over Saginaw Swan Valley. But take a look at the games we did note, and more, as we move within four weeks of the start of this season’s MHSAA Tournament.
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. Clarkston 70, Hazel Park 39 – The reigning Class A champion Wolves are still the team to beat after handing Hazel Park its first loss of the season.
2. Holland West Ottawa 45, Flint Carman-Ainsworth 27 – The most intriguing matchup of the Redhawks Showcase at Grand Rapids Union saw Ottawa-Kent Conference Red leader West Ottawa down the first place team in the Saginaw Valley League.
3. Hazel Park 77, Benton Harbor 70 – Hazel Park rebounded quickly from the Clarkston loss with two wins, including dealing this first defeat to Class B contender Benton Harbor also at Grand Rapids Union.
4. Detroit Henry Ford 76, Detroit Cass Tech 73 (OT) – A Cass Tech win would’ve led to a shared Detroit Public School League West Division 1 championship; instead, Ford finished first alone.
5. Flint Hamady 77, Flint Beecher 71 – The Hawks avenged a one-point loss to their rival from Dec. 19 and now sit with Beecher as the only Genesee Area Conference Red teams with only one league defeat.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each class making sparks:
CLASS A
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (11-2) – The Rangers opened the season with back-to-back losses on consecutive days by a combined three points. Since, they’ve been nearly unstoppable, with Friday’s 54-45 win over East Grand Rapids (9-4) the most recent of solid outings. Forest Hills Central finished perfect over the first half of the O-K White schedule and also earned impressive late December wins over Wyoming Godwin Heights (13-1) and Spring Lake (11-3).
Petoskey (12-1) – The Northmen took a two-game lead in the Big North Conference with a buzzer-beating 51-49 win over Traverse City West on Friday. The only loss was to host Grand Haven at the Buccaneers’ Invitational in late December. With size and experience, Petoskey will be dangerous emerging from the north during tournament time.
CLASS B
Parchment (9-3) – The Panthers can clinch a share of the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference Red championship with a win over fifth-place Comstock on Friday after surviving back-to-back scares against league foes. They’ll take it after finishing 4-17 overall and sixth in the league only a season ago.
Parma Western (10-3) – The Panthers are back on top of the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference after sharing the championship with Marshall a year ago. Last week’s loss to Mason was the team’s first since Dec. 15 – but Western then closed the week Friday by avenging that first defeat with a 51-43 win over league foe Coldwater.
CLASS C
Bath (7-5) – The Bees’ overall record isn’t that impressive, but they’ve won six straight with victories over Pewamo-Westphalia and Fowler over the last two weeks to stir up the Central Michigan Athletic Conference standings. The last loss before the streak came against league leader Laingsburg, which has to be more cautious heading into the rematch Wednesday.
Madison Heights Madison (10-3) – The Eagles clinched the Macomb Area Conference Bronze title last week and added to a seven-game winning streak. Madison should be plenty prepared for Class C teams when the tournament begins coming out of a regular-season schedule featuring mostly bigger teams. The three losses were by a combined six points to Royal Oak Shrine, Class A Berkley and Class B Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard.
CLASS D
Dollar Bay (11-0) – For good reason, undefeated Ewen-Trout Creek has gotten the majority of Upper Peninsula hoops attention this winter. But Dollar Bay shouldn’t be sneaking up on anyone and has a chance to snag some of the spotlight playing the Panthers on Wednesday. Dollar Bay leads the Copper Country division of the Copper Mountain Conference.
Mio (9-3) – The Thunderbolts trail undefeated Hillman and Oscoda in a strong North Star League Big Dipper division that has five teams with at least eight wins. They added to the league’s reputation with a 59-51 defeat last week of Ski Valley Conference leader Johannesburg-Lewiston, which is in Class C. Mio hosts Hillman on Tuesday.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Wayne Memorial (11-3) at Canton (14-0) – Among the most impressive wins of Canton’s perfect start was a 27-pointer over Wayne, which sits second behind the Chiefs in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Black.
Tuesday – Ewen-Trout Creek (14-0) at Dollar Bay (11-0) – As noted above, this matches two of the most intriguing teams in all of the Upper Peninsula, with the Panthers also a Copper Mountain Conference leader in the Porcupine Mountain division.
Wednesday – Rapid River (9-1) at Powers North Central (9-3) – Not only is North Central chasing only leader Rapid River in the Skyline Central Conference small-schools division, but Rapid River on Dec. 7 ended the Jets’ 84-game winning streak.
Friday – Buckley (9-3) at Maple City Glen Lake (12-1) – Glen Lake holds a narrow lead in the Northwest Conference with one more league game played and won, but Buckley won the first meeting Jan. 9 by 14 points.
Saturday – Muskegon (10-3) at Ypsilanti Community (10-1) – The leader in the O-K Black and the co-leader in the Southeastern Conference White, respectively, should be among Class A teams to watch at tournament time.
PHOTO: Muskegon, here against Muskegon Mona Shores in a 63-49 win on Jan. 26, takes on Ypsilanti Community in one of this week’s most intriguing matchups. (Photo by Tim Reilly.)
Tri-Unity Christian Sends Retiring Coach to Championship Day 1 More Time
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 13, 2025
EAST LANSING — One thing is certain.
Saturday will see the last game in the career of legendary Wyoming Tri-unity Christian boys basketball coach Mark Keeler.
The question now is whether Keeler will go out with a seventh MHSAA Finals championship, or a seventh runner-up trophy as he finishes off his 38th and final season as head coach of the Defenders.
Tri-unity Christian helped send Keeler, who announced his retirement earlier this season, to a fifth-straight championship game with a 67-46 win over Crystal Falls Forest Park in the first of two Division 4 Semifinals on Thursday.
“I asked my wife Cheryl before we came today to please pray for me because I’ve been pretty emotional all week,” Keeler said. “It’s hard sometimes after 38 years of coaching to realize it’s going to be my last game. At the same time, it’s amazing it gets to be at the Breslin in the championship. I think it’s a win-win situation.”
There wasn’t much doubt from the start against Forest Park that it would be a winning situation for Tri-unity Christian, which made four of its first five shots from 3-point range and jumped out to a 20-6 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The margin kept growing in the second quarter with the Defenders leading by as many as 21 points before going into the locker room at halftime up 38-19.
Tri-unity Christian shot 75 percent (15 of 20) from the field in the first half and limited Forest Park to 5 of 18 shooting.
“If we buy in on the defensive end, that is what’s going to win us championships,” Tri-unity Christian senior Keaton Blanker said. “That’s what we are here to do. We just bought into it. Everybody plays their role, and we have amazing trust in each other. It’s just a grind.”
Sophomore Cody Osbun led the way offensively for the Defenders (26-2), finishing with 16 points. Blanker added 11 points and senior Joey Mellon added 10 for Tri-unity Christan, which shot 64.1percent from the field (25 of 39) for the game and made 8 of 13 shots from 3-point range.
Senior Kevin Giuliani scored 16 points and sophomore Vic Guiliani added 10 for Forest Park (25-3), which advanced to the Semifinals for the first time since 2004.
“The start of the game didn’t go the way we wanted it,” Forest Park head coach Jason Price said. “Quick shots from us and easy layups for them in the first quarter. That’s just how the game went.”
The Trojans actually ended up shooting decent from the field, connecting on 44.1 percent of their attempts overall (15 of 34) and making 5 of 11 from 3-point range. But 15 turnovers didn’t help.
Forest Park was able to take the next step after losing in the Quarterfinals last year, and the future looks even brighter with six sophomores and a freshman on the roster. Kevin Guiliani, Matt Showers and Gabe Quevedo were the only seniors.
“We’re young,” Price said. “We’ve got a lot of talent coming back, and we’ve got some younger talent down at the middle school level. These (seniors) have paved the way.”
PHOTOS (Top) Tri-unity Christian’s Brayden Nelson (12) grabs a rebound near Forest Park’s Vic Giuliani on Thursday. (Middle) Kevin Giuliani, right, and the Defenders’ Joey Mellon ascend for the game’s opening tip.