Highlight Reel: Class B Semifinals
March 27, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director
Wyoming Godwin Heights and Detroit Henry Ford advanced to the MHSAA Class B Boys Basketball Final with Semifinal wins Friday at the Breslin Center.
Click below for highlights from all four teams that took the court.
Wyoming Godwin Heights 70, Milan 64
Perkins Blocks & Dunks - Nick Perkins starts this sequence for Milan with a block and then runs the court to take a pass for a dunk to put the Big Reds back in the lead. Wyoming Godwin Heights, however, prevailed 70-64.
Williams’ Lucky 13's - Michael Williams had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Wyoming Godwin Heights against Milan. Here he scores on a put-back late in the first half.
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Detroit Henry Ford 64, Cadillac 38
Going To Towns - James Towns paced Detroit Henry Ford with 24 points against Cadillac in a Class B Semifinal. Here he converts the old-fashioned three-point play.
Myers All The Way - Ethan Myers makes a nice play for Cadillac in the fourth quarter against Detroit Henry Ford, taking a rebound all the way for a basket. He had 13 points for the Vikings.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
PHOTO: Godwin Heights’ Karon Patrick tries to get a shot around the outstretched hand of Milan’s Latin Davis.
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.)