Arthur Hill Books Return Trip to Finals
March 27, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Saginaw Arthur Hill's run to this season's Class A championship game has been the result of strong on-court performances – but with a boost from a pair of behind-the-scenes conversations as well.
For the first meeting, coach Greg McMath invited all of his players except standouts Eric Davis and Brian Bowen, and told the other 10 how much more was needed from them for the Lumberjacks to contend for their third MHSAA title.
The second came during halftime of Friday’s Semifinal against Lansing Everett. Davis, a senior and this season’s Mr. Basketball runner-up, had scored 16 points to give Arthur Hill a three-point lead at the break. He told Bowen, arguably the top sophomore in the state, that the second half belonged to him.
Bowen scored 10 points over the final two quarters and four Lumberjacks scored at least 11 points total as they broke away for a 73-61 win over the Vikings at the Breslin Center.
“Coach said to go out there and have fun, and really there wasn’t too much to say,” said Davis, who will play next season at the University of Texas. “I talked to Brian, said big-time players make big-time plays. The first half was my half; this half will be your half. He’s the number one player in the country in my eyes, and I think he proved that in the second half.”
Arthur Hill will face top-ranked Detroit Western International in the noon Class A Final on Saturday. The No. 6 Lumberjacks (24-3) faced and fell to both this season, but have made significant strides over the last six weeks since suffering the last of their three defeats.
Davis finished with 20 points and six assists Friday and Bowen had 15 points, but they were matched by junior Billy Burton with 18 points and senior forward De’Quevion Johnson’s 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Johnson had nine of his points and Burton his final 11 during the second half.
“If I was coaching against us, it would be to stop these two,” McMath said of Davis and Bowen. “I had a meeting with the other 10 guys on the team, with these guys not being there. I told them if we’re going to make a run and win a state championship, it’s going to be on you guys. (Davis and Bowen) get the press, and they deserve it. But that’s how much better we’ve gotten from the beginning of the season as a team.”
Everett led by at many as seven points while maintaining control for most of the first 13 minutes. But recalling disappointing third quarters in season-ending losses the last two seasons to rival Saginaw, McMath prepped his team this winter to make third-quarter runs.
The score Friday was last tied, 28-28, with 2:21 to go in the second quarter. From that point, Arthur Hill built a 13-point lead over the rest of the half and third quarter.
Eight points during that Lumberjacks run came on dunks as Arthur Hill sped up the pace and made extra passes to find open teammates cutting to the hoop. Ten of the team’s 16 fast-break points came during the second half.
“We did a poor job getting back on transition defense. On missed shots, sometimes we were going for too many steals in the backcourt, allowing dunks and not reacting on defense,” Everett coach Desmond Ferguson said. “It was a poor night for us defensively … and (defense) is what we hang our hat on.”
The No. 9 Vikings (24-3) can hang their hats on an improvement from 5-16 only a year ago. A sizable reason for the turnaround was the addition of senior center Trevor Manuel, who returned to Lansing after a year out of state and finished third in the Mr. Basketball voting. But three others scored in double figures Friday, and the strength of that supporting cast was as significant a reason behind this winter’s run.
The 6-foot-9 Manuel, who will continue at the University of Oregon, finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds. But junior guard Jamyrin Jackson was the team’s leading scorer with 16 points, senior guard Deshae Doll had 11 and junior guard Leandre Wright scored 10 and grabbed eight rebounds.
Click for the full box score and video from the press conference.
PHOTOS: (Top) Arthur Hill's’Willie Rodgers makes one of his three blocks during Friday’s Semifinal win over Lansing Everett. (Middle) The Lumberjacks’ Eric Davis works to get past Everett’s Leandre Wright.
Breslin Bound: Boys District Preview
March 6, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
In less than three weeks, 16 boys basketball teams will converge on Michigan State University’s Breslin Center to determine four MHSAA titles.
Today, more than 700 teams remain in the hunt.
Our final winter tournament begins tonight as boys hoops Districts tip off all over the state. Switching up the format a bit for our Breslin Bound reports – powered by MI Student Aid – we look below as usual at some of the most eye-catching results from last week, but also three Districts in each class shaping up as the most attention-grabbing heading into our first round.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. New Haven 108, Flint Beecher 104 (3 OT) – It would be hard to find a more exciting regular-season finale than this one between Class B and C favorites; Beecher’s Malik Ellison scored 63 points in trying to reverse the eventual outcome.
2. Grand Rapids Christian 72, Wyoming Godwin Heights 58 – As it’s often said, someone had to lose, and Christian moved on to eventually finish 20-0 while dealing Godwin Heights its only loss this season. The Eagles got their scare Thursday with an overtime two-point win over Kalamazoo Central.
3. Wayne Memorial 47, Walled Lake Central 44 – Wayne closed a nail-biting Kensington Lakes Activities Association Tournament run with this championship game win, its second in three playoff games by three points.
4. Dollar Bay 54, Painesdale-Jeffers 46 – With a loss to the second-place Jets, Dollar Bay still would’ve clinched the Copper Mountain Conference Copper Country title, reportedly its first championship since 1994, but this capped a perfect league run.
5. Morley Stanwood, 59, Big Rapids 56 – The champions of the Central State Activities Association Silver and Gold faced off, with the Silver title winner emerging victorious in this unofficial league final.
Districts at a Glance
These could be among our most competitive brackets. Host sites are in bold:
CLASS A
Grosse Pointe South
Detroit Cass Tech (16-4), Detroit East English (13-5), Detroit Martin Luther King (15-4), Detroit Western International (8-11), Grosse Pointe South (10-10), Hamtramck (13-5).
This could be a remix of the Detroit Public School League Tournament, where Cass Tech beat East English in the semifinal 73-71 and then King in the championship game 59-47. That came after Cass Tech split with Western during the league regular season – and King and East English split this winter as well.
Lansing Everett (at Don Johnson Fieldhouse)
DeWitt (11-9), East Lansing (20-0), Grand Ledge (7-13), Lansing Everett (12-8), Lansing Waverly (13-7).
East Lansing would look to be the strong favorite, and rightfully so especially coming out of the same league as Grand Ledge and Everett. But the Trojans also were undefeated heading into the postseason last winter and were upset in the Regional by Everett, which went on to make the Class A Semifinals.
Walled Lake Western
Milford (12-8), Walled Lake Central (14-6), Walled Lake Northern (14-6), Walled Lake Western (14-6), White Lake Lakeland (7-13).
Similar to above in the PSL, this could be a redo of the KLAA North race, won by Western by a game over co-runners-up Central and Northern, which both split with Western in league play. Central ended up winning the Lakes tournament championship with a five-point win over Western, which had beaten Northern by one in the semifinals.
CLASS B
Bridgeport
Birch Run (7-13), Bridgeport (18-2), Carrollton (10-10), Frankenmuth (18-2), Saginaw Swan Valley (14-6).
The Tri-Valley East championship was split by the host Bearcats and Frankenmuth, with Bridgeport winning their first meeting by 10 and the Eagles winning the second also by 10. Frankenmuth lost only once more over its final 19 regular-season games – in fact, both TVC East champs also lost to Flint Hamady. Swan Valley and Carrollton were third and fourth, respectively, in the TVC Central, and the winner of their opener should provide a challenge.
Marysville
Algonac (2-18), Armada (9-11), Marine City (3-15), Marysville (14-6), New Haven (19-1), Richmond (16-4), St. Clair (14-6).
New Haven won the Macomb Area Conference Blue title and lost this season only to 2016 Class A semifinalist Macomb Dakota, by six in December. Richmond also is formidable after finishing second in the Blue Water Area Conference but with two painful losses by a combined three points at the end of February that cost the Blue Devils the league title. Marysville was co-league champion in the MAC Silver and runner-up in the MAC Silver-Bronze Tournament.
Onsted
Adrian (9-11), Brooklyn Columbia Central (10-10), Chelsea (13-7), Hillsdale (20-0), Onsted (15-5), Tecumseh (2-18).
Hillsdale won the Lenawee County Athletic Association with a sweep of Onsted, the first victory in double overtime and the second by only two points. The Wildcats were District champs a year ago. Chelsea finished only fourth in the Southeastern Conference White, but four of six teams in that league won at least 11 games during the regular season, and the Bulldogs are 9-4 since Jan. 7.
CLASS C
Bloomingdale
Bangor (0-20), Bloomingdale (14-6), Gobles (14-6), Hartford (9-11), Kalamazoo Christian (13-7), Kalamazoo Hackett (19-1).
Rivals Hackett and Christian would meet in a District Semifinal after Hackett swept the series with three and six-point (in overtime) wins on the way to a shared Southwestern Athletic Conference Valley title. Hackett reached the Quarterfinals a year ago. The host Cardinals won the SAC Central after going only 2-18 last season. And Gobles enters as the fourth-place finisher out of the strong SAC Lakeshore.
Flint Hamady
Burton Atherton (13-7), Burton Bendle (14-6), Burton Bentley (9-11), Flint Beecher (15-5), Flint Hamady (14-6), Montrose (11-9), New Lothrop (13-7).
Considering Flint Beecher has won back-to-back Class C championships and four of the last five, it’s easy to lean toward the Buccaneers heavy this week. But this District is stacked with successful teams – as noted above, Hamady handed Class B hopefuls Bridgeport and Frankenmuth losses and fell to Beecher by only four in their second meeting Feb. 3. All of Beecher’s defeats this season came against Class A or B opponents.
Napoleon
Concord (15-5), East Jackson (7-13), Hanover-Horton (17-3), Jackson Lumen Christi (3-17), Michigan Center (20-0), Napoleon (15-5), Vandercook Lake (12-8).
Hanover-Horton has won 15 straight District titles, the longest streak in Michigan, but will have plenty of challenges beginning tonight against Vandercook Lake. Michigan Center is perfect for the regular season reportedly for the first time – and beat Hanover-Horton by 19 and 13 this winter. Even then, Michigan Center would have to get through whichever wins between Napoleon and Concord just to reach the championship game.
CLASS D
Baraga
Baraga (0-20), Chassell (11-9), Dollar Bay (16-4), Lake Linden-Hubbell (6-14), Ontonagon (12-8), Painesdale-Jeffers (16-4)
With two-time reigning Class D champ Powers North Central roaming a similarly-stacked District at Stephenson, this might be the most competitive in the Upper Peninsula this week. Dollar Bay and Painesdale-Jeffers would meet in a Semifinal – as noted above, Dollar Bay won the Copper Country title this season with victories of seven and eight over the Jets. The Bays did lose to Ontonagon at the start of January (and win the rematch in February), and play them first in an opener tonight.
Brethren
Bear Lake (14-6), Brethren (11-9), Buckley (20-0), Fife Lake Forest Area (11-9), Mesick (1-18), Onekama (9-11).
Buckley, of course, would be considered the favorite and won a District title a year ago. But Bear Lake, Brethren and Forest Area all have winning records and are on the other side of the bracket, and will try to take advantage of any possible letdown. Bear Lake finished second in the West Michigan D League.
Byron Center Zion Christian
Byron Center Zion Christian (12-8), Holland Calvary (14-6), Wyoming Potter’s House Christian (13-6), Wyoming Tri-unity Christian (12-8)
The Alliance League title was shared by Calvary and Potter’s House, with Zion Christian a close third only a game back – but Tri-unity Christian plays in the league only for girls basketball, not boys. The Defenders own an 11-point win over Potter’s House from the start of the season and a 10-pointer over Calvary two weeks ago, and took most of its losses from schools in the other three classes. They made the Class D Semifinals in 2016.
PHOTO: A Flint Beecher player deflects a Corunna shot during their matchup earlier this season. (Click to see more from Varsity Monthly.)