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.
Country Day Will Play for 9th Title
March 22, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Detroit Country Day coach Kurt Keener said he doesn’t get hung up on numbers, like the ninth MHSAA title his team could claim Saturday.
For this group of Yellowjackets, it would be the first. And that’s what counts most of all.
Country Day has come to Breslin Center and left without a championship the last two seasons. But for the first time since winning Class B in 2010, the Yellowjackets will play in the championship game – thanks to a 73-42 Semifinal win Friday over Cadillac.
“It would mean everything to me,” Country Day senior Austin Price said. “The last two years we came up here expecting to win and fell short. It would be great to end on a high note and win my last game as a high school basketball player.”
Top-ranked Country Day will face either Wyoming Godwin Heights or Detroit Community for the title at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
In terms of Finals experience, few programs could sit on further ends of the spectrum.
While Country Day is a Breslin regular, Cadillac (21-5) made its first appearance in an MHSAA Semifinal.
Country Day’s last two Finals weekend visits ended with Semifinals losses to eventual champion
Lansing Sexton. But these Yellowjackets have a different look than some of their most recent teams, with a smaller lineup and a style Keener tells his players should be more track meet than golf match.
That speed became tough for Cadillac to handle immediately, as Country Day (24-3) jumped to a 22-10 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Vikings committed nine turnovers during the first eight minutes.
But they wouldn’t be run off. Cadillac pulled within 26-20 midway through the second quarter.
“At 26-20 we had the game where we wanted it,” Cadillac coach Jeff McDonald said. “We wanted it to be close and give ourselves a puncher’s chance.”
But they ran out of punches soon after, as Country Day went on a 14-2 run and never led by fewer than 10 points over the final 18 minutes.
Junior Edmond Sumner led the Yellowjackets with 30 points on 9 of 15 shooting, and also had six steals. Senior Mory Diane added 11 points.
Of Cadillac’s 26 turnovers, 21 were Country Day steals.
“Defensively, they don’t make mistakes. And obviously they like an uptempo game. They like to gamble on defense,” Vikings senior Nick Paquet said. “We like to slow it down, make it a halfcourt game. We allowed ourselves to play a little faster than we wanted to, and that hurt us.”
Paquet led Cadillac with 18 points and four steals. Junior Jalen Brooks added 15 points and a game-high seven rebounds.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Country Day's Edmond Sumner pushes the ball upcourt Friday while Cadillac's Jalen Brooks (2) and Lewis Finch (15) give chase. (Middle) Brooks makes a strong move to the basket during the Semifinal. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)