North Central Powers Up Again in D
March 24, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Adam Mercier had a clear message when he reassembled his Powers North Central boys basketball team for its first meeting last spring.
He re-emphasized that message again before Thursday’s Class D Semifinal against Fulton.
This is a new team, the coach said. But it sure looked like last season’s MHSAA champion with another dominating Breslin Center performance.
In case anyone south of Mackinac Bridge forgot about the phenomenon that has been the Jets’ run over the last two seasons, they offered plenty of reminders with a 64-23 win over the Pirates that upped their winning streak to 54 straight and earned them the opportunity to repeat as best in Class D on Saturday.
All 15 Jets saw the floor in the Semifinal, eight scored and 10 had at least one rebound.
“That’s been our mentality all year, is to get everyone involved, everyone a piece of the glory here,” North Central junior Jason Whitens said. “We have a lot of players out there that have worked hard for this moment. To get out there and get everyone the ball and share the glory in this, it’s really special to do it with this group of guys.”
The top-ranked Jets (27-0) will take on No. 3 Waterford Our Lady at 10 a.m. Saturday with a second straight title – and an opportunity for more – on the line.
One more win would give North Central 55 straight, tying it for the most by any team over two seasons and with Saginaw Buena Vista’s 1992-94 teams for fourth-longest winning streak in MHSAA boys basketball history. The Jets would then have to win their first 11 games next winter to break Chassell's record streak of 65 set during the 1956-59 seasons.
North Central has had two games decided by fewer than 12 points this season – a four-point win over Class B Menominee and another close call against rival Crystal Falls Forest Park. The 23 points allowed Thursday were a season low.
And yet, none of this seems to press on a team that still has only three seniors. A number of these players were part of the 8-player football championship team in the fall, and the theme of that run was keeping it light and having fun, despite the serious nature of playing at the highest level. It’s an attitude that’s seemed to follow these athletes into the winter as well.
“We don’t try to do anything different. They have expectations for themselves; we don’t follow anybody else’s expectations, and there’s no pressure on these kids,” Mercier said. “This is a game of basketball, and it’s meant to be played with a lot of passion, a lot of fun and a lot of energy. … And when they play it, they play it so well.”
After scoring the first nine points of the game Thursday, the Jets built an 18-4 lead after a quarter and never looked back.
Whitens led with 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and senior Morgan Cox added 12 points. Junior Dawson Bilski had 11.
Fulton senior Colton Antes added two more 3-pointers to a career total that will rank among the highest in MHSAA history, finishing with six points. Fulton ended 19-7 after also making the Semifinals and then falling to North Central in 2015.
The Boys Basketball Finals are presented by Sparrow Health System.
PHOTOS: (Top) Jason Whitens fires a jumper over Fulton defenders during Thursday’s Semifinal win. (Middle) Morgan Cox buries a dunk.
ATAP Dials Up Defense, Dissolves Rare Deficit to Earn Saturday Return
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 12, 2026
EAST LANSING – Arts & Technology Academy of Pontiac found itself in a position it certainly wasn’t used to during Thursday’s first Division 3 Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
After posting lopsided wins throughout the MHSAA Tournament, the Lions faced their first big moment of adversity, trailing by nine points after an impressive first half of shooting by Menominee.
“We’ve been winning through the playoffs by 30,” ATAP acting head coach Zach Kelso said. “We knew this game was going to have some adversity. I didn’t know we were going to be down in the second half. At halftime, we made some defensive adjustments, and the boys came out on top.”
Indeed ATAP made the right modifications, as it dominated the second half and pulled away for a 78-66 victory to earn a second-straight appearance in the Division 3 championship game.
The Lions (19-3) hope to finish the season with one more win after falling to Riverview Gabriel Richard in last year’s championship game.
“For us, I want to say that loss last year really humbled a lot of players on our team,” ATAP senior Devonte Grandison said. “It pushed a lot of players on our team.”
Senior Jaiden Price led all scorers Thursday with 26 points, and sophomore Lewis Lovejoy scored 24 points.
Senior Darrent Butler scored 24 points and senior Tanner Theuerkauf added 14 for Menominee (23-5).
As for the defensive adjustments Kelso was referring to heading into the second half, Kelso said it was a pretty simple message to his players.
“We stopped helping,” Kelso said. “We are a defensive help team. I just told them it’s man-on-man time. Whoever got beat is coming out of the game. They didn’t want to come out of the game, and they didn’t want to lose.”
Menominee controlled the first half in a brilliant display of offensive basketball. The Maroons shot 14 of 27 from the field overall and 7 of 16 from 3-point range, taking a 40-31 lead into the locker room.
But the second half was all ATAP.
The Lions quickly erased their deficit, starting the third quarter on a 12-1 run to take a 42-41 lead just 2:53 into the period. ATAP eventually took a 52-48 lead into the fourth quarter and pulled away from there.
ATAP went on a 10-0 run early in the fourth, grabbing a 62-50 lead with 5:05 remaining on a 3-pointer by Price. The Lions grew that lead to 72-58 with 2:32 left and never looked back.
“We needed this,” Kelso said. “We needed this adversity to prepare us for the championship.”
Menominee was making its second trip to the Semifinals in four years after finishing as runner-up in 2022.
“There was probably a little bit of fool’s gold for us at the 3-point line in the first half,” Menominee head coach Sam Larson said. “We needed to attack downhill a little more. I thought at times we settled for some perimeter shots.
“Credit to ATAP. They came out, got really physical. … A couple of (plays) we weren’t able to draw the foul, and we weren’t able to play through it. We needed a couple of buckets to go down in that third quarter to stem the initial run, and we just didn’t get them. Next thing you know, we are playing from behind and they do a heck of a job pounding the air out of the ball and making really good possessions where they space you out.”
PHOTOS (Top) ATAP’s Sherrod Magee (2) and Devonte Grandison (1) defend the basket during the Lions’ Division 3 Semifinal win Thursday at Breslin Center. (Middle) Jaiden Price (5) attempts to get a shot up over the outstretched arms of Menominee’s Tanner Theuerkauf. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)