Highlight Reel: Boys Basketball Finals
March 26, 2016
By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director
The winter sports season concluded Saturday at the Breslin Center with four title games in the 2016 MHSAA Boys Basketball Tournament, presented by Sparrow Health System.
Below are links to video highlights from Saturday’s games. Click on the final score to watch s game in its entirety and purchase DVDs.
Class A
Detroit U-D Jesuit 69, North Farmington 49
Thomas Takes It - Billy Thomas led North Farmington in the Class A Final against Detroit U-D Jesuit with 23 points – two of them coming on this third quarter steal.
The Cassius Collection - Cassius Winston had 31 points and nine rebounds for Detroit U-D Jesuit in the Class A Final against North Farmington. Here's a montage of plays from the FOX Sports Detroit broadcast.
Class B
Detroit Henry Ford 61, Stevensville Lakeshore 47
Steal & Sprint To The Hoop - Detroit Henry Ford had a big run to finish the first half against Stevensville Lakeshore in the Class B Final. Jeremy Crawley makes the steal here and streaks down the court for two of his 18 points.
Cutting Into The Lead - Here's a sequence from the fourth quarter of the Class B Final where Stevensville Lakeshore makes a run.
Class C
Flint Beecher 63, Grandville Calvin Christian 61
Block You Very Much - Midway through the fourth quarter of the Class C Final, Levane Blake of Flint Beecher comes up with a monster block against Grandville Calvin Christian.
Squires Take The Lead - Grandville Calvin Christian took its last lead at 61-60 with 1:14 remaining when Tony DeWitte got an old-fashioned three-point play.
Class D
Powers North Central 59, Waterford Our Lady 48
Jets Defense - Powers North Central makes its living off defense - here's a steal by Dawson Bilski converted into a layup by Bobby Kleiman.
Lakes Rising - Waterford Our Lady mounted a second half rally against Powers North Central. Here's a nice feed from Andrew Kline to Devin Senerius during that run.
The Boys Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.
PHOTO: Flint Beecher's Jordan Roland (3) drives past a pair of Calvin Christian defenders during the Class C Final.
Missing McKenney Provides St. Mary's Another Opportunity to Grow
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
February 27, 2025
Such a situation certainly wouldn’t be ideal for Todd Covert and his Orchard Lake St. Mary’s boys basketball team.
But from now on during the MHSAA Tournament, if star guard Trey McKenney gets into foul trouble or has to miss extended game time for another reason, it might not be as nightmarish of a scenario as once thought.
On Jan. 9, during a game against IMG Academy (Fla.), McKenney suffered a broken bone in the top of his shooting hand.
He didn’t return until Feb. 8. But that month without McKenney ended up producing a revelation for Covert and his team.
Essentially, the sky didn’t fall and the reigning Division 1 champion showed it could still be one of the top teams in the state.
“Of course, when he’s with us I think we’re a lot better,” said St. Mary’s senior Jayden Savoury, who has signed with Michigan State for football but also is an important member of the basketball team. “But when he was down, a lot of guys had to step up. I think that built us up and made us better.”
During that stretch, St. Mary’s went 4-2, with the losses by one point to No. 1 East Lansing and two to No. 5 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice. One of the wins was over Grand Rapids Northview, which received votes in the final rankings of the regular season.
“Kids had to take on new roles and hit some big shots,” Covert said. “Obviously with Trey we missed his scoring. It took us a couple of games to rebound. He rebounds. He goes and gets it. We were blocking out the same, but we weren’t going to get it. That’s how East Lansing hurt us early, and they ended up beating us. It took us a minute (to adjust).”
McKenny, a Michigan signee, averaged 22.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists as a junior and is a finalist for the Mr. Basketball Award this season. The Eaglets this winter also returned two more starters and a top sub from last season’s championship-winning team, but losing McKenney provided them another opportunity to grow.
Covert said Savoury was one of the players who stepped up and filled an expanded role, as did senior and Western Michigan signee Sharod Barnes, and senior Isaiah Hines.
“In a weird way, it really made Trey appreciate what he had,” Covert said.
While watching from the bench during that stretch, McKenney constantly nodded his head in approval of what his teammates were doing.
“We have such a deep team, I think the next man is always going to be ready whenever somebody is hurt or whenever somebody is in foul trouble,” McKenney said. “Everybody was ready and everybody took the challenge on. I was happy to see the game from a different aspect.”
McKenney returned Feb. 8 in a Catholic High School League Bishop quarterfinal, then helped lead the Eaglets past Brother Rice in a semifinal game and then to another Catholic League title with a 58-57 win over Detroit U-D Jesuit in the Feb. 14 final.
With him back in the fold, St. Mary’s seems fully stocked to repeat as Division 1 champion entering a District Final game Friday against West Bloomfield.
Even more reassuring for St. Mary’s than having McKenney back is that if he got into foul trouble or had to miss extended time again, all hope wouldn’t be lost thanks to how St. Mary’s developed during the month he was out.
“Definitely,” Savoury said. “When he’s in foul trouble, we’ll be all right.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Trey McKenney holds up a banner celebrating his becoming the school’s all-time leading scorer during a win over Toledo Whitmer on Dec. 28. (Middle) Quincy Wright (5) dunks against East Lansing on Jan. 11. (Photos courtesy of the State Champs! Sports Network.)