North Central Powers to MHSAA Record
January 28, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Powers North Central boys basketball team has owned Class D the last two seasons. The Jets now own what was one of the longest-standing MHSAA records as well.
With a 76-29 win over Bark River-Harris on Friday, North Central took over alone the Michigan boys hoops record for longest winning streak with 66 straight victories, dating to opening night of the 2014-15 season. The Jets' last loss was an 81-79 Class D Quarterfinal defeat to Cedarville during the 2013-14 season, when they finished 25-1.
Tuesday's win over Rock Mid-Peninsula had tied North Central with the Chassell teams from 1956-58 with 65 straight wins. The Jets are 11-0 this winter, and returning most of their top players from the last two seasons are expected to make another long tournament run and potentially push their record streak beyond 80 straight victories.
Click for full coverage of the record-breaking performance from the Escanaba Daily Press. Longtime Daily Press sports editor and Second Half correspondent Denny Grall will bring additional context to the record with a 2H piece next week.
The game was broadcast live on MHSAA.tv with production by a crew from School Broadcast Program member Marquette High School. Click the link above to watch the replay on-demand.
In addition to the winning streak record, the Jets also celebrated the 1,000th career point for senior Dawson Bilski, who with seniors Jason Whitens, Bobby Kleiman and Marcus Krachinski has been among standouts during the entirety of North Central's run. The North Central football team, featuring some of the same standouts, also hasn't lost in two seasons while claiming two MHSAA 8-player championships.
PHOTOS: (Top) The North Central Jets hold up a banner made by students to celebrate the team's 66-game win streak, the longest in MHSAA history. North Central defeated Bark River-Harris 76-29 onFriday night to surpass Chassell's 65-game streak, which had stood since 1958. (Middle) North Central's Dawson Bilski gets a hug from Jets' assistant coach Gerald Whitens during a stoppage in play. Bilski reached the 1,000 point mark for his career during the victory. (Photos by Keith Shelton.)
Wayne Memorial's Moment Arrives as Zebras Pull Away for Historic Win
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 14, 2025
EAST LANSING – Carlos Medlock Jr. makes no excuses for wanting the ball at crunch time.
The Wayne Memorial junior guard enjoys his dual role with his team, including shooting the ball from almost any angle at any time. Whatever the defense gives him, Medlock Jr. said he's happy to take it.
Case in point was Wayne Memorial's 66-49 win over Flint Carmen-Ainsworth in Friday's second Division 1 Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
With the Zebras nursing a tenuous five-point lead midway through the third quarter, the 6-foot, 170-pound Medlock hit a short jumper, a layup, a free throw, a pullup jumper and a reverse layup during a span of less than three minutes.
The lead ballooned to as much as 52-38 a minute into the fourth quarter as Wayne Memorial earned a trip – the program's first – to Saturday's 12:15 p.m. championship game against East Lansing.
As much as Medlock Jr. admits to happily possessing a shooter's mentality – he's averaging nearly 25 points per game – he also takes pride in providing open looks for teammates. Medlock Jr. wound up tossing in 29 points on 11-of-24 shooting while adding eight rebounds and six assists.
"Even when they're trying to stop me, that means my teammates are available," he said. "I want the ball, but it's about helping others, too. When I'm hot, I want the ball. If I'm not, I'll get it to Austin (Tory) or someone open."
Tory, who complements Medlock Jr. from the other guard spot, added 14 points and six rebounds.
Wayne Memorial improved to 25-3, while Carmen-Ainsworth finished 22-6.
Zebras coach Steve Brooks said Medlock Jr. is a key member of a team which, in some cases, has been together since middle school. He said the program takes pride in that it hasn't been aided by transfers. The Zebras, he said, are pure homegrown.
"We're here because we have fun," he said. "I'm happy for our seniors; they've bought into this. They're Wayne kids who've put in the work."
Wayne Memorial led 30-25 at the half, then salted the game away with a 20-13 third quarter run. The Zebras outscored Carmen-Ainsworth 16-11 in the fourth quarter.
Wayne Memorial senior center Talan Clark said because the team has basically been intact for four years, there has been talk of reaching Finals weekend.
"We've worked four years for this moment," he said. "No transfers have come in. It's just been us who've put in the work. After all the work we've put in in the summer, this is what we wanted to do. We all had the same goal."
Carmen-Ainsworth was led by Donovan Hamlin's 15 points and eight rebounds. MarQuinn Weston II had 11 points.
Cavaliers coach Jay Witham said his team simply didn't do the things which led to winning four tournament games over the last two weeks by fewer than nine points. Carman-Ainsworth shot 44.7 percent from the floor, but missed nine of its 3-point attempts while turning the ball over 17 times.
"They are a talented team, and their guards are tough to defend," said Witham, whose club finished fourth in the Saginaw Valley League. "But for whatever reason we turned the ball over and took (bad) shots we don't normally take, and that hurt us. We had to settle for (longer) shots instead of getting to the rim.
"It happens. Whether it was playing on this stage in a big moment, I thought we were focused. It just wasn't our day."
PHOTOS (Top) Wayne Memorial’s Antwaun Williams (10) guards Flint Carman-Ainsworth’s MarQuinn Weston II during Friday’s Division 1 Semifinal. (Middle) Carman-Ainsworth’s Kendreyas White (10) gets up a shot as Wayne’s Joshua Dennis (33) goes for a block. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)