Newest Champs Earn Spot in Milan Lore
March 22, 2014
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
EAST LANSING — Milan's postgame celebration quickly went from the court to the stands.
Spectators who didn't understand what was taking place were befuddled when the Big Reds headed into the seats at the Breslin Center before receiving their championship trophy. One by one, they hugged an older gentleman many of them may not have heard of until a few days earlier.
The man was Harlan Benjamin, a member of Milan's 1948 MHSAA Class C championship basketball team. The Big Reds, playing beyond the Regionals for the first time since, found inspiration from this living, breathing embodiment of the school's athletic history.
"He inspired them before the game," Milan coach Josh Tropea said after the championship drought ended with a 78-59 victory over Benton Harbor in the Class B Final on Saturday. "They wanted to make sure they showed their appreciation."
Benjamin, 81, was a sophomore on the Milan team that beat Saginaw Ss. Peter & Paul, 45-42, for the Class C title. He went on to win the 120-yard and 180-yard hurdles at the 1950 Class C Track and Field Final, an accomplishment that led to his enshrinement in the Milan sports Hall of Fame.
He spoke with the Big Reds on Tuesday before their MHSAA Quarterfinal game against Wayland. He sought out Milan assistant coach Chris Pope before Saturday's title game and presented him with a memento.
"He gave us his state championship patch and he duct-taped over the '1948' and put '2014,' and said, 'Go win one for me,'" Tropea said. "To have him here and to have him on the floor with us after the game, like I told the kids on Thursday before we came here, whether you win this thing or not, someone's going to want you to speak in 40, 50, 60 years from now. After this weekend, they've solidified that. They're going to be remembered forever in Milan."
There's a good chance that it won't take 66 years for Milan to celebrate another MHSAA championship.
Four of the Big Reds' five starters are juniors, including the stars of Saturday's game.
Junior guard Latin Davis was 7 for 7 from 3-point range, tying the Finals record for baskets beyond the arc, while scoring a career-high 34 points. Nick Perkins, a 6-foot-7 junior center, scored 24 points on 10 for 16 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds.
"All year, we've been selling that players three through eight have to be the difference, because we know what Nick and Latin are going to do," Tropea said. "Before we went on the floor tonight, we said, 'Tonight, it's about the stars.' The best players showed up, and they won the game for us."
Davis' performance was particularly memorable.
He became the fifth player in Finals history to hit that 3-point mark. But only he and Berrien Springs' Shelby Wood (Class C, 2006) had a perfect shooting night from long range.
"I was coming off screens and was just feeling it, so I just shot it," said Davis, who averaged 1.3 3-pointers a game and never made more than five before Saturday. "My coach has been telling me to shoot off ball screens all year, so that's what I did tonight. I just kept shooting. I made one and kept hitting them and just kept shooting."
Toriano Smith of Saginaw Buena Vista (1990, Class B), Andrew Mitchell of Detroit East Catholic (1997, Class D) and Brian Watkins of Detroit Rogers (2005, Class D) also hit seven 3-pointers in a Final.
"Basically, we just tried to get out of the way," Perkins said. "After you set a screen once and he's shooting like that, he's basically going to make every one. After the fourth one, when we saw them start falling and he's draining it, you just keep letting him shoot."
Benton Harbor took its only lead when a 3-pointer by Jaton Gunn made it a 3-2 game with 6:07 left in the first quarter. Milan never trailed after scoring the next six points.
The Big Reds led 22-15 after one quarter, hitting seven consecutive field goal attempts during one stretch. They built their lead to 32-22 on a 3-pointer by Davis with 4:27 left in the second quarter, taking a 43-35 lead into halftime. Davis had 17 points in the first half on 7 for 17 shooting, dishing out three assists. Perkins had 14 points in the first half, shooting 7 for 11 and grabbing five rebounds.
Benton Harbor did not sub in the first half, while Milan got backups Thomas Lindeman (six minutes) and Garrett Gardette (four minutes) extensive playing time in the second quarter after going with its starters for the first. The Tigers' first substitution came with 6:06 left in the third quarter.
Davis opened the second half by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers, igniting an 8-0 run that extended Milan's lead to 51-35 with 5:25 left in the third quarter. The Tigers cut the lead to 56-46 with 2:25 left in the third, but the Big Reds scored the final nine points of the quarter to take a 65-46 lead into the fourth.
"The difference was in the third quarter we actually started playing some defense," Tropea said. "We hang our hat on our defense. It really wasn't there in the first half. That's all we talked about at halftime was we've got to do a better job rebounding the basketball, not giving up so many second-chance points and transition points. We really clamped down in the third quarter."
It didn't appear that this would be the season that Milan (25-3) ended that title drought when the Big Reds lost their first two games and started out 5-3. But they ended the season with a 20-game winning streak.
Benton Harbor (17-10), playing in its 10th MHSAA Final and first since 1993, was attempting to win its first crown since repeating as Class A champion in 1965. Overcoming Milan's 58.5-percent shooting from the floor proved to be too much for the Tigers.
"They were hot," Benton Harbor coach Corey Sterling said. "We had a game plan. We had hands up, but (Davis), I don't think he missed a three. Then the big (Perkins) was a force down low.
“We already knew, win or lose, we were proud of this bunch. We came in unranked. So, it might hurt right now, but like I told you (Friday), God is still good. He blessed the city. These two seniors (John Robinson Jr. and Cortez Moore) brought the city together. It's something to be proud of. There's been love all over. We just ran into a hot team tonight."
Robinson had 19 points, Jaton Gunn 16 and Moore 13 for Benton Harbor. Gunn had 11 points in the first quarter, hitting three 3-pointers.
Milan played without starting senior forward Jake Novak, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his right knee during Tuesday's Quarterfinal victory. He walked onto the court on crutches during pregame introductions and greeted each of Milan's starters as they were called out.
"It felt really great to know that everybody cares about this team so much," Novak said. "It's really nice to see the whole community come out and support the team. It's nice to know everybody cares. Even though I can't play, I was doing everything I can to help the team."
Click for the full box score and video from the press conference.
PHOTOS: (Top) Milan celebrates its first MHSAA title since 1948 by hoisting the trophy at the Breslin Center. (Middle) Milan’s Latin Davis tries to get around Benton Harbor’s John Robinson, Jr.
HIGHLIGHTS: (1) Benton Harbor's John Robinson Jr. scored in transition in the second quarter of the Class B championship game against Milan. Robinson led the Tigers in scoring with 19. (2) Nick Perkins makes a Calvin Johnson-esque catch of a long pass by Lance Lewis for the dunk in the Class B title game. Perkins had 24 points and 10 rebounds for Milan, which defeated Benton Harbor, 78-59.
Tradition-Rich Kingston Adding to Legacy
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
January 31, 2018
Camryn MacGuire remembers watching Kingston varsity basketball games and dreaming about the day she could be on the court.
Evan Neff enjoyed going to games so much as a kid, he kept coming back even after his family moved away for a few years while he was in middle school.
Now both are leading the way for the Cardinals on the court as the Kingston girls and boys basketball teams are inspiring another group of youngsters in their small town.
“I know a lot of little kids come to our games and are huge fans,” said Neff, a sophomore on the boys team. “I know I’ve talked to a couple eighth graders, and they say they can’t wait to play on varsity with me their sophomore year. I think a lot of the littler kids can’t wait to be a part of it.”
Basketball is king in Kingston, and this winter, Cardinals fans have plenty to cheer about. The girls team was 12-0 heading into Wednesday night’s game against Croswell-Lexington, and ranked No. 1 in Class D by the Detroit Free Press and No. 2 by The Associated Press.
The boys started the season on a nine-game winning streak, and are 11-2.
“I think it’s the same thing wherever you’re going to: if you’re winning, if you’re putting a good product out there, you’re going to see a lot of people there,” boys coach Dave Lester said. “In our little town, it seems like everybody is there for the girls games and guys games. We’ve got a great, great student body. Our home games are electric. It’s a fun atmosphere. It’s fun to coach, and it’s gotta be fun to play.
“It’s what high school sports are all about. I think that atmosphere attracts your younger athletes to want to be a part of it. If they’re there and seeing us win, that’s contagious.”
Lester and girls coach Jay Green have been part of it for the better part of the past three decades, first as players for Kingston and now as coaches.
They played together in the late 1980s, and in Green’s senior year, he helped the boys team reach the MHSAA Quarterfinals.
Green returned to coach the girls team and win four District titles in four years – along with his brother, Dave – during the late 90s. Lester took over the girls program in 2003 and coached the team to the Quarterfinal. The Greens came back to the program in 2011, and Lester took over the boys team midway through the 2013-14 season.
“I think there’s probably a little more passion toward what you do, and what you’re trying to instill into the girls and the boys because you are an alumni,” Jay Green said. “I think both of us could say we were successful alumni in the past. And we both learned under coach Leon Westover when we played, then developed our own ideas, and we have that pride of seeing both the boys and girls doing well.”
Green credits his team’s current success, in part, to the parents in the program, who have taken the time to get their girls to the gym for years and been supportive throughout.
MacGuire agreed.
“My parents, and a bunch of the girls on my team’s parents were always pushing us, and always getting us to play as much as we could,” the point guard said. “They were always telling us that big things were coming. Our starting five is all juniors, and we’ve been playing together since the fourth grade or third grade.”
Kingston’s girls aren’t focused too much on the rankings, or the record, but more on preparing themselves for the postseason. They’ve already scored a win against Class C power Sandusky, and the game against Cros-Lex will provide a test against a strong Class B program. A game against another Class B school, Yale, was postponed because of weather this past Monday.
“I love playing bigger schools,” MacGuire said. “It gives you more competition, and you get to push yourself even more; then it’s even better if you come out with the win. It’s going to benefit us in the tournament.”
Their classmates are providing plenty of support to both teams. MacGuire said there’s been a buzz in the hallways all season, and both she and Neff said their teams make sure to cheer each other on whenever their schedules allow.
“I never really watched girls basketball until seventh or eighth grade when we moved back to Kingston,” Neff said. “I remember watching those teams, and I was really impressed. My eighth grade year, they had like four or five freshmen on varsity, and I knew they were going to be outstanding. Those girls work really hard, and they’re great athletes.”
“We try to make it to as many (boys) games as we can, even the road games,” MacGuire said. “We support each other both ways. It’s a good atmosphere.”
No Kingston team has ever been beyond the Quarterfinals, but the conference and District championships have piled up through the years. And as dedicated players keep walking into the program, it could just be a matter of time before a group of them breaks through.
“It’s just a tradition here, and our kids know it,” Lester said. “When you walk into our gym, there’s tons and tons of basketball banners. We really talk about tradition and how it would be great to continue that tradition and put up more banners.
“Obviously, we would like to make a long run. At some point, you want to win a state championship, but it’s a process. We’ve got some kids who were playing a lot of basketball, putting a lot of time into it. They want to win, and they want to be a part of that tradition.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Kingston’s Carley Smith, left, pushes the ball upcourt while junior Nathan Cloyd, right, launches a shot. (Middle) Gerilyn Carpenter looks for open teammates during a game this season. (Below) Sophomore Evan Neff works to get around a Bad Axe defender. (Photos by Spot On By Shari.)