Southfield Christian Nets 3rd Title Try
March 20, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Lindsay Hunter IV sank his first shot 43 seconds into Thursday’s first Class D Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
And he didn’t stop until top-ranked Southfield Christian had cemented itself in a third straight championship game.
Hunter made 7 of his first 10 shots, missing just one more at the start of the third quarter before leaving the game with 21 points in 14 minutes as his team cruised to a 97-68 victory over Frankfort.
The two-time defending champion Eagles will face Adrian Lenawee Christian in Saturday’s 10 a.m. championship game.
“I just wanted to come out and get a win. I did everything (possible),” Hunter IV said. “It’s been like that all playoffs. I don’t know what’s going on. All of a sudden the swishes flew.”
And not just for Hunter. Southfield Christian (25-1) shot 50 percent from the floor including 41 percent from 3-point range. It took the lead for good 1:08 into the game and led by 14 by the end of the first quarter.
During the first half, when the Eagles' starters played most of the minutes, the team shot 60 percent from the floor and 75 percent from behind the 3-point arc.
Southfield Christian set a Class D Semifinal record for points, scoring two more than Detroit East Catholic did in its 95-65 win over Concord in 1986. Junior guard Bakari Evelyn added 17 points for the Eagles, making 7 of 8 shots from the floor including all three of his 3-point attempts.
Senior forward Damarco White added seven points, six rebounds and four blocked shots in only 12 minutes. He, Evelyn and Hunter also were main contributors in last season’s championship run, and Hunter and Evelyn played major roles in 2012 as well.
“Especially this year, it’s my last year and I’ve got to play as hard as I can every game because it could be my last,” White said. “I don’t want to let our team lose. Just like last year, I want to play for everybody in the locker room, everybody at my school, so I go out there and do the best I can.”
Frankfort seniors Connor Bradley and Brandon Schaub helped the Panthers to their first Semifinal since 1969, earning a legacy in their school's history. Total, they were part of three District and two Regional titles and “had as good a career as anybody in the history of Frankfort,” Panthers coach Reggie Manville said.
Junior center David Loney led Frankfort with 32 points and 13 rebounds. Schaub added 11 points and sophomore guard Kole Hollenbeck had five assists.
Frankfort finished 20-7 after entering the postseason as an honorable mention in the final Associated Press poll.
“Each year we’ve taken a step forward, from the District to the Regional to the final four, and we still have 10 guys coming back,” Manville added. “We want to take the next step, and yet we realize the next step is a big step. But at the same time, I’ve got confidence in my program that we’ll be there next year.”
Click for a full box score and video from the press conference.
PHOTO: (Top) Southfield Christian's Jalen Bouldes drives to the hoop as Frankfort's Ryan Plumstead defends. (Middle) Frankfort's Kole Hollenbeck works to get past Southfield Christian's Kameron Garner.
HIGHLIGHTS: (1) David Loney got Frankfort out to a 5-1 lead in the Class D Semifinal, hitting this 3-pointer for the first points of the game. He finished with a game-high 32. (2) Lindsay Hunter IV takes a long pass on a fast break and scores as part of an 11-point run for Southfield Christian in the first quarter. Hunter led his team with 21 points.
Senior-Led Stevenson Makes Statement
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
March 22, 2016
STERLING HEIGHTS – Three times coach Rick Bye took Sterling Heights Stevenson to the MHSAA Finals in football.
Since the mid-1980s few schools in the Metro Detroit area have a football program as successful as that at Stevenson. Since 1985, Stevenson has qualified for the football playoffs 20 times. Twelve times the Titans won 10 or more games. During one stretch they reached the Semifinals six consecutive seasons (1993-98).
The baseball program has thrived recently under coach Joe Emanuele. The Titans won the Division 1 title in 2005, reached the Semifinals twice (2011 and 2013) and went to the Quarterfinals in 2014.
But in boys basketball, the Titans have not been able to compete at nearly as high a level as football and baseball. Before this season, Stevenson had one Regional title.
Now it has two.
Stevenson (20-4) defeated Roseville, 60-44, last Wednesday in a Class A Regional Final. The Titans will face North Farmington (22-2) in tonight’s 7 p.m. Quarterfinal at Calihan Hall at the University of Detroit Mercy.
Perhaps we should have seen this coming. Coach Mark LaCombe is in his third season, and the Titans have shown improvement each winter. They were 13-8 in 2013-14 and 16-5 last season, a finish that included a Macomb Area Conference White title.
But first-round knockouts in the MHSAA Tournament didn’t sit well with the five seniors who start for LaCombe this season.
Luke Lamoreaux, a 5-foot-9 point guard and a three-year starter, is one of four returning from last season’s lineup. He was the captain on the soccer team in the fall and is the leader of this team. Lamoreaux said the difference between last season and the team this season is experience.
“We’ve gotten stronger in the weight room,” he said. “We hit the weight room a lot.
“It’s a lot of hard work. Plus it’s a senior-led team. We played a lot of tough teams in the summer. And we played a tough nonconference schedule. We played (Macomb) Dakota. We had a 15-point lead and lost in overtime. We said if we can play with the No. 2-ranked team, we can play with anybody. We’d like another shot.
“We’ve always been a good football school. We’ve wanted to make our mark in basketball. What we’re doing now is we’re making a statement with this run.”
Stevenson isn’t a tall team. Its tallest starter is Stacy Howard at 6-2. LaCombe uses a four-guard lineup and generally subs two to three off the bench. Jahi Hinson (6-3) is one of those reserves, and he’s the lone junior in the rotation.
“We’re undersized,” LaCombe said. “The kids play harder than anyone we play. The kids that play, play at a high level.”
Three players, including Lamoreaux, average between 11 and 12 points. Mylon Weathers (6-0) and Vince Ramachi (6-1) averaged 12 points apiece, Lamoreaux 11.5. Lamoreaux has stepped up his game in the tournament. He’s averaging 15.5 in four tournament games.
“The basket looks really big to him now,” LaCombe said. “He’s getting a name for himself. He plays well on the big stage.”
Weathers is the team’s top defender and will guard the opposition’s top scoring guard. In a District Semifinal, he held Clinton Township Chippewa Valley senior Steven Lloyd to 11 points, 10 below Lloyd’s average.
Stevenson hasn’t received much publicity this season for obvious reasons. LaCombe knows a team has to earn respect, and he said that’s what his team has done. The MAC White isn’t a strong basketball division, and to prepare his team for a long run LaCombe scheduled nonleague games against Rockford, Detroit Western International, Rochester Adams, Warren DeLaSalle and Detroit Country Day. Stevenson’s four losses were to teams that won District titles.
“We weren’t quite ready last year,” he said. “Defensively they’ve executed as well as a coach could ask for. They’ve made adjustments. We trap a lot.
“The brackets were set up perfectly for us. A lot of times you set goals for the season: a league and district titles. That wouldn’t have been good enough for this group. I don’t think we’ll have a group like this come out of Stevenson for a long time.”
Tom Markowski is a columnist and directs website coverage for the State Champs! Sports Network. He previously covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Luke Lamoreaux and assistant coach Bill Szlaga share a celebratory embrace during Stevenson's Quarterfinal run. (Middle) Stacy Howard (3) prepares to signal a 3-pointer as teammate Austin Beba launches the shot. (Photos courtesy of the Sterling Heights Stevenson boys basketball program.)