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.)
Key Rebound, Putback in Breslin Return Help Send Brandywine to 1st Final
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 14, 2024
EAST LANSING — It couldn’t have been more ironic for Niles Brandywine that on a day when it was dominated in the rebounding category, it ended up getting the rebound that was most important of all.
Trailing McBain by two points during the final seconds of regulation in a Division 3 Semifinal on Thursday, Brandywine appeared to be done after senior Jaremiah Palmer missed a jumper that would have tied the game.
But senior Byron Linley was there for an offensive putback just before the buzzer sounded to tie the game and send it to overtime.
After seeing McBain score the first four points of the extra period, Brandywine answered with the next seven, the last three on a 3-pointer by senior Ja’Torian Smith with 18.9 seconds remaining that was ultimately the difference in a 51-48 Brandywine victory.
The Bobcats will make their first trip to a Final at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Breslin Center.
“Byron was at the right place at the right time,” Brandywine head coach Nathan Knapp said. “Thank goodness for him. He’s one of our better shooters, and he’s in a little funk right now. That kind of lifted him a bit.”
McBain scored the first four points of overtime on consecutive baskets by freshman Clayton Heuker, but Brandywine answered with four straight of its own to tie the game at 48-48 with 1:04 remaining in the extra period.
After getting a stop with under a minute left, Brandywine moved the ball around and got an open look from 3-point range for Smith, who drained the shot from the left side of the floor to give Brandywine its final three-point lead with 18.9 seconds remaining.
“It is really just a confidence thing,” Smith said. “I shoot this shot 100,000 times. So it’s just following through and being confident with it.”
McBain turned the ball over on its next possession, giving Brandywine the ball back with 3.7 seconds remaining.
The Bobcats inbounded the ball and missed the two free throws following a foul, but there wasn’t enough time left for McBain to get off anything but a full-court heave that fell short just before the buzzer sounded.
“Once we get our kids with their backs to the wall, they’re resilient,” Knapp said.
Brandywine advanced despite being outrebounded 43-22 and shooting just 4 of 21 from 3-point range. The Bobcats made up for those deficiencies by forcing 27 McBain turnovers.
Smith scored 19 points, and Palmer added 12 for Brandywine (24-3).
Heuker scored 14 points and senior Evan Haverkamp added 12 for McBain (25-2).
“They did a great job,” McBain head coach Bruce Koopman said. “All year long, they just kept making me believe and believe. I wasn’t sure we were this good. They just battled every game and showed me so much this tournament.”
Brandywine also advanced to the Semifinals last season before falling to Traverse City St. Francis. The Bobcats didn’t lead Thursday until Smith drained a 3-pointer with 6:24 remaining to give his team a 36-35 lead.
McBain responded, answering with a 9-2 run over the next 3:31 to take a 44-38 lead with 2:53 left.
McBain held a 28-22 lead with 4:19 remaining in the third quarter, but Brandywine outscored the Ramblers 10-5 the rest of the quarter to cut the deficit to 33-32 going into the fourth.
The Ramblers started off strong, holding Brandywine to 16.7-percent shooting in the first quarter and taking a 16-8 lead after eight minutes. They then built their lead to 20-8 with 6:27 remaining in the second quarter before Brandywine found some rhythm on both ends.
The Bobcats ended the quarter on a 12-4 run to cut the McBain lead to 24-20 at halftime.
PHOTOS (Top) Brandywine's Nylen Goins (1) gets up a shot under the basket during his team's Division 3 Semifinal win Thursday. (Middle) The Bobcats' Ja'Torian Smith (12) shoots a 3-pointer as McBain's Evan Haverkamp defends. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)