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: 2025-26 Boys Report Week 9
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 2, 2026
February has arrived, and with it a few dates to put on your boys basketball calendar.
Only three weeks remain this regular season, with District play beginning Feb. 23.
A week before that, on Feb. 15, final District brackets for boys basketball will be published to this website.
For additional details, check out the MPR FAQ page – and see below for context on some of last week’s results and games coming up that could affect where teams land when those brackets are drawn.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and 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. Kalamazoo Central 95, Muskegon 80 The Maroon Giants (11-2) always schedule tough, and handing Muskegon (11-1) its only loss – avenging a 23-point defeat from the year before – surely has been Central’s best win this winter.
2. East Kentwood 54, Grandville 52 We said last week that the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red was set to begin sorting itself out, and we ended the week with East Kentwood in first place alone after handing Grandville (10-3) one of its three losses over four days.
3. Dearborn Divine Child 55, Jackson Lumen Christi 53 Divine Child (16-2) clinched the outright Catholic High School League AA title, adding this clincher to a three-point win over Lumen Christi (12-4) from December.
4. Wyoming Tri-unity Christian 51, Wyoming Lee 49 With this close call, Tri-unity (12-1) took a slight lead over Lee (11-3) at the top of the Alliance League standings, with the rematch set for Feb. 13.
5. Michigan Center 68, Leslie 53 These two entered the week tied for first in the Cascades Conference East, and Michigan Center (14-1) is now two games ahead after Leslie (12-4) also fell to Manchester by four points.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Detroit Martin Luther King (10-4) The Crusaders are the only team undefeated in Detroit Public School League Blue play, thanks in part to a 45-38 overtime win over Detroit Denby last week and also a 30-point win over second-place Douglass in their only league game of December. King also is 9-1 since an 0-3 start that saw December losses to Lansing Waverly, East Lansing and Detroit Catholic Central by a combined 13 points, with the DCC defeat coming in overtime. King downed Kalamazoo Central to begin the new year and also solidified its league standing with a 60-53 victory over Cass Tech.
Flushing (13-3) The Raiders have improved from six to eight to 14 wins over the last three seasons, respectively, to one more victory this winter from tying last year’s total and with several more games to play. Flushing claimed a matchup of league leaders last week, representing the Flint Metro League Stripes well with a 50-46 win over FML Stars leader Goodrich. Flushing actually has clinched a share of the Stripes championship as it takes a three-game lead into this week and with only three league games left on the schedule. A 63-52 win over Flint Powers Catholic on Jan. 20 also was especially notable.
DIVISION 2
Gladwin (14-1) The Flying Gs opened this winter with a four-point defeat to Sanford Meridian, and haven’t lost again. They lead the Jack Pine Conference Division 1 by three games with four league matchups left and after finishing second to Standish-Sterling a year ago. Standish-Sterling also ended Gladwin’s 2024-25 season in the District, but Gladwin claimed their first meeting this year 50-42 – and the rivals meet again Friday. The Flying Gs face JPC Division 2 co-leader Beaverton on Tuesday, and a win could set Gladwin up to see Meridian again in the league crossover in two weeks.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central (11-4) The Cougars opened this season 1-3 taking losses from Rockford, Grand Rapids Northview and Grand Rapids South Christian, which are a combined 37-7. But after also starting this calendar year with a two-point defeat against Holland Christian, Catholic Central has won eight straight with an impressive 80-44 victory over Macomb L’Anse Creuse North on Saturday the latest of the notable run. A 48-43 win over Grand Rapids Christian has the Cougars first in the O-K White, and those two meet again Feb. 17.
DIVISION 3
Arts & Technology Academy of Pontiac (9-2) The reigning Division 3 runner-up has navigated a tough schedule with losses to only Charter School Conference Gold rivals Romulus Summit Academy North and Hamtramck and notable wins over reigning Division 2 champion Warren Lincoln plus Ecorse, Harper Woods Chandler Park, North Farmington and Detroit Edison – the last three in that list all in overtime. The Lions are third in the Gold heading into the league tournament and could have an opportunity to avenge one or both losses.
Elk Rapids (12-3) The Elks are undefeated in the Northern Shores Conference as they pursue a third-straight league title including a second-straight in the NSC. Their current advantage in the standings came in part thanks to a 54-49 win over second-place Cheboygan on Jan. 6, with the rematch set for Tuesday. The losses were to Ludington, Kingsford and Petoskey – all Division 1 or 2 schools – and the 65-55 defeat against Ludington came in overtime and remains the only time the team has fallen since Dec. 11.
DIVISION 4
Detroit Douglass (12-5) The loss to King noted above has Douglass second in the PSL Blue, which is extraordinary considering the rest of the league is filled by Division 1 and 2 opponents. Douglass has downed Renaissance and Denby among others, and also picked up a solid nonleague win over Saginaw United, 63-59. The other losses are impressive as well, to Benton Harbor by only two points, Warren Cousino by one, Detroit University Prep and most recently Ann Arbor Pioneer. All but University Prep have double-digit wins.
Hillsdale Academy (13-2) The Colts opened this season falling to one of the best in Division 4, Concord, but last week handed Mendon its only loss, 78-65 in overtime. Hillsdale Academy’s only other defeat came to Jonesville, which is tied for first in the Cascades Conference West. The next showdown is tonight, as the Colts face Waldron for first place in the Southern Central Athletic Association East and with Hillsdale Academy’s 41-game league winning streak on the line.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – McBain (13-1) at Beal City (13-0) – The Aggies are in first place in the Highland Conference and McBain is in second because Beal City won their first matchup 49-41 on Dec. 19.
Tuesday – Ypsilanti Lincoln (15-1) at Chelsea (10-3) – Lincoln’s 55-53 win over Chelsea on Dec. 19 has the Railsplitters atop the Southeastern Conference White, and claiming this rematch would all but lock up a share of the league title.
Tuesday – Rockford (13-2) at East Kentwood (13-1) – East Kentwood’s 69-68 win over Rockford on Jan. 13 separates those two at the top of the O-K Red standings.
Thursday – New Haven (13-2) at Warren Woods Tower (15-1) – The Titans can clinch the Macomb Area Conference Gold championship with a win over second-place New Haven after also claiming their first matchup 41-39 on Jan. 20.
Friday – East Lansing (16-0) at Lansing Waverly (12-3) – The Trojans haven’t lost a Capital Area Activities Conference Blue game since Feb. 24, 2023, with a 74-62 win over second-place Waverly on Dec. 18 the difference in this season’s standings.
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PHOTOS (Top) Grand Blanc’s Emmanuel Cooley gets to the rim during his team’s 54-47 win over Clarkston last month. (Middle) Escanaba’s Lennox Peacock pulls up for a shot during a January defeat against Marquette. (Grand Blanc/Clarkston photo by Terry Lyons. Escanaba/Marquette photo by Randy Ritari.