No Close Call This Time for Romulus
March 22, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Romulus made three trips to the MHSAA Semifinals from 2008-12, and missed out on three championship game berths by a combined five points.
How focused are the Eagles on finishing the job this time around? Consider how they started and finished Thursday’s 76-67 Semifinal victory over Grand Rapids Christian.
Romulus jumped out to a 10-0 lead over the first two minutes from which Christian never recovered. And after the final buzzer, it was impossible to tell which team had just earned a chance to play for the Class A championship.
“We all know what it feels like (from) when we lost to Rockford (last season). We know we should’ve won,” Romulus senior E.C. Matthews said. “We’re all playing with a chip on our shoulders. Everybody came in with a mentality to win.”
Romulus (26-1) will face either reigning champion Saginaw or Detroit Southeastern in Saturday’s noon Final. It will be the first championship game for Romulus since falling by three to Holt in 2005.
Romulus reached the Semifinals in 2008, 2009 and 2012, losing by two in overtime and then by one in each of the next two games, respectively. Romulus also made the Quarterfinals in 2011. It does own one championship, from 1986.
“It feels good to finally get back to the championship. … These guys have kinda made that their goal,” said Romulus coach Nate Oats, who has led the program to all but its first trip to the Finals. “They’ve worked extremely hard to put themselves in the spot they’ve put themselves in.
"We’re a lot more focused. We’ve got pretty mature kids who come in with a business-like mindset.”
And that effort this time was led by Matthews, who has signed with Rhode Island. Oats said he’ll play point guard at the college level, but Romulus has a college-caliber point guard too in Missouri recruit Wesley Clark. So Oats moved Matthews to wing this season, and he more than doubled his team-leading scoring average (16.2) on Thursday, finishing with 37 points on 17 of 26 shooting from the floor. As a team, Romulus made 48 percent of its shots and scored 20 points on the fastbreak.
Clark had seven points but eight rebounds and nine assists, and 6-foot-8 Louisiana Tech signee Leonardo Edwards had 12 points and nine rebounds manning the post.
But similarly clutch was senior guard Lowell Wade, who was responsible much of the game for covering Grand Rapids Christian junior Drake Harris.
The hero of the Division 4 Football Final in November, Harris has seemingly upped his already-substantial game to go along with Christian’s recovery from a 2-4 start and run to East Lansing. He had 25 points in Tuesday’s Quarterfinal win over Muskegon and scored 25 more in the Semifinal – which he said was his final high school basketball game as he plans to enroll early at whichever college he chooses to continue his football career.
Two of Harris’ points pulled Grand Rapids Christian within six of the lead with 5:29 to play. But that was the closest he and his Eagles got during the game’s final 12 minutes.
“Drake’s been a go-to guy, a tough matchup. They forced us into some tough shots, but it was one of those nights,” Grand Rapids Christian coach Steve Majerle said. “If we did it all over again, we’d probably do the same thing, just do it better. They did better what they do than we did what we do.”
Junior Dwayne Barfield added 12 points, seven rebounds and seven steals for Christian, and junior DaRohn Scott had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Grand Rapids Christian finished 20-7 and won 10 straight before Thursday. “If you’d seen where we started and where we ended, it was like night and day,” Majerle said. “If you saw our first game, we’re not the same team.”
Romulus, which entered the tournament ranked No. 2, was able to avoid a letdown after beating No. 1 Detroit Pershing in Tuesday’s Quarterfinal. Now back in a Final, the Eagles will be sure to remain even keeled in preparation for hoisting a championship trophy.
“We’re not that high. We were here last year, so we know what it feels like,” Matthews said. “We’re listening to Oats. He’s leading us. He’s telling us all the right things.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Romulus' Wesley Clark (right) tries to get up a shot around Grand Rapids Christian's Davaris Collier (3). (Middle) Romulus' E.C. Matthews (right) prepares to drive against Christian's Joel Zwiers (34). (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 6
January 16, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
As conference races begin to heat up on both peninsulas, the best of the best are starting to show it against arguably their toughest opponents – those most familiar.
Our top game from last week in this week's Breslin Bound report – powered by MI Student Aid – features two such neighbors facing off again as they have for decades, while a number of rivals also saw each other for the first of two meetings this season.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Saginaw 62, Saginaw Arthur Hill 49 – This annually is one of the state’s best rivalries, and the Trojans have the edge in the Saginaw Valley League North with the rematch coming Feb. 3.
2. Detroit East English 73, Kalamazoo Central 63 – After being stunned by Detroit Osborn on Friday, East English came back to win the premier game of the Floyd Mayweather Classic at Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills on Saturday.
3. Wyoming Godwin Heights 114, Wyoming Kelloggsville 75 – The Ottawa-Kent Conference Silver includes three teams from Wyoming that are a combined 20-2, but Godwin Heights remains the leader at 8-0.
4. East Lansing 70, Holt 66 – The undefeated Trojans should be contenders in Class A, and now have survived a second challenge in the strong Capital Area Activities Conference Blue.
5. St. Clair Shores Lake Shore 56, St. Clair 38 – Lake Shore, sitting in first place in the Macomb Area Conference Silver, handed then-MAC Gold leader St. Clair its first loss.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each class making sparks:
CLASS A
Saginaw (7-1) – The Trojans opted up to play in Class A again despite an enrollment of just fewer than 600. And they’ll again be in the mix, judging from last week’s 62-49 win over Arthur Hill; the lone loss was to Chicago Orr, which also has wins over Detroit Martin Luther King and Pershing.
Wayne Memorial (7-1) – After finishing 8-14 only a season ago, Wayne has asserted itself atop the Kensington Lakes Activities Association South. Friday’s one-point win over Canton put the Zebras in first alone and the Chiefs in second.
CLASS B
Benton Harbor (9-0) – The Tigers are looking like a challenger in Class B again after a step back, relatively speaking, to 15-6 last season. Last week showed plenty – a 55-45 win over Class A Battle Creek Central and an overtime win over struggling but recently successful Stevensville Lakeshore.
Richmond (7-1) – Better known for football and wrestling, Richmond finished third in the Blue Water Area Conference last season but has an early leg up with a win over co-champion Imlay City and that other co-champ, Yale, coming up Tuesday.
CLASS C
Gobles (8-2) – The Tigers’ defeats have come to Class B one-loss teams Fennville and Wyoming Lee, and they are closing in on last season’s 12-win total. The rematch with Fennville comes Jan. 31 and could end up deciding the champion in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Lakeshore.
Negaunee (7-0) – The Miners have won all of their games by at least 16 and six by at least 21 points to keep pace with also-undefeated Norway in the Mid-Peninsula Athletic Conference. Negaunee split the league title last year with Iron Mountain, winning its first 19 before losing its final two games.
CLASS D
Fowler (6-1) – The Eagles took a mid-December loss to Bath, but remain the mix in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference after last week’s 63-56 win over rival and 2016 Class D semifinalist Fulton.
Deckerville (6-2) – These Eagles are looking to challenge Dryden again after splitting the North Central Thumb League title last season, and will circle the March 2 rematch with the Class C Cardinals after falling to them Dec. 12.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Monday – Negaunee (7-0) at Marquette (7-1) – Two Upper Peninsula league leaders will face off in one of the north’s top nonleague matchups this season.
Tuesday – Detroit Martin Luther King (6-1) at Detroit East English (7-1) – First place in the Detroit Public School League East Division 1, and superiority in the league as a whole, could be at stake.
Tuesday – Buckley (5-0) at Frankfort (5-0) – The Northwest Conference co-leaders are also potentially two of the best in all of Class D.
Tuesday – Dundee (9-0) at Hillsdale (8-0) – These two lead the Lenawee County Athletic Association and also are rising up the ranks in Class B.
Tuesday – Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (7-1) at Detroit U-D Jesuit (6-2) – The Eaglets are in the Detroit Catholic League Central conversation again, and can take a commanding step against the reigning Class A champion.
PHOTO: Deckerville, attempting a shot, earned a win over Sandusky earlier this season and sit 6-2. (Click to see more from Varsity Monthly.)