Calvin Christian Follows Hot Hand in C
March 24, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Grandville Calvin Christian’s success is built on team basketball, feeding the hottest hands at opportune times.
Smoke might have been rising off Tony DeWitte’s fingers during the first half of Thursday’s Class C Semifinal against McBain at the Breslin Center.
The 6-foot-2 senior guard made 10 of 11 shots during the first half for 26 points, and Calvin Christian opened up a lead that stayed in double digits for good over the final 20 minutes to advance to Saturday’s championship game with a 65-42 win.
DeWitte finished with 31 points on 12 of 15 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds, and had both of his assists late as the game crept out of reach for the previously-undefeated Ramblers.
“I came out shooting with confidence. The ball was going in, and my teammates found me, got me open,” DeWitte said. “The rim feels two times bigger like that. The ball keeps going in, and it’s great.”
Allow Calvin Christian coach Ryan Stevens to elaborate.
“When he gets hot like that, his teammates know that,” Stevens added. “We have a lot of kids who can do that. They find each other when they are hot, and the thing about Tony is he can score so many different ways. You’ll see him score inside, outside, off the dribble, off the pass, off a screen, off a back cut. He’s just a very good scorer all-around, very hard to defend.”
Calvin Christian (21-4), unranked at the start of the postseason, will face reigning champion Flint Beecher at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The Squires will be playing for their first championship since 1994 after reaching the Semifinals for the first time since that season.
DeWitte entered this week as his team’s leading scorer at 18.2 points per game, and Stevens said his standout shooter’s Thursday performance wasn’t rare – he and DeWitte’s teammates have been witness to that kind of scoring outburst going back to when his seniors were finishing up elementary school.
But it certainly seemed to knock McBain a bit off its game, as the No. 3 Ramblers never warmed up offensively and gave up more than 60 points for the first time since giving up that exact number in the season opener.
“We tried some different things. They hit everything,” McBain coach Bruce Koopman said. “They executed extremely well, and that gave them excellent opportunities to get back and play defense on us. I thought there was a time when (the deficit) was 10, and we got three or four stops in a row. But we didn’t capitalize. Maybe if we’d gotten a few of those to close the gap, it would’ve been different.”
Senior guard Braden Stevens added 10 points and seven assists for Calvin Christian, which made an incredible 60 percent of its shots from the floor after opening with a blistering 70-percent success rate during the first half.
Junior guard Logan Eling had 18 points to lead McBain (26-1), while junior center Craig Sterk had nine points and eight rebounds and senior guard Cole Powell added nine points and six rebounds.
Calvin Christian (21-4) was prepared for elite competition after facing a league schedule that included two matchups with reigning Class B champion Wyoming Godwin Heights and two more against last season’s Class C runner-up, Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian. The Squires lost all four of those games, but came back to beat NorthPointe in the District Final.
“We always talk about ladders, and at the beginning of the season it felt like we were midway up the ladder,” Stevens said. “A lot of teams get there when the tournament starts, but it felt like we were already up there midway through the season.
“We had a couple of losses to Godwin and NorthPointe, and we weren’t satisfied with our record. (So) we wanted to work toward the end of the season.”
The Boys Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.
PHOTOS: Calvin Christian’s Tony DeWitte (20) pushes the ball upcourt during Thursday’s first Class C Semifinal. (Middle) The Squires’ Braden Stevens (10) works to stay in front of McBain’s Logan Eling.
Breslin Bound: 2025-26 Boys Report Week 8
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 26, 2026
As more and more games are played, the Michigan Power Ratings crunches more and more data to tell a more and more complete story of what’s happening across the state.
And this past week saw some serious move among the top of MPR lists in all four boys basketball divisions.
Of the 80 teams making up top-20 lists across the four divisions at the start of today, six teams jumped at least six spots from their positions a week ago – including Grandville (No. 10 to No. 4), Kalamazoo Central (14 to 7) and Detroit Martin Luther King (15 to 8) in Division 1, and Elk Rapids (20 to 14) in Division 3. Ten teams entered the top 20 in their respective divisions – including Jackson Lumen Christi all the way to No. 13 in Division 3 and Genesee Christian all the way to No. 10 in Division 4.
Expect more to come as teams continue to navigate the second half – and in some cases fourth quarter – of their regular-season schedules this week.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Detroit Martin Luther King 60, Detroit Cass Tech 53 The Crusaders (9-4) are the only team undefeated in Detroit Public School League Blue play after holding on in this rivalry matchup with Cass Tech (8-4)
2. Grand Rapids Catholic Central 48, Grand Rapids Christian 43 The Cougars (9-4) moved into first place alone in the Ottawa-Kent Conference White by handing the Eagles (8-5) their first league defeat.
3. Croswell-Lexington 64, Yale 57 The Pioneers (12-3) moved into first place alone in the Blue Water Area Conference after handing Yale (14-1) its lone defeat this winter.
4. North Muskegon 63, Ludington 54 The Norsemen improved to 15-1 while handing Ludington (13-1) its only loss.
5. Romulus Summit Academy 58, Detroit Catholic Central 50 Summit (16-1) started off a three-win week with one of its best this season, over the Shamrocks (9-5) at the Always in My Bag Classic.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
East Kentwood (10-1) As noted above and in previous “Breslin Bound” reports, the O-K Red is as competitive as it gets in Michigan this season, and East Kentwood is the only team to start off 2-0 in league play – thanks to a 69-68 win over Rockford and 66-55 victory over West Ottawa last week. The Falcons’ only loss came Dec. 6 to Warren Fitzgerald, 41-40, and a 52-40 win over King two weeks ago is arguably second in impressiveness only to the victory over the Rams – and even more so considering East Kentwood was 12-12 a year ago.
Rockford (10-2) The Rams had been considered the O-K Red favorites by many before that loss to East Kentwood – which came just three days after their only other defeat, 80-71 in overtime to still-unbeaten East Lansing. While Rockford will have plenty of tough matchups to navigate the rest of the way – including a 2K26 showdown with Grand Rapids Northview on Jan. 31 – surely the Rams have circled the Feb. 3 rematch at East Kentwood as a must-win as they seek to clinch a third-straight league title.
DIVISION 2
Adrian (11-2) Mid-December back-to-back losses to Ypsilanti Lincoln and Jackson have Adrian tied for third in the Southeastern Conference White. But those are the Maples’ only defeats this season as they chase a league title repeat. The rematches are Friday at Lincoln and Feb. 3 at Jackson, and Adrian should have sights set on big postseason goals as well after also making the Regional Finals in finishing 21-5 a year ago. The Maples are coming off handing Onsted its only loss, and earlier gave New Haven one of its two defeats.
Paw Paw (10-5) The Red Wolves remain atop the Wolverine Conference despite a loss to Edwardsburg last week, and if they hold on would win a second-straight championship after finishing only 12-14 overall just two seasons ago. Paw Paw made a big jump to 19-4 last winter and has won five of six since the start of this calendar year including 55-48 over Traverse City West on Saturday at the Jeff McDonald Memorial Showcase. All four in-state defeats are to teams 8-4 or better this winter.
DIVISION 3
Pewamo-Westphalia (10-2) The Pirates’ losses were by a combined six points to a pair of larger Grand Rapids-area opponents that are a combined 19-4 overall – Grand Rapids Catholic Central by four and undefeated Grandville by two. Meanwhile, P-W stands alone atop the Central Michigan Athletic Conference thanks to a 61-38 win over second-place Fowler, part of a streak of 38 straight league wins. Those tough defeats no doubt will be good prep as the Pirates attempt to return to the Semifinals for the second-straight season.
Niles Brandywine (9-4) The Bobcats got through a rough stretch of three straight losses over the first few weeks of January, to South Haven, Berrien Springs and Benton Harbor. But they remain second in the Lakeland Conference and surely are circling the Feb. 6 rematch with leader Berrien Springs, which won their Jan. 9 matchup 73-70 in triple overtime. Brandywine also has a notable win over Battle Creek Pennfield and is only two seasons removed from winning Division 3 in 2023-24.
DIVISION 4
Adrian Lenawee Christian (8-4) After starting this season 2-4, Lenawee Christian has won six straight and is 7-0 in league play to sit alone atop the Tri-County Conference. A 61-60 win over second-place Ottawa Lake Whiteford on Jan. 9 put the Cougars on top, and they also started the second half of the TCC schedule with a 54-53 win over Erie Mason last week. All four losses came to teams that have won at least 10 games this season, which surely will be useful experiences as Lenawee Christian seeks to build on last year’s Quarterfinal run as well.
Wyoming Tri-unity Christian (10-1) The reigning Division 4 champion is under new leadership, somewhat, as previous assistant Brent Voorhees took over this season after the retirement of Mark Keeler, who won 721 games over nearly four decades. The only loss this season came to Division 2 Fruitport during the Cornerstone University Holiday Tournament, and Tri-unity opened December by handing Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian what remains its only loss. The Defenders will see Wyoming Lee on Tuesday with first place in the Alliance League on the line.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Monday – Leslie (11-2) at Michigan Center (11-1) – This concludes the first half of the Cascades Conference East schedule, and these two are tied for first both at 9-0 in league play.
Tuesday – East Jordan (11-1) at Mancelona (12-1) – East Jordan is the only team undefeated in the Ski Valley Conference, and Mancelona’s only loss came to East Jordan, 48-38 on Dec. 9.
Tuesday – Dearborn Divine Child at Jackson Lumen Christi (10-3) – Divine Child clinched a share of the Catholic High School League AA title thanks to Lumen Christi’s win over second-place Detroit Loyola last week, and now can claim the championship outright.
Friday – Grandville (10-0) at East Kentwood (10-1) – Grandville also opens this week by facing Rockford and all of these teams should know a lot more about where they stand in the O-K Red by the end of Friday night.
Saturday – Muskegon (10-0) at Kalamazoo Central (9-2) – As of today, these two are No. 20 and No. 7, respectively, in Division 1 MPR.
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PHOTOS (Top) Harrison junior Dennis Collin (22) makes an outlet pass during the second half of his team’s 48-24 win over Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy on Jan. 12. (Middle) Gladstone's Lonnie Davey puts up a shot while defended by Ishpeming's Dax Kakkuri (14) and Kenny Ambuehl (3) on Jan. 20. (Harrison/SASA photo by Kolleth Photo. Gladstone/Ishpeming photo by Cara Kamps.)