Class C Final: Beecher Legacy Grows
March 24, 2012
EAST LANSING – Antuan Burks and Monte Morris sat together during the 2008 Class C Final and watched Flint Beecher come up just three points short of winning an MHSAA championship.
They agreed they’d be back to finish the job.
The Buccaneers gave it a run at the 2010 Semifinals, and again last season. This winter, not only did they again play into the final weekend of the season – the Bucs put together arguably the best in the program’s illustrious history.
Beecher capped a perfect run with a 74-60 win over Traverse City St. Francis in Saturday’s Class C Final at Breslin Center. The championship is the Bucs’ first since winning Class B in 1987 – and made good on that middle school dream of its current varsity captains, Burks and Morris.
“We sat by each other here saying we’re going to finish it. We’re going to bring a championship home,” Burks said. “We made history today.”
And in a number of ways.
Beecher finished 28-0, becoming the 12th team in MHSAA history to win that many in one season. Flint has gained national renown for its hoops prowess and tradition, and this championship was the first for the city’s public schools since Flint Northern won Class A in 1995. This title came after Beecher’s runner-up finishes in 2008, 2003 and in Class B in 2000.
Bucs legend Roy Marble, who later played at Iowa and in the NBA, called the team Friday night and offered encouragement for the Final and a reminder about the legacy of Beecher basketball.
“It’s incredible. The only thing that I can say is we’ve got the full support of all the Beecher alumni,” Bucs coach Mike Williams said. “It’s humbling to be considered and to be known right up there with all those great teams that have played in the past at Beecher and to add to the legacy Beecher has. That’s the main thing.”
This Beecher team will be remembered in part for its incredibly fast pace of place, and the Bucs got going quickly Saturday. They had six fast-break points and constantly pushed the tempo in taking a 23-9 by the end of the first quarter.
Beecher pushed the advantage to 41-21 by halftime.
“Just going by what the defense did to us, they dictated that we needed to push the ball up the floor. That’s our game anyway,” Williams said. “The faster we play, the better. We can just run up and down the floor and play freestyle basketball, but we can also slow it down in the halfcourt. With the road we went through to get here, we played every style.”
St. Francis (25-3) didn’t go quietly, though. The Gladiators cut the deficit to 12 with 2:10 to play in the third quarter, and multiple times seemed on the verge of making the game a lot closer.
Senior center Sean Sheldon finished with game highs of 22 points, 19 rebounds and six blocks, and senior point guard Devin Sheehy capped his high school career with eight assists.
“The style of game we play, I figured if we could be close at halftime, usually we make a second-half run,” St. Francis coach Keith Haske said. “I really thought in the second half we went to their level, really played some good basketball.”
Morris led Beecher with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Burks had 16 rebounds and six assists. Senior Jequarius French added 14 points and senior Cortez Robinson scored 11.
With one more season to play, Morris has an opportunity to make more history at Beecher. As the reigning two-time Associated Press Class C Player of the Year, it’s more or less expected.
But like Marble did for this team, Saturday is a moment Morris will be passing on long after his days at Beecher are done.
“Knowing I can come back after our guys graduate, and just talk to the guys that are playing and let them know how we made the state championship and had an undefeated season,” Morris said, “that’s wisdom I can take and explain to younger guys that are coming up.”
Click for box score or to watch the game and press conferences at MHSAA.tv.
PHOTOS: (Top) Flint Beecher players together hoist the champion’s trophy after Saturday’s Class C Final. (Middle) Beecher junior Monte Morris splits Traverse City St. Francis defenders on his way to the basket. (See more at Terry McNamara Photography.)
Norris Transforms Grass Lake into Contender for Long-Awaited League Title
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
February 12, 2025
Grass Lake has gone more than 50 years without a conference boys basketball championship. The wait could be over Saturday.
The Warriors, guided by second-year head coach Marshawn Norris, are 18-0 for the first time in school history and have locked in a spot in Saturday’s Cascades Conference championship game.
Norris is the fifth coach for the Warriors in seven years, but he’s off to a fast start in putting his stamp on the program.
“I think that is what is most appealing to me,” he said. “I’m a basketball guy. I think I have a chance to change the village of Grass Lake into a basketball town.”
Grass Lake athletic director Brian Zalud said the community is building excitement over what’s happening with basketball. The team already has the school record for wins in a season.
“In the two years that Marshawn has been at Grass Lake he has been able to get our kids to buy into what he is trying to get them to do,” Zalud said. “They play with intensity every time they are on the court. Every kid is willing to do all the little things for him and each other, and that passion and desire comes as a direct reflection of what Coach Marshawn brings to every practice and game.”
Norris is a Jackson native who played his high school basketball at Napoleon, one of Grass Lake’s opponents in the Cascades Conference.
“They were hard-nosed and competitive,” Norris recalled about Grass Lake. “I know they’ve been looking for a basketball coach, not just someone in the job, and I hope I can be that guy for a long time.”
The 18-0 start is surprising for a program that has struggled to maintain consistency over the years. The only Cascades Conference boys basketball championships in the trophy case are from 1955 and 1971.
“Coming into the season, we knew we had a special group,” Norris said. “I told them the faster we get ready and harder we work, we’ll be able to jump on some teams and surprise them. I think we did just that. Now we are in the conference championship game on Saturday and have a chance to accomplish our first goal.”
Norris graduated from Napoleon in 2008 and played collegiately at Mott Community College and Culver-Stockton College in Missouri. He was offered an assistant coaching job at Culver-Stockton in the locker room after his final college game. He served as head coach for two seasons at Jackson College before landing at Grass Lake.
“This is my first high school job,” he said. “I’ve never built a program. I’ve never coached anywhere longer than two seasons. Hopefully this will be my first stop where I’m able to stay more than two seasons and I’m able to build something and people know what they are getting from Coach Norris.”
Norris was hired in June 2023 and quickly pieced together a summer schedule of scrimmages against Jackson-area schools. The Warriors went 11-13 in his first season.
This year, things have turned around paced by a starting lineup of all seniors.
“Four of my guys are 18 years old,” Norris said.
The starters are Brayden Lape, Sal Vitale, Jacob Collins, Bryant Cook and Carmyne Beltran.
Lape leads the team in scoring at 19.8 points a game. Cook, who missed most of last season with an injury suffered during football season, averages 8.1 points and 10.4 rebounds a game, and Collins averages 8.6 points a game and leads the team in steals. Vitale, the leader in assists, is like a coach on the floor.
Norris said the improvement began during the summer.
“We just had June, but we had a good June,” he said. “We fine-tuned some things. Everybody on my team are three-sport athletes.”
The senior class has had expectations for years. In fifth grade they were undefeated, and in eighth grade they also went undefeated, although the season was cut short by COVID-19. Norris said other teams might have more basketball ability, but no team works harder.
“We understand who we are,” he said. “We are a special team who works really, really hard.”
Lape said Norris has helped make basketball fun in Grass Lake.
"I remember even as a kid coming to games, there wouldn't be very many people in the stands," he said. "There's excitement now. Our game against Michigan Center was a pretty cool environment.
“Coach has a winning attitude. We know we are not the most talented team, but we work really hard."
Norris stresses discipline in the program.
“I think the discipline and structure I’m bringing is something they needed,” he said. “The guys know from me if you are missing practice or school or anything that is inexcusable, it is going to be punishable by less playing time. I’m holding guys accountable.
“I tell them all of the time, ‘Men, just do your job.’”
Norris said he got into coaching because of the coaches he had while growing up. He not only coaches Grass Lake but runs a skill development program and coaches youth basketball in Jackson.
“I think I wanted to be a coach because I’ve always had good coaches,” he said. “I never had a bad coach. Coaches were always like father figures to me. Hopefully someday someone will say that about me.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Grass Lake’s Brayden Lape (23) gets to the basket against Michigan Center. (Middle) Grass Lake boys basketball coach Marshawn Norris talks with his team. (Photos courtesy of JTV.)