Howell Puts Heart Into Memorial Meet

Grass Lake has gone more than 50 years without a conference boys basketball championship. The wait could be over Saturday.

The Warriors, guided by second-year head coach Marshawn Norris, are 18-0 for the first time in school history and have locked in a spot in Saturday’s Cascades Conference championship game.

Norris is the fifth coach for the Warriors in seven years, but he’s off to a fast start in putting his stamp on the program.

“I think that is what is most appealing to me,” he said. “I’m a basketball guy. I think I have a chance to change the village of Grass Lake into a basketball town.”

Grass Lake athletic director Brian Zalud said the community is building excitement over what’s happening with basketball. The team already has the school record for wins in a season.

“In the two years that Marshawn has been at Grass Lake he has been able to get our kids to buy into what he is trying to get them to do,” Zalud said. “They play with intensity every time they are on the court. Every kid is willing to do all the little things for him and each other, and that passion and desire comes as a direct reflection of what Coach Marshawn brings to every practice and game.”

Norris is a Jackson native who played his high school basketball at Napoleon, one of Grass Lake’s opponents in the Cascades Conference.

“They were hard-nosed and competitive,” Norris recalled about Grass Lake. “I know they’ve been looking for a basketball coach, not just someone in the job, and I hope I can be that guy for a long time.”

The 18-0 start is surprising for a program that has struggled to maintain consistency over the years. The only Cascades Conference boys basketball championships in the trophy case are from 1955 and 1971.

“Coming into the season, we knew we had a special group,” Norris said. “I told them the faster we get ready and harder we work, we’ll be able to jump on some teams and surprise them. I think we did just that. Now we are in the conference championship game on Saturday and have a chance to accomplish our first goal.”

Norris graduated from Napoleon in 2008 and played collegiately at Mott Community College and Culver-Stockton College in Missouri. He was offered an assistant coaching job at Culver-Stockton in the locker room after his final college game. He served as head coach for two seasons at Jackson College before landing at Grass Lake.

“This is my first high school job,” he said. “I’ve never built a program. I’ve never coached anywhere longer than two seasons. Hopefully this will be my first stop where I’m able to stay more than two seasons and I’m able to build something and people know what they are getting from Coach Norris.”

Norris was hired in June 2023 and quickly pieced together a summer schedule of scrimmages against Jackson-area schools. The Warriors went 11-13 in his first season.

This year, things have turned around paced by a starting lineup of all seniors.

“Four of my guys are 18 years old,” Norris said.

The starters are Brayden Lape, Sal Vitale, Jacob Collins, Bryant Cook and Carmyne Beltran.

Lape leads the team in scoring at 19.8 points a game. Cook, who missed most of last season with an injury suffered during football season, averages 8.1 points and 10.4 rebounds a game, and Collins averages 8.6 points a game and leads the team in steals. Vitale, the leader in assists, is like a coach on the floor.

Norris said the improvement began during the summer.

“We just had June, but we had a good June,” he said. “We fine-tuned some things. Everybody on my team are three-sport athletes.”

The senior class has had expectations for years. In fifth grade they were undefeated, and in eighth grade they also went undefeated, although the season was cut short by COVID-19. Norris said other teams might have more basketball ability, but no team works harder.

“We understand who we are,” he said. “We are a special team who works really, really hard.”

Lape said Norris has helped make basketball fun in Grass Lake.

"I remember even as a kid coming to games, there wouldn't be very many people in the stands," he said. "There's excitement now. Our game against Michigan Center was a pretty cool environment.

“Coach has a winning attitude. We know we are not the most talented team, but we work really hard."

Norris stresses discipline in the program.

“I think the discipline and structure I’m bringing is something they needed,” he said. “The guys know from me if you are missing practice or school or anything that is inexcusable, it is going to be punishable by less playing time. I’m holding guys accountable.

“I tell them all of the time, ‘Men, just do your job.’”

Norris said he got into coaching because of the coaches he had while growing up. He not only coaches Grass Lake but runs a skill development program and coaches youth basketball in Jackson.

“I think I wanted to be a coach because I’ve always had good coaches,” he said. “I never had a bad coach. Coaches were always like father figures to me. Hopefully someday someone will say that about me.”

Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Grass Lake’s Brayden Lape (23) gets to the basket against Michigan Center. (Middle) Grass Lake boys basketball coach Marshawn Norris talks with his team. (Photos courtesy of JTV.)