Grand Blanc Earns Opportunity for Another Grand Breslin Finish
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 25, 2022
EAST LANSING – Grand Blanc started off this season 1-3, which made the prospect of repeating as Division 1 champion seem potentially short of reality.
And no one would have blamed the Bobcats if they had a down year.
But veteran coach Mike Thomas rallied his young team – which starts all underclassmen and with just one senior in the regular rotation – and made a couple of subtle adjustments, and the group proceeded to rattle off 20 wins over its next 22 games, including a convincing 61-40 victory over Belleville on Friday in the second Division 1 Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
“Early on, we were trying to figure out ourselves,” said Thomas, in his fifth year as Grand Blanc’s coach. “How are we going to win? How are we going to score?”
Thomas said the big change occurred when 6-foot-3 junior Tae Boyd started playing inside, giving the Bobcats a legitimate interior threat to complement the dynamic junior point guard duo of RJ Taylor and Amont’e Allen-Johnson.
That trio was all in double figures Friday, putting Grand Blanc (21-5) in position to win a second-straight title at 12:15 p.m. Saturday against Warren De La Salle Collegiate (19-7).
The Bobcats, whose only Finals appearance before last year was a Class B runner-up finish 60 years ago (in 1952), defeated Ann Arbor Huron 45-36 in last year’s championship game. Boyd said the experience of playing two games at the Breslin last year made a huge difference Friday.
“Playing here last year gave us a boost of confidence that we can come here and make history and go back-to-back,” said Boyd, who scored 13 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
The Bobcats seized control early, taking a 17-6 lead after the first quarter and extending it to 30-15 by halftime, thanks to a buzzer-beater by reserve Bryce O’Mara.
Thomas said the key to the win was defense, which bore out in the final statistics. Grand Blanc shot 46 percent from the floor for the game, compared to 31 percent for Belleville. The Bobcats also forced 15 turnovers, which led to a 15-4 edge in points off turnovers.
He gave credit for setting the defensive tone to the guard duo of Taylor (salt) and Allen-Johnson (pepper).
“I call them salt and pepper because they will shake you up,” said Thomas, whose team won the Saginaw Valley League title. “I think they are the two best point guards in the state. They know exactly what we want to do and exactly how to run it. They are our leaders.”
Allen-Johnson finished with a game-high 15 points, along with six rebounds and three steals. Taylor, who scored 10 points with five rebounds and a team-high four assists, said playing regular-season games in big gyms and hostile environments prepared the team for Friday.
“We played in Detroit gyms, we played in tough Flint gyms, we played in a tournament in Grand Rapids,” said Taylor, a 6-0 sharpshooter and returning first-team all-stater. “An environment like this feels normal for us.”
Belleville, which was seeking its first championship game appearance since losing in the Class A Final in 1998, was never able to get within 15 points in the second half.
“It could have been legs, it could be nerves – it was our first time playing here,” said ninth-year Belleville coach Adam Trumpour, who guided his team to the Kensington Lakes Activities Association East title. “It just wasn’t our night at all on the offensive end.”
The Tigers had no players reach double figures in scoring.
Bryce Radtka, a 6-8 senior, scored nine points with eight rebounds for the Tigers, while senior guard Da’Jon Johnson also scored nine points with four assists.
PHOTOS (Top) Grand Blanc's Robert Williams (0) makes his move into the lane as Belleville's Bryce Radtka defends. (Middle) Grand Blanc's Donnie Huddleston (35) gets a hand up on a jumpshot. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 8
January 29, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
We’ve crossed the midpoint of this boys basketball season, and the week to come might end up one of the most memorable of the winter.
But looking into the future is just one part of the “Breslin Bound” report, and this week’s in particular includes a number of teams that have bounced back or taken another step to impress over the last two months.
Breslin Bound is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com. To offer corrections or fill in scores we’re missing, email me at [email protected].
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Detroit U-D Jesuit 64, Warren DeLaSalle 45 – The Cubs moved into first place alone in a Detroit Catholic League Central with four teams including the second-place Pilots at 8-4 or better.
2. Saginaw Heritage 58, Mount Pleasant 56 – The Hawks moved to 8-4, one win shy of last year’s total, and handed Mount Pleasant its first loss to knock the Oilers out of the Saginaw Valley League lead.
3. Clinton Township Chippewa Valley 67, Macomb Dakota 57 – The Big Reds won this rivalry game for the first time since 2013-14, and in the process handed Dakota its first Macomb Area Conference Red loss.
4. Coloma 58, Kalamazoo Christian 52 – The Comets’ perfect start (now 11-0) got another highlight as they handed Kalamazoo Christian (10-1) that lone defeat.
5. Brimley 62, Cedarville 56 – The 10-2 Bays avenged a seven-point loss to the Trojans on Dec. 7 to move into a first-place tie with them atop the Eastern Upper Peninsula Athletic Conference.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each class making sparks:
CLASS A
Rochester (10-2) – The Falcons have risen from 0-20 three seasons ago to 9-12, then 11-11, and now first place in the Oakland Activities Association Blue. They’ve won seven straight and five of those by double digits, including a 16-pointer over Berkley (now 10-2) on Jan. 16 that was the Bears’ first defeat.
Sterling Heights Stevenson (8-3) – Stevenson switched from the MAC White to the MAC Red last season and dropped from 20-4 overall to 8-13. But the Titans have bounced back nicely and lead Dakota by a half-game in the standings after losing to the Cougars on Jan. 16. The rematch is Friday.
CLASS B
Big Rapids (9-1) – A first-round District exit to end last season combined with an early-January loss to Fremont might have quieted any Big Rapids talk, but the Cardinals sit tied with Fremont atop the Central State Activities Association Gold standings with six of their wins coming by double digits.
River Rouge (12-0) – The Panthers have seen only two games get to single digits – overtime wins over Detroit Osborn and West Bloomfield – and they lead the Michigan Metro Athletic Conference Blue after handing Harper Woods its lone defeat. The early run puts River Rouge at a combined 36-2 since the start of 2016-17, which finished two points from making the Class B Final.
CLASS C
Johannesburg-Lewiston (9-1) – Last season’s 6-15 finish is becoming a memory as the Cardinals have run off nine straight wins to take a two-game lead in the Ski Valley Conference. Eight of those nine wins have come by double digits. The lone loss came to Boyne City (now 8-3).
Kent City (11-0) – The Eagles have finished first or second all three of their seasons in the CSAA Silver, coming in runner-up a year ago. But none of those finishes started like this; Kent City leads the league thanks to a 30-point win over second-place Morley Stanwood on Jan. 12, and can equal last season’s win total with three more.
CLASS D
Fowler (9-1) – Class C powers Dansville and Pewamo-Westphalia were expected to battle it out for the Central Michigan Athletic Conference title, with another Class C foe Laingsburg pushing them. Instead, Fowler sits atop the league and among the most impressive teams in Class D, coming off a 41-40 win over the Wolfpack on Friday.
Munising (9-1) – Powers North Central’s winning streak may be over, but the U.P. still has its share of Class D power especially with Munising sliding to this class from Class C last year. The Mustangs lead the Skyline Central Conference large schools division, their only loss to Rapid River (now 8-1).
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Clarkston (11-1) at Hazel Park (11-0) – What might be one of the top regular-season games this season pits the co-leaders of the OAA Red and also two of the chief contenders in Class A.
Tuesday – Richmond (8-3) at Capac (10-1) – A dream turnaround season for Capac (8-15 a year ago) could hit a new level with a win in this matchup of Blue Water Area Conference co-leaders.
Tuesday – Detroit U-D Jesuit (9-3) at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (8-4) – Jesuit is the only undefeated team in the Catholic League Central, but needs to be cautious after defeating the Eaglets by just a point Jan. 12.
Friday – Flint Beecher (6-5) at Flint Hamady (9-2) – Beecher loads up the schedule with top teams from all over the east side of the Lower Peninsula, but got a major challenge in a one-point win over local and league rival Hamady on Dec. 19.
Friday – Spring Lake (11-2) at Grand Rapids Catholic Central (9-1) – League leader GRCC won big in the first meeting, by 41, but that remains the only O-K Blue loss for the second-place Lakers.
PHOTO: Saginaw Heritage, here against Flint Powers Catholic, dealt Mount Pleasant its first loss of the season last week. (Photo by Terry Lyons.)