Highlight Reel: Boys Basketball Finals

March 28, 2015

By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director 

The winter sports season concluded Saturday with the MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University.

Below are highlight clips from every game plus links to watch them in full

Class A

Detroit Western International 62, Saginaw Arthur Hill 59 

Blackshear Six-Point Run - Gerald Blackshear of Detroit Western scored the first six points of the fourth quarter in the Class A Final against Saginaw Arthur Hill. He ended the game with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Leaping Lumberjacks - Saginaw Arthur Hill gets its first lead of the Class A Final against Detroit Western on this alley-oop from Eric Davis to Brian Bowen. Bowen finished with a game-high 21 points. 

Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here. 

Class B

Wyoming Godwin Heights 85, Detroit Henry Ford 68 

A Couple Of Statements - Wyoming Godwin Heights makes a statement with its flashy taste in shoes, and a great alley-oop play to its leading scorer in the Class B Final, Delaney Blaylock. The Wolverines had four players in double figures, led by Blaylock's 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Davis Drives For Two - Josh Davis led Detroit Henry Ford with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Here he scores on a drive in the second quarter in the Class B Final. 

Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here. 

Class C

Flint Beecher 78, Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian 52 

Moten Gets The Basket - Cedric Moten goes coast-to-coast for Flint Beecher against Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian for the old-fashioned three-point play. Moten led the Bucs with 24 points.

Nice Dunk By Nhial - Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian had a seven-point run in the third quarter topped off by Kual Nhial's dunk. Nhial had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. 

Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

Class D 

Powers North Central 67, Morenci 47

Whitens For The Hoop & One - Jason Whitens led Powers North Central in the Class D Final against Morenci with 19 points, including this three-point play in the first quarter. 

Sharing The Rock - Bobby Black makes a nice feed to Torin Merillat for a first-quarter basket for Morenci.

Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

PHOTO: Flint Beecher’s Malik Ellison looks to make a move while being defended by NorthPointe’s Andrew Holesinger.

#TBT: Coldwater Names Gym for Eby

February 19, 2015

By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director

Friday night, Coldwater High School will once again honor its 1949 Class B boys basketball champions and their coach, Floyd Eby, as it dedicates its gymnasium during a girls-boys doubleheader against Battle Creek Harper Creek.

It was Eby and his Cardinals squad that introduced what was called “racehorse basketball” to the high school ranks in that championship season, forever changing the way the game was played, and launching one of the most storied coaches and teams – Lofton Greene’s River Rouge Panthers – to its place in basketball lore in Michigan.

Coldwater won that game at Jenison Field House in East Lansing, 49-42, and Greene told Eby, who also directed Williamston to a Class C crown in 1941, that his teams would play that style of basketball from that day forward.

That was the first time Eby and Greene crossed paths on the basketball court, and when that 1949 Coldwater team was honored in 1999 at the MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals, the two got a chance to meet again. Greene was watching his old school in the Finals that day, and Coldwater had just been eliminated in the Semifinals the night before.

You can watch a feature FOX Sports Detroit produced on the 1949 Cardinals below, and to read more about that season, click here.