D1 Preview: Follow the Fan Favorites
March 13, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Friday's first Semifinals – formerly Class A, now Division 1 – always are the most popular ticket of Boys Basketball Finals weekend.
But you’ll want to get to Breslin Center especially early to see this season’s contenders.
It’s no secret that fans statewide are eager to see Ypsilanti Lincoln freshman Emoni Bates. But local Okemos no doubt will bring a big crowd as well. Howell, just down I-96, should too as it plays in its first Semifinal in more than 90 years. And Detroit U-D Jesuit always seems to bring a following, led by a festive student section.
Division 1 Semifinals – Friday
Howell (20-6) vs. Ypsilanti Lincoln (21-4), Noon
Detroit U-D Jesuit (24-2) vs. Okemos (23-2), 2 p.m.
Division 1 Final – Saturday, 12:15 p.m.
Tickets cost $10 per pair of Semifinals and $10 per two-game Finals session (Divisions 4 and 1). All Semifinals will be streamed live on MHSAA.tv and viewable on a pay-per-view basis. The Divisions 2, 3 and 4 championship games will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Detroit’s primary channel, while the Division 1 Final will be shown live on Fox Sports Detroit PLUS. All four championship games will be streamed live on FoxSportsDetroit.com and the FOX Sports app. Free radio broadcasts of all weekend games will be available on MHSAANetwork.com.
Below is a glance at all four semifinalists. Click on the name of the school to see that team’s full schedule and results from this season. (Statistics are through teams' Regional Finals.)
DETROIT U-D JESUIT
Record/rank: 24-2, No. 1
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic League Central
Coach: Pat Donnelly, 11th season (207-53)
Championship history: Class A champion 2016.
Best wins: 91-54 over honorable mention Roseville in Quarterfinal, 79-59 over honorable mention Detroit Cass Tech, 70-69 over Division 3 No. 1 Flint Beecher, 54-47 over Detroit Edison.
Players to watch: Daniel Friday, 6-4 sr. G/F (16.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.5 bpg); Jalen Thomas, 6-10 F/C (12.7 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 3.5 bpg).
Outlook: The Cubs have reached at least the Quarterfinals six seasons straight and won their six playoff games this winter by an average of 27 points per. Jesuit hasn’t lost since Jan. 5, and it’s only instate defeat was Dec. 1 to Division 2 No. 1 New Haven. Friday and Thomas earned all-state honorable mentions last season and senior guard Caleb Hunter (9.6 ppg) made the all-state first team in Class D. Senior guard Julian Dozier adds 12.8 ppg and leads the team at 5.9 assists per contest.
HOWELL
Record/rank: 20-6, unranked
League finish: Second in Kensington Lakes Activities Association West
Coach: Nick Simon, seventh season (108-55)
Championship history: Class B runner-up 1927.
Best wins: 57-56 over No. 5 Saginaw in Quarterfinal, 59-46 over Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in Regional Semifinal, 55-49 over Linden in District Final, 58-57 over Wayne Memorial.
Players to watch: Josh Palo, 6-2 sr. G (17.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.7 apg); Tony Honkala, 6-2 jr. G/F (10.2 ppg).
Outlook: Howell played its first Quarterfinal since 2014 on Tuesday to earn its first trip to the Semifinals since 1927. The Highlanders have won 14 of their last 16 games, the only losses during that time both to No. 3 Canton, and while giving up 50 or more points only four times during the run. Palo earned an all-state honorable mention last season and is one of four seniors in the starting lineup.
OKEMOS
Record/rank: 23-2, honorable mention
League finish: First in Capital Area Activities Conference Blue
Coach: Jeff Wonch, seventh season (101-58)
Championship history: Class B champion 1982 & 1981, Class A runner-up 2006.
Best wins: 50-45 over East Kentwood in Quarterfinal, 39-34 (Regional Final), 56-41 and 41-35 over DeWitt, 72-28 over Howell.
Players to watch: Evan Thomas, 6-4 sr. G/F (17.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg), Noah Pruitt, 5-9 jr. G (10.7 ppg, 3.0 apg).
Outlook: Okemos is returning to the Semifinals for the first time since the runner-up run in 2006, although Wonch has been to Breslin a little more recently – he led Bath to the Class C championship in 2007. The Chiefs only losses this season were Detroit Catholic Central and Haslett, which both went on to win at least District titles. Long-range shooting could be key – entering the week, five players had made at least 13 3-pointers and the team as a whole was making 33 percent of its shots from beyond the arc.
YPSILANTI LINCOLN
Record/rank: 21-4, honorable mention
League finish: First in Southeastern Conference White
Coach: Jesse Davis, fourth season (54-34)
Championship history: Has never appeared in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 56-52 over No. 8 Detroit Martin Luther King in Quarterfinal, 81-79 over Detroit Catholic Central in Regional Final, 58-55 over Ann Arbor Skyline in Regional Semifinal.
Players to watch: Emoni Bates, 6-10 fr. (29.2 ppg, 53 3-pointers, 10.1 rpg, ); Jalen Fisher, 5-10 sr. G (13.1 ppg, 3.3 spg).
Outlook: Bates entered this season known as perhaps the top player his grade in the country. It’s fair to say his impact has been even greater than anticipated. He’s keyed Lincoln’s run to its first Regional title and now first Semifinal berth, making game-winning shots in both of last week’s games as he’s continued building one of the most memorable freshman seasons in state history. But his teammates certainly have done their parts. In addition to Fisher, seniors Amari Frye (10.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Tahj Chatman (10 ppg, 2.9 apg) also are averaging double-digit scoring, and Lincoln as a team is making nearly 45 percent of its shots from the floor with Bates, Fisher and Chatman also all at 73 percent or better from the free-throw line.
PHOTO: Okemos’ Evan Thomas looks for an opening during Tuesday night’s Quarterfinal win while East Kentwood’s Ja’moni Jones (1) defends. (Photo by Eric Sawatzki.)
Twins X 2 Boost Unbeaten Mattawan
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
January 22, 2019
MATTAWAN — With two sets of twins on his team, seeing double is nothing new for Mattawan boys basketball coach Ward Helakoski.
Jaden and Kelby Mabin are fraternal twins, but Matthew and Luke Pelak are identical. Telling the latter two apart was never much trouble for Helakoski, a Mattawan Middle School counselor who has known them since sixth grade, because Matthew and Luke were different sizes.
Then this year happened.
“Matt’s caught up (to Luke) this year, so that’s created some confusion,” Helakoski said. “They came in off the summer both tan from golfing,
“Hair was exactly the same. You’d almost have to look at them to see which was which. That was tougher for a while.”
Helakoski has figured it out, and the two sets of twins have found their best ways to contribute to Mattawan’s 10-0 start this winter.
The twins are four of eight seniors on the team and keys to the Wildcats’ success so far, said Helakoski, in his sixth year coaching the team. The Mabins and Matthew Pelak are starters, while Luke Pelak is first off the bench.
Between them, the Pelaks average 14 points, five rebounds and three assists per game. The Mabins combine for 13.2 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
And being a twin has its advantages, all four say.
Jaden Mabin said it is not so much the double looks he and his brother get, but “It’s just fun having a brother who’s been there with you for years right by your side.
“We always want to see each other do the best. We’re always competing. I want to get more points than you, I want to make more shots than you. It’s kind of a friendly rivalry.”
Kelby Mabin, quick with a quip, does not quite agree.
“He might think we have competition, but we don’t,” he said of his twin. “It’s a one-sided battle if it is.
“I do outscore him; I do outplay him. It’s not competition,” he added, laughing.
The Mabins have three older siblings, and Kelby is the youngest of the two by three minutes. The Pelaks are the middle two of 11 children and the only twins, with Matthew the older of the two.
The Pelaks use their friendly rivalry to keep each other sharp on the court. “We always guard each other in practice and take it at each other,” Luke Pelak said.
But being identical can be confusing to opponents and referees.
“It’s obviously a lot of fun,” Luke said. “Even my parents confuse us sometimes if we’re facing the other way.
“Kids on the court actually confuse us, too. They’ll get in arguments about who’s guarding who.”
Mattawan is anchored by 6-foot-10 Division I college prospect Nolan Foster, and has been augmented this season by the addition of 6-4 senior guard Dexter Shouse, another Division I recruit whose father Dexter played a season in the NBA and overseas.
Mattawan has a one-game lead on Stevensville Lakeshore in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West and finishing second to Kalamazoo Central in the SMAC East last winter. Jaden Mabin said a key is the team has really stepped it up on defense – the Wildcats have allowed only Lakeshore to score 50 points, and that was in a double overtime win earlier this month. He added that the team has upped its tempo as it looks to improve on last season’s 15-7 finish.
Luke Pelak adds a boost off the bench, and brother Matthew said he admires his brother’s composure as the sixth man.
“It was kind of tough seeing him not being able to start because I know how good he is, but I think he took it really well and he’s playing his role this year,” he said.
While all four enjoy the twin thing, all four are going to different colleges this fall. Of the four, only Kelby Mabin is hoping to play basketball.
“I love the talent it requires,” said Mabin, who has not yet settled on a college destination. “I feel that unlike other sports, you have to play defense and offense but you also have to have the IQ.
“It’s not just running the ball up and down the field and whoever has the most endurance, but who has the most skill and talent and athleticism.”
Jaden Mabin grew up thinking he would play basketball in college and beyond. But he opted for a football scholarship to Grand Valley State University instead although he received Division III basketball interest.
“It would be cool (to go to the same school as Kelby), but I want to be myself,” said Jaden Mabin. “I don’t want to be referred to as ‘Jaden-Kelby.’ I want ‘Jaden.’ I’ve been with him long enough.
“It’s been 17 years, so I think it’s time for us to be apart. A lot of twins dress alike. That’s not us. I want to be as opposite him as possible.”
The Pelaks are both headed to college on golf scholarships, Luke to Wayne State and Matthew to Eastern Michigan.
“It will be the first time we’re separated,” Matthew Pelak said. “It was more just wanting to have our own experiences with college, but we’re still close enough where we can hang out sometimes.
“We just wanted to have our own individual college experience.”
Tanner Knapp and Thomas Unold are the other two seniors on Mattawan’s boys basketball team. Juniors are Michael Lampos, Drew McNulty, Jalen Jones and Parker Miller. Luke Kerrins is the lone freshman on varsity. Assistant coach is Josh Brown.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Mattawan’s Jaden Mabin (32) looks to make a move in the post. (Middle) From top left: Matthew Pelak, Luke Pelak, Kelby Mabin and Jaden Mabin. (Below) Luke Pelak works to get a shot up Friday against Portage Northern. (Action shots by Erfan Pirbhai, head shots by Pam Shebest.)