McKenney Grows Legend in Leading St. Mary's to 1st Title since 2000
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 16, 2024
EAST LANSING — At one point early in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Boys Basketball Division 1 Final, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s junior Trey McKenney had scored as many points as North Farmington had as a team.
That pretty much tells the story of who the man of the day — and arguably the season — was for 2023-24.
McKenney showed why he is one of the most highly-regarded juniors in the entire country, finishing with 32 points to lead St. Mary’s to a 63-52 win over North Farmington and its first Finals title in Division 1 or Class A, the predecessor division for the state’s largest schools.
“We’ve been going at it every day,” McKenney said. “Just being consistent. I don’t think it’s really sunk in, winning a state championship. It’s kind of crazy.”
McKenney finished 8 of 11 from the field overall and made all 14 of his free-throw attempts. He added 10 rebounds.
After the game, North Farmington head coach Todd Negoshian could only ask, “Can he graduate early?”
“He’s tough. He does a lot of things. He’s got the NBA style game right now with floaters and fadeaways. He’s so strong,” Negoshian added.
St. Mary’s (27-1) won its fifth Finals title and first since earning the Class B crown in 2000.
Ranked No. 1 for most of the year, the Eaglets navigated through that high expectation and all the way to the top of Division 1 after losing in a Semifinal last year.
“We’ve been dreaming about this a long time,” St. Mary’s head coach Todd Covert said. “This is a dream come true. It means everything.”
St. Mary’s was in control throughout, until late in the game when North Farmington made things interesting.
Trailing 46-26 with 6:27 remaining, North Farmington amped up its full-court pressure, created turnovers and did something it struggled to do prior to that point – make shots.
The Raiders cut their deficit to 59-50 with 1:46 remaining after a free throw by senior Landon Williams, making up much of the margin despite leading scorer Tyler Spratt fouling out with 3:27 left when St. Mary’s was up 55-39.
But that was as close as the Raiders could get, as McKenney essentially wrapped up the game by hitting two free throws with 12.9 seconds remaining to give the Eaglets a 63-52 lead.
St. Mary’s made 17 of 18 shots from the free-throw line during the fourth quarter.
“That was the longest fourth quarter of my life,” Covert said. “It seemed like there was seven guys out there. But we weathered the storm, and that is what it’s all about.”
Spratt finished with 17 points, and Williams had 16 to lead the Raiders (24-3).
Saturday was North Farmington’s second championship game appearance after the Raiders faced a similarly elite player in Cassius Winston with Detroit U-D Jesuit in 2016.
“I thought we wore them down a little bit to where they ended up turning the ball over,” Negoshian said. “I thought we struggled to score at times. I think we got it to where we wanted to with them turning it over and keeping us right where we needed to be within striking distance. But we just couldn’t score at times offensively, and I think that was our downfall tonight.”
Trailing 25-19 at halftime, North Farmington cut the St. Mary’s lead to 25-22 with 6:56 left in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Rob Smith.
But McKenney answered by scoring the next seven points, and then senior Andrew Smith drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Eaglets a 35-22 lead with 3:17 remaining in the third. McKenney then hit a jumper from the baseline to finish off a 12-0 run and push the lead to 15.
PHOTOS (Top) Orchard Lake St. Mary’s coach Todd Covert presents the Division 1 championship trophy to his players Saturday at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Eaglets’ Trey McKenney (1) gets to the basket for two points. (Below) St. Mary’s Sharod Barnes (0) gets a shot up with Dylan Smith (13) defending. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Breslin Bound: 2024-25 Boys Report Week 11
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 10, 2025
One of the most anticipated moments of every basketball season is coming up Sunday, when the MHSAA will publish this winter's Boys Basketball District brackets, this season for the first time with all teams seeded based on Michigan Power Ratings (MPR).
MPR is calculated using wins and losses for games played between teams entered into the MHSAA Tournament. Scores of games, margin of victory and location of games are not included in the MPR formula. The final MPR number is 25 percent of the team's winning percentage, plus 50 percent of its opponent's winning percentage, plus 25 percent of its opponent's opponent's winning percentage – the total rewarding both success and strength of schedule.
We're still seeing plenty of movement up and down our statewide MPR lists, and more is sure to come as teams continue to finish off regular-season schedules and play in league tournaments that will conclude over the next seven days (including three we've noted below).
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Warren Lincoln 66, Detroit U-D Jesuit 65 It wouldn’t be stunning to see both of these teams playing at Breslin Center next month, and Lincoln (15-4) can build on this boost as it plays for a Division 2 title repeat.
2. East Lansing 62, Lansing Waverly 60 East Lansing (17-1) made a major move toward securing the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue, adding to an earlier 10-point win over the Warriors (15-3) to take a two-game lead with three to play.
3. Marquette 76, Detroit Cass Tech 59 This has to be Marquette’s most significant win on a statewide stage in some time, as the Sentinels (15-2) met Cass Tech (16-2) at the Northern Michigan Showcase at Traverse City St. Francis and showed they’re capable of contending in Division 1.
4. Pewamo-Westphalia 56, Grand Blanc 39 P-W (16-2) opened a three-game week by putting more distance between itself and second-place Fowler in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference and closed it with this big win over the Division 1 Bobcats (11-7).
5. Grand Blanc 71, Flint Powers Catholic 69 Before the loss to P-W noted above, Grand Blanc moved into a tie for first in the Saginaw Valley League by handing Powers (15-1) its only defeat.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (12-6) Despite losing Mr. Basketball candidate Trey McKenney to injury Jan. 9, St. Mary’s has climbed to No. 3 in statewide Division 1 MPR and gone 5-2 since the injury (not counting the team’s loss in the game during which he was injured). The two losses during that time were by one point to East Lansing (17-1) and two points to Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice (18-1), and the Eaglets face Brother Rice again Tuesday in a Catholic High School League Bishop Tournament semifinal. The third in-state loss was to Detroit U-D Jesuit, a potential Bishop championship game opponent. St. Mary’s handed Rockford (18-1) its only loss, Wayne Memorial (16-2) one of its two, and also downed Grand Rapids Northview (14-4) and Auburn Hills Avondale (12-7) among others.
Wayne Memorial (16-2) The Zebras have won 12 straight, losing only to St. Mary’s and Birmingham Groves (14-5) both in December. Wayne can clinch a share of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association East title against Westland John Glenn on Tuesday and has two wins over Dearborn (15-3) and a first over Belleville (14-4) in league play with that rematch coming up Friday. The Zebras also are coming off a 69-60 win over Traverse City West (14-3) at the Northern Michigan Showcase and will close the regular season with a crossover (and potentially overall KLAA championship game) against a counterpart from the KLAA West.
DIVISION 2
Grand Rapids South Christian (14-4) The Sailors opened this season 1-3 but have only one loss since mid-December – 57-55 to Grand Rapids Northview on Jan. 23. Northview leads the Ottawa-Kent Conference Gold and South Christian is just a game behind, with the rematch scheduled for Feb. 18. The Sailors most recently downed Belleville (14-4) at the Battle in the Igloo at Portage Northern, 58-46, and also owns wins over Pewamo-Westphalia (16-2), Holland Christian (12-6) and Grand Rapids Catholic Central (12-6). A possible District opponent is Grand Rapids Christian (11-7), which defeated South Christian in the season opener. The other losses came to Hudsonville Unity Christian (18-1) and Byron Center (13-6).
Standish-Sterling (16-2) The Panthers have clinched a share of a third-straight league championship, this time in their first season in the Jack Pine Conference Division 1 and thanks to last week’s 75-68 win over second-place Gladwin (15-3). Standish-Sterling is undefeated in league play, with its losses both during the first half of December to Ithaca (14-4) by two points and Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central (12-5). The Panthers also have wins over Alcona (14-2) and Pinconning (15-3) and will see the JPC Division 2 champion Feb. 18. Gladwin also is in the District bracket Standish-Sterling will host.
DIVISION 3
Iron Mountain (16-2) The Mountaineers have a half-game lead in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference East standings thanks to a split with second-place Ishpeming Westwood (14-5); Iron Mountain lost the first meeting 61-56 but won the rematch 58-32. The other loss was in December to Division 1 Marquette (15-2), and there are several strong wins including over Norway (14-4), Kingsford (13-5) and Negaunee (13-5). Iron Mountain has the opportunity to finish the regular season with plenty of momentum as well with rematches against Kingsford and Negaunee and a Feb. 20 meeting at Houghton (16-3) coming up.
McBain (15-1) The Ramblers are rolling again after missing out on the Division 3 championship game last season by a three-point overtime loss to eventual champion Niles Brandywine. Last week’s 79-64 win over Beal City pushed McBain into first place alone in the Highland Conference after the Aggies won their first meeting 57-48 on Dec. 13. McBain also finished a regular-season sweep of Evart (16-3) on Friday and has a second league game coming up against LeRoy Pine River (15-3) after winning the first one big Jan. 17. All 15 of McBain’s wins have come by at least 15 points, but the Ramblers could see Evart again in District play.
DIVISION 4
Battle Creek St. Philip (14-4) The Tigers have equaled last season’s 14 wins and lead the Southern Central Athletic Association West by a half game on Bellevue after finishing second to Bellevue last year. They’ve split their regular-season series, St. Phil winning the first game and Bellevue (11-3) the rematch, and they could see each other again at the District the Tigers are hosting. St. Phil also has a strong win over East Jordan (15-3) and a pair over third-place Colon (13-5) have provided a boost, as did a victory over Burr Oak (11-7) with that rematch coming up. The other losses were to Bronson, Union City (12-5) and Hillsdale Academy (14-4).
Clarkston Everest Collegiate (17-1) The Mountaineers have clinched their first league championship since 2021-22, in the CHSL Intersectional 1, and in a few weeks will attempt to add to a string of four straight District titles. The only loss this season came to Division 3 Jackson Lumen Christi (17-2), and 13 of Everest’s wins were by double digits – with one of the close ones a double-overtime victory over Division 2 Dearborn Divine Child. Everest will play in the CHSL St. Anne Tournament with Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes (12-6), Royal Oak Shrine Catholic (9-9) and Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett (8-7) and also could see host Our Lady in District play.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Freeland (15-2) at Bay City John Glenn (16-2) – John Glenn won the first meeting 70-65 on Jan. 14, and the winner of this rematch will be a massive step closer to claiming the Tri-Valley Conference Red title.
Friday – Catholic High School League Bishop Final at Detroit Mercy – Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice (18-1), Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (11-6), Detroit U-D Jesuit (17-2) and Warren De La Salle Collegiate (6-13) will play in Tuesday semifinals with a chance to advance.
Friday – South Haven (15-2) at Bridgman (12-5) – These two are both 7-1 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Lakeshore with two league games to play and after Bridgman won the first meeting 55-53 in overtime.
Saturday – Charter School Conference Final at Schoolcraft College – Detroit Old Redford (16-1), Arts & Technology Academy of Pontiac (14-0), Romulus Summit Academy North (18-2) and Detroit University Prep (15-5) play semifinals Tuesday to reach the final.
Sunday – Detroit Public School League Final at Wayne State – Cass Tech (16-2), Martin Luther King (16-3), Renaissance (12-7) and Central (15-3) play in Thursday semifinals with hopes of advancing to the title game.
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PHOTOS (Top) East Lansing's BJ Windham (1) prepares to pass to a teammate during his team's win over Lansing Waverly. (Middle) Grand Blanc's Isaiah McCree (1) makes a move toward the lane against Flint Powers Catholic. (East Lansing/Waverly photo by John Johnson. Grand Blanc/Powers photo by Terry Lyons.)