Consortium Proves To Be Best in Class C
March 22, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Detroit Consortium’s boys basketball team fell in a 2011 Semifinal to eventual Class C champion Schoolcraft. A year later, the Cougars’ season ended with a two-point Regional Final loss to eventual title winner Flint Beecher.
Joshua Jackson was watching – but couldn’t help. He was still in junior high.
But the now-sophomore decided then that when he was old enough, he’d play a part in the Cougars' first MHSAA title.
Consortium entered this postseason ranked No. 2 in the final Class C poll. With the 6-foot-8 Jackson leading and surrounded by a talented a cast, the Cougars eliminated No. 1 Mount Clements and No. 3 Negaunee this week and finished with a 61-44 championship game win over No. 10 Pewamo-Westphalia on Saturday at the Breslin Center.
“Playing with most of the guys last year, I always had trust in them,” Jackson said. “I just had something to prove, and they wanted to win just like I did.
“To prove so many people wrong, I know maybe one person picked us to win (over Mount Clemens). I guess they thought overall their team was better than ours. (But) I think we’ve proved people wrong all year winning big games.”
Consortium beat some of the best in finishing 25-2 this winter.
The Cougars also defeated No. 5 Detriot Allen in their Regional Final, plus ranked Class A Saginaw Arthur Hill, Romulus and Detroit Southeastern, ranked Class B Detroit Country Day and Detroit Douglass, an MHSAA semifinalist in that class.
And that’s some of what coach Tobias Tuomi reminded his players when Consortium led Pewamo-Westphalia only 27-25 in the championship game.
“We just said to cherish the moment. I told them to appreciate all the work, and it is a heck of an opportunity just to be here,” Tuomi said. “But we didn’t come here to be here. We came to win a state championship. To do that, we’d have to do all the little things we do in practice, things that won us games all season.”
P-W (23-3) was doing them to keep pace during the first half and up until taking a 34-32 lead three minutes into the third quarter. Despite trailing by 11 at the end of the first period, the Pirates drew even heading into the final minute of the first half before senior guard Rudy Smith hit a go-ahead basket to give Consortium the two-point lead at the break.
But after senior Evan Fedewa’s 3-pointer gave the Pirates that third-quarter advantage, Consortium outscored them 19-3 to take a 51-37 lead with 6:50 to play.
Consortium’s defense tightened and P-W’s shooting percentage fell – from 43 percent from the floor during the first half to 32 percent in the second. Meanwhile, the Cougars upped their offensive output, improving from 42 percent from the floor to 63 over the final two quarters. Senior guard Ronald Booth, in particular, scored 12 of his 14 points during the second half to finish as one of three Consortium players in double figures.
“We just dug down, got a little more focused,” Tuomi said. “Definitely, (P-W was) taking a lot tougher shots.”
Smith also finished with 14 points for Consortium. Jackson led with 22 points on 9 of 13 shooting – including hitting all three of his 3-point attempts, and also grabbed 13 rebounds.
“For the old guys like me, I saw Earvin Johnson play here at (Lansing) Everett, and I had season tickets when he was (at Michigan State). He’s a similar type of player to him,” P-W coach Luke Pohl said of Jackson. “Whether he’s going to become that kind of player is another story, but he’s really talented. He might be the most talented person our teams have played against. He can see the court real well, passes well … and he’s a really humble kid.”
Senior center Lane Simon scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds for P-W, and senior guard Nick Spitzley finished a four-year varsity career with 10 points and three assists.
They and nine seniors total brought the Pirates to their first championship game since 1993. Pohl – who graduated from P-W in 1976 and has coached over two tenures since 1995 – called this the best team in school history. It definitely highlighted the Pirates a little more prominently on the statewide basketball map.
“Obviously I wanted to achieve the state championship,” Simon said. “But it feels like we got a lot of respect back."
Consortium did make the Quarterfinals with Jackson last season, again falling by two to Beecher as the Buccaneers went on to repeat as champions. But that was impressive in itself – the Cougars continued on although coach Al Anderson died unexpectedly that February.
The run also set the stage for things to come.
“We wanted to sit and sob and cry about it, but at the end of the day we knew that what he wanted was for us to win a state championship more than anything,” Jackson said. “So we knew that was something that we had to do.”
Click for a full box score and video from the press conference.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Consortium’s Rudy Smith pushes down the floor as Pewamo-Westphalia’s Nick Spitzley gives chase during the Class C Final. (Middle) The Pirates’ Lane Simon goes strong to the basket for two of his game-high 23 points.
HIGHLIGHTS: (1) Joshua Jackson follows a miss with a big dunk for Detroit Consortium in the fourth quarter of its Class C championship game against Pewamo-Westphalia. Jackson finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds in leading his team to the win. (2) Some nice passing by Pewamo-Westphalia sets up Evan Fedewa for a 3-pointer to give the Pirates a 34-32 lead in the third quarter against Detroit Consortium in the Class C title game.
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.)