Southfield Christian Claims 3-Peat in D
March 22, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – First one and then a second starter fouled out of Saturday’s Class D Final as Southfield Christian tried to catch Adrian Lenawee Christian with only a few minutes remaining.
Fortunately for the Eagles, they had a few more players left with experience finishing a championship run.
Southfield Christian had never during the last three seasons played from situation it faced early Saturday afternoon. But a number of its players had helped win one or both of two straight MHSAA championships – and that no doubt assisted those left on the floor as they claimed a third.
Junior guard Bakari Evelyn scored five of his game-high 28 points after teammates Lindsay Hunter IV and Damarco White fouled out in the fourth quarter, and 2013 championship game standout Marlo Brown also scored during the same stretch as Southfield Christian claimed its third straight MHSAA title with a 63-61 nail-biter over Adrian Lenawee Christian.
“It was tough once I saw we were losing Lin and Damarco for a few quarters. My whole objective was to keep the game as close as possible,” Evelyn said. “I thought we were going to come out with the win, through the whole game and everything. It was good to finally be right.”
Evelyn, who started last season’s Class D Final and came off the bench in 2012 as a freshman, also had seven rebounds, four assists and four steals and handled the ball almost exclusively after Hunter fouled out with 16 points, 3:47 left to play and the Eagles trailing 54-51.
The 6-foot-6 White fouled out just more than a minute later with only two points, but five rebounds and five blocked shots after spending most of his morning defending Lenawee Christian’s trio of 6-7 post players.
But Evelyn had plenty of help down the stretch. Sophomore guard Jalen Bouldes played only 38 seconds during the closing minutes, but scored, was fouled and made the ensuing free throw to give Southfield Christian a 56-55 lead with 3:09 to play. Brown scored a minute later to push the lead to three. Evelyn then made five of six free-throw attempts over the final 1:13 to keep Lenawee Christian just a few points short.
“We’ve never had this where all of our main guys were in foul trouble. Other guys like Harding (Fears) and Benny (Cookinham) had to step up,” Eagles coach Clennie Brundidge said. "I’d put (Hunter and White) back in here and they’d get another foul. I told them that at the end, our depth was going to win this.”
Fears grabbed eight rebounds in 12 minutes and junior guard Kameron Garner – a starter last season who this winter came off the bench – had five points and five rebounds despite taking a hard fall during the first half. Brown had only four points, but both baskets put Southfield Christian up at points in the game.
Lenawee Christian (21-5), an honorable mention in the Class D poll heading into the postseason, came back from an early nine-point deficit to make it back-and-forth over the final three quarters.
Senior center Kingsley had 22 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the floor and with sophomore forward Maxwell (11 points) allowed the Cougars to slow the game’s tempo and keep Southfield Christian’s usually active fastbreak to only 11 points.
“We wanted them to come beat us at our game, and I think for the most part we were able to control tempo,” Lenawee Christian coach Scott McKelvey said. “Our free-throw shooting hurt us (19 of 31), but we got opportunities and we couldn’t ask for anything more than that. It’s a team that probably no one in the state thought we could beat.”
“If we could’ve had two more minutes,” Kingsley added, "I’m pretty confident we could’ve changed something.”
Senior forward Grant Hohlbein, also set to accept an MHSAA Scholar-Athlete Award later Saturday, added 15 points for Lenawee Christian. The Cougars’ Semifinal on Thursday was its first since 2001, and the championship game berth was their first ever.
Brundidge said that after seeing Lenawee Christian in a summer game, he knew that was the team his Eagles would face if they returned for a third straight Final. Southfield Christian’s only loss this season was to Class A No. 5 Saginaw Arthur Hill, and it finished 26-1 and 74-5 over the last three seasons – good to tie for eighth-most wins over a three-season span.
“I’m in awe,” Hunter said. “My freshman year we lost in the first round of Districts to (Bloomfield Hills) Roeper, went 2-19. I never thought we’d be sitting here in this position with three state championships.”
Click for the full box score and video from the press conference.
PHOTOS: (Top) Southfield Christian’s Bakari Evelyn (22) works to get to the rim around Adrian Lenawee Christian’s Maxwell and Grant Hohlbein. (Middle) Lenawee Christian’s Nick Mewborn dribbles upcourt with Southfield Christian’s Kameron Garner defending.
HIGHLIGHTS: (1) Southfield Christian uses a block to start a fast break, resulting in a basket – and one – for Jalen Bouldes. The free throw gave the Eagles the lead to stay in the Class D finale. (2) With 12 seconds to go, Grant Hohlbein of Lenawee Christian scores on an inbounds pass and draws a Southfield Christian foul. Hohlbein completed the three-point play to pull his team within a point at 62-61.
ATAP Continues Extraordinary Climb By Advancing to 1st Title Game
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 13, 2025
EAST LANSING – Meteors might only seem like they are limited to the sky, but don’t tell that to the Arts & Technology Academy of Pontiac boys basketball team.
On Thursday, the Lions continued what can be put mildly as a meteoric rise toward the top of the state.
ATAP, which opened in 2001, advanced to its first state championship game with a convincing 76-40 win over Ishpeming Westwood in a Division 3 Semifinal on Thursday.
The Lions went 3-12 two years ago and 8-7 last year, but are 21-1 entering Saturday’s 4:30 p.m. Final.
Playing in a Semifinal for the first time, the Lions showcased to the state why they have climbed so quickly, overmatching Westwood with their speed, skill and athleticism.
For ATAP head coach Orlando Lovejoy, everything was about focusing on his team and its strengths.
“We don’t watch film on nobody,” Lovejoy said. “Why would we even watch film on somebody when we don’t even know how they are going to play us? There’s no need to watch film. The most important thing is to play the way we are going to play and control what we can control, and that’s how we play defense. That’s the main thing we can stop anybody with, our defense.”
ATAP (21-1) certainly displayed its defense, forcing 21 turnovers by Westwood.
Offensively, freshman Lewis Lovejoy led the way with 19 points, while sophomore De’Vontae Grandison had 17 and nine rebounds.
The Lions held a 24-17 rebounding advantage and shot a blistering 70.5 percent from the field (31 of 44), making 29 of 34 shots from 2-point range.
“It feels great because we have put in so much work,” said senior Teyshaun Hicks. “From the summertime to the start of the season, 6 in the morning to late at night. It’s paying off, and you see it now.”
Junior Ethan Marta scored 15 points and senior Tristan Miller added 13 to lead the way for the Patriots (22-6), who made their first Semifinal appearance since 2003.
“We ultimately fell short tonight, but it doesn’t change anything we did all year,” Westwood head coach Luke Gray said. “We set the standard. Graduated seven seniors from last year. These kids embraced it the right way. We had a great summer and I will always cherish the way this team leads by example not only within this program, but in the community with how they treat others.”
The Lions were dominant from the start, scoring the first eight points and forcing the Patriots into two timeouts before the game was even four minutes old.
ATAP had an 18-8 lead after the first quarter before Ishpeming Westwood seemed to settle into the game.
The Patriots cut the lead to 20-14 with 5:05 to play until halftime on a jumper by Miller. But the Lions surged from there, using their pressure defense to create turnovers that led to easy baskets. ATAP finished the second quarter on a 16-1 run to grab a 36-15 lead by halftime.
The Lions ensured there wasn’t a big run by the Patriots during the third quarter, taking a 56-33 lead into the fourth.
PHOTOS (Top) ATAP's De'Vontae Grandison brings the ball upcourt during his team's Semifinal win. (Middle) The Lions' Khalif Stovall (2) works to maintain possession with multiple Westwood players closing in.