Highlight Reel: Class C-D Semifinals
March 25, 2016
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director
The first four finalists for the 2016 MHSAA Boys Basketball Tournament, presented by Sparrow Health System, were determined on Thursday at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
Check out these video highlights from the Class C and D Semifinals. Click on the score to watch a game in its entirety and order DVDs.
Class C
Grandville Calvin Christian 65, McBain 42
Squire On Fire - Tony DeWitte scored the first 10 points of the game for Grandville Calvin Christian, and 26 of his game-high 31 points in the first half against McBain in this Class C Semifinal.
From Another Area Code - Logan Eling led McBain with 18 points, including this bomb from long range in the first quarter.
Flint Beecher 60, Detroit Loyola 59
Bulldogs Finally Take The Lead - Detroit Loyola never led in its Class C Semifinal with Flint Beecher until there were fewer than two minutes to play when Keith Johnson hit a 3-pointer.
Un-bee-leeve-able - Malik Ellison hits the game-winning shot for Flint Beecher. Ellison finished the game with 11 points.
Class D
Waterford Our Lady 64, Wyoming Tri-unity Christian 53
Going Coast To Coast - This Class D Semifinal went back and forth deep into the final period. Here's Braydon Sherrod of Wyoming Tri-unity Christian going downcourt for a basket.
Roback Puts Lakes Back In The Lead - Waterford Our Lady ended its Class D Semifinal with Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian on a 12-point run, starting with this 3-pointer by Noah Roback.
Powers North Central 64, Fulton 23
Steal-Scoop-Score - Powers North Central converts a steal into points in the first quarter of a Class D Semifinal against Fulton as Jason Whitens takes the turnover and converts it into points.
Antes For Three - Colton Antes canned a couple of 3-pointers for Fulton against Powers North Central in their Class D Semifinal.
The Boys Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.
PHOTO: Flint Beecher's Jordan Roland pushes the ball upcourt during the Thursday Class C Semifinal against Detroit Loyola.
Wayne Memorial's Moment Arrives as Zebras Pull Away for Historic Win
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 14, 2025
EAST LANSING – Carlos Medlock Jr. makes no excuses for wanting the ball at crunch time.
The Wayne Memorial junior guard enjoys his dual role with his team, including shooting the ball from almost any angle at any time. Whatever the defense gives him, Medlock Jr. said he's happy to take it.
Case in point was Wayne Memorial's 66-49 win over Flint Carmen-Ainsworth in Friday's second Division 1 Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
With the Zebras nursing a tenuous five-point lead midway through the third quarter, the 6-foot, 170-pound Medlock hit a short jumper, a layup, a free throw, a pullup jumper and a reverse layup during a span of less than three minutes.
The lead ballooned to as much as 52-38 a minute into the fourth quarter as Wayne Memorial earned a trip – the program's first – to Saturday's 12:15 p.m. championship game against East Lansing.
As much as Medlock Jr. admits to happily possessing a shooter's mentality – he's averaging nearly 25 points per game – he also takes pride in providing open looks for teammates. Medlock Jr. wound up tossing in 29 points on 11-of-24 shooting while adding eight rebounds and six assists.
"Even when they're trying to stop me, that means my teammates are available," he said. "I want the ball, but it's about helping others, too. When I'm hot, I want the ball. If I'm not, I'll get it to Austin (Tory) or someone open."
Tory, who complements Medlock Jr. from the other guard spot, added 14 points and six rebounds.
Wayne Memorial improved to 25-3, while Carmen-Ainsworth finished 22-6.
Zebras coach Steve Brooks said Medlock Jr. is a key member of a team which, in some cases, has been together since middle school. He said the program takes pride in that it hasn't been aided by transfers. The Zebras, he said, are pure homegrown.
"We're here because we have fun," he said. "I'm happy for our seniors; they've bought into this. They're Wayne kids who've put in the work."
Wayne Memorial led 30-25 at the half, then salted the game away with a 20-13 third quarter run. The Zebras outscored Carmen-Ainsworth 16-11 in the fourth quarter.
Wayne Memorial senior center Talan Clark said because the team has basically been intact for four years, there has been talk of reaching Finals weekend.
"We've worked four years for this moment," he said. "No transfers have come in. It's just been us who've put in the work. After all the work we've put in in the summer, this is what we wanted to do. We all had the same goal."
Carmen-Ainsworth was led by Donovan Hamlin's 15 points and eight rebounds. MarQuinn Weston II had 11 points.
Cavaliers coach Jay Witham said his team simply didn't do the things which led to winning four tournament games over the last two weeks by fewer than nine points. Carman-Ainsworth shot 44.7 percent from the floor, but missed nine of its 3-point attempts while turning the ball over 17 times.
"They are a talented team, and their guards are tough to defend," said Witham, whose club finished fourth in the Saginaw Valley League. "But for whatever reason we turned the ball over and took (bad) shots we don't normally take, and that hurt us. We had to settle for (longer) shots instead of getting to the rim.
"It happens. Whether it was playing on this stage in a big moment, I thought we were focused. It just wasn't our day."
PHOTOS (Top) Wayne Memorial’s Antwaun Williams (10) guards Flint Carman-Ainsworth’s MarQuinn Weston II during Friday’s Division 1 Semifinal. (Middle) Carman-Ainsworth’s Kendreyas White (10) gets up a shot as Wayne’s Joshua Dennis (33) goes for a block. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)