Class B Final: They leave as champions
March 24, 2012
EAST LANSING – Lansing Sexton coach Carlton Valentine described Saturday night how every one of his four senior starters fit into a puzzle the last three seasons.
All could star for most teams. But they each contributed a few outstanding skills that together pushed the Big Reds to one of the most dominating runs in MHSAA history.
Together one last time, they combined for a memorable closing performance in the Class B Final at the Breslin Center.
In its third-straight title game appearance, Sexton won its second-straight championship, downing Stevensville-Lakeshore 67-32 in the last game of the winter season.
“Not just winning, but winning with these guys, playing with these guys, is like a blessing,” Sexton senior Anthony Clemmons said. “To have guys around me chasing the same dream as me … I think everybody sacrificed something to win. And to have a winning coach too, you can’t forget him, having him (to) put us through a lot. We deserved it.”
The Big Reds finished 27-1 this season. On its own, that’s impressive enough. But consider:
Sexton’s 74 wins over three seasons is tied for sixth-most in MHSAA history for that long of a stretch.
The Big Reds went undefeated as the only Class B team among all Class As in the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue, arguably the strongest league in the state this season.
They won all of their games by at least eight points, taking down Class A Semifinalist Romulus, highly-ranked Lansing Eastern twice, Class A Quarterfinalist Okemos twice and Class A reigning champion Kalamazoo Central, plus No. 4 Lansing Catholic and No. 3 Detroit Country Day during the postseason.
That only loss was by one, 81-80, to Detroit Pershing. The Doughboys were ranked No. 1 in Class A at the time.
“These guys have endured just so much pressure, being number one all year, being the number one team in the state of Michigan, regardless of class,” Sexton coach Carlton Valentine said.
“This was the number one basketball team in the state of Michigan.”
That the Big Reds would finish tops in Class B was well-established midway through the second quarter. Sexton rattled off 14 straight points and ended the first half on a 20-2 run that made the score 32-10.
And the Big Reds did so with the Iowa-bound Clemmons playing only 11 minutes because of a back injury suffered in the second quarter. Mr. Basketball runner-up Denzel Valentine capped a four-year varsity career with 15 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. He’ll next suit up for Michigan State. Senior Bryn Forbes, who has signed with Cleveland State, scored a game-high 19 points. Junior forward Jalen Hayes, who has emerged as the team’s star-in-waiting over the last two seasons, had 12 points.
“That’s one of the best high school basketball teams I’ve seen in the state of Michigan,” Lakeshore coach Sean Schroeder said. “For us to compete at a better level tonight, we had to make some shots. When you shoot 23 percent for the ball game, it’s difficult to compete with a team that good.”
Lakeshore (24-3) entered the tournament ranked No. 7 and was playing in its first MHSAA Final.
“I think what I’ll remember about this team the most is we always played tough no matter what game it was. We never gave up today,” Lancers senior Loren Johnson said. “I’ll always remember making it to Breslin, the championship game. And I’ll always remember this loss too. It’s not a good feeling. But I’m glad we made it here.”
Sexton finished its first trip to Breslin of this recent string with a loss to Detroit Country Day in the 2010 Final.
The Big Reds have won four games at MSU since – but will try to come back next season without Denzel Valentine, Clemmons, Forbes and Jeff Cain, those four starters who have played together since elementary school.
“I think we’re pretty good. I don’t know about the greatest ever. But we put a lot of hard work in,” Forbes said. “These guys have been grinding ever since I met them, 11 years ago. But yeah, I think we’ll go down as one of the greatest.”
Click for box score or to watch the game and press conferences at MHSAA.tv.
PHOTOS: (Top) Sexton players pose for photos after receiving their medals and trophy for winning the Class B championship. (Middle) Big Reds freshman Trevor Manuel slammed down two of his five points. (Bottom) Bryn Forbes led Sexton with 19 points, including two on this dunk. (See more at Terry McNamara Photography.)
Performance: Unity's Noah Wiswary
March 22, 2019
Noah Wiswary
Hudsonville Unity Christian senior – Basketball
The 6-foot-1 senior point guard entered the final week of the season as Unity Christian’s fourth-leading scorer at 7.8 points per game. But Wiswary led the Crusaders in scoring in their Quarterfinal, Semifinal and championship game wins as the program won its first MHSAA Finals championship, earning Wiswary the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Wiswary had 15 points and eight assists in the Quarterfinal as Unity avenged an earlier two-point loss with a 71-45 win over Grand Rapids South Christian. He added 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting against Ludington in a 69-30 Semifinal win, and then 17 points again on 6-of-9 shooting as the Crusaders edged River Rouge 58-55 on Saturday. Wiswary also scored 11 points in Unity’s Regional Final win the week before over Benton Harbor, last season’s Class B champion. His final week of work raised Wiswary’s scoring average to 8.7 ppg for the season, to go with 4.5 assists per game. The varsity’s ball boy before high school, Wiswary finished his career either first or second all-time on Unity’s career assists list – the numbers are being tabulated – and the team was a combined 63-12 during his three seasons on varsity, including 26-2 this winter.
This was the second championship of this school year for Wiswary, a starting defensive back on the football team that won the Division 5 title in the fall. He also plays center field and pitches for the baseball team, and is hoping he’ll continue his basketball career at the college level. Wiswary is undecided where, but plans to study criminal justice in pursuit of a career in law enforcement.
Coach Scott Soodsma said: “If you wanted to look at one key individual who stepped up his game during the tournament run, there is one unanimous choice and it’s him. It’s not that he was always the best player, but where he came from to where he ended was sensational. The kid obviously led us through the tournament. I really was impressed with his hustle at both ends of the floor. He’s always been a pretty good offensive player, and he really turned it up defensively a lot. He’s capable of guarding almost everything, and his leadership, his will to win – he was willing to do whatever it took, and the urgency set in being a senior. … Just the expectation was there. Without an expectation, it’s a lot more difficult to win. When you expect to win rather than hope to win, you think you’ll win. The expectation we are going to win is a huge asset, and I think that’s exactly where he was at – he really believed we were going to win, and he played like that.”
Performance Point: “I just think we took the role as underdog. Last year we lost to Benton Harbor, so we were like, ‘This is our year.’ Nobody really looked at us because obviously there’s Benton Harbor, River Rouge, South Christian, and we were going to just shock the world – and that’s what we did. … I knew we had to turn it up a notch because (there were) only three games left in our season, and my teammates, they got me the ball in the right spots. When I have shooters that other people are worried about, it just got me open way more. I’ve got four shooters on the floor. I’m going to get them the ball. But the opportunity was there. I was open – I was going to shoot it.”
Winner’s mentality: “We’ve been here (to Finals in other sports) before, and nobody really cares – I play good, T.J. (VanKoevering) plays good, nobody really cares as long as we win. If I scored 40 points and we lost, we’d all still be really mad and I’d be mad, but all we wanted to do was win. We had that winning mentality of we just wanted to win. … I thought we could beat Benton Harbor, but I didn’t actually think it was going to happen. Once we beat Benton Harbor I was like, ‘All right, we can beat anyone now.’ We did not have an easy path. In our District we had to beat a good Holland Christian team, and we had to beat them three times in a year which is not easy to do. In the Regional we’ve got play Benton Harbor, which beat us last year by 15, and in the Finals we gotta play River Rouge, which is a historic program. Beating those three teams in a playoff run, and South Christian – who was on a 19-game winning streak – beating those teams on a playoff run, that’s unheard of.”
Multi-sport crossover: “That River Rouge game was physical; it was practically a football game out there half the time. Football prepares you for physicality and footwork and quick spurts on the floor. All three sports – the more experience you have in sports, the more experience you have being on a team and being able to be a leader. And (with) communication – communication is a big part of our team this year.”
Know your role: “Everybody just did their roles and nobody tried to do more than that. We had shooters, and if they were shooters they would shoot. Rebounders, they would rebound. Passers, they would pass. We just all did our roles, and it meshed really good. My role was to lead everyone. Get the ball to the shooters, if I had to score I’ll score, and push the ball in transition."
Take the lead: “If my guys are hot and doing their thing, I’m just going to let them be. But if they’re struggling, I’m going to be like, ‘You’re still in it. You’re still good.’ I’m going to try to get them an open look as a point guard, get them an easy look under the basket, get their confidence going. Give them a little bump on the back, just try to pick them up. … My coach ever since sophomore year, when I came in (to varsity) he told me I would be a leader. I wasn’t really a leader sophomore or junior year, but he kept pushing on me that I’ve gotta step up, I’ve gotta be more confident in my guys. Senior year I just said hey, I’ve gotta do it now.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
March 14: Cam Peel, Spring Lake swimming - Read
March 7: Jordan Hamdan, Hudson wrestling - Read
February 28: Kevon Davenport, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling - Read
February 21: Reagan Olli, Gaylord skiing - Read
February 14: Jake Stevenson, Traverse City Bay Reps hockey - Read
February 7: Molly Davis, Midland Dow basketball - Read
January 31: Chris DeRocher, Alpena basketball - Read
January 24: Imari Blond, Flint Kearsley bowling - Read
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Unity Christian's Noah Wiswary (1) looks for an open teammate during Saturday's Division 2 championship game against River Rouge. (Middle) Wiswary brings the ball upcourt during the Semifinal win over Ludington.