Bates, Lincoln Land in 1st Hoops Final
March 15, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – Emoni Bates was here to help, he told his teammates before beginning his freshman year at Ypsilanti Lincoln in the fall.
That’s one very understated way to put what the nationally-renowned freshman has meant to the Railsplitters during their most successful season.
Bates, and Lincoln, played in their first MHSAA Semifinal on Friday, and the 6-foot-10 phenom showed as expected – he flashed skill and poise and brought roars with a pair of dunks, including one from a pass off the backboard.
And Lincoln continued to perform as he expected when he joined an otherwise veteran lineup, making an incredible 57 percent of its shots from the floor in a 72-56 win over Howell to earn a berth in Saturday’s Division 1 championship game.
“My teammates … when I told them I was coming (to Lincoln), I told them I was just helping them, and I told them if we just keep working hard every day we’d be here,” Bates said. “I just knew I trusted them. I trust them, and they trust me, and that’s how we got here.”
Lincoln (22-4) will play for its first championship against Detroit U-D Jesuit at 12:15 p.m. Saturday.
Playing on the Breslin Center floor for the first time, in front of a mostly full lower bowl, has derailed many an MHSAA championship hopeful.
But there might not be a player, and team, in recent memory that has been more prepared for a trip to East Lansing than Bates and Lincoln.
Buzz around the nationally-renowned freshman started high this winter and has only continued to grow as he’s keyed the Railsplitters’ run to its first Regional title, then Semifinals and now championship game.
He had 31 points – on 55 percent shooting – and 14 rebounds against Howell, and his teammates followed suit showing no effects from the big-arena atmosphere by sinking 59 percent of their shots.
“It was just fun. We battled all game, he’s taller than me and was shooting over my head, and I couldn’t really do anything about it,” said Howell senior Josh Palo, an all-state honorable mention last season and one of those charged with defending Bates on Friday. “I was definitely looking forward to guarding him. Our game plan was making him take tough shots. He was knocking them down. We couldn’t do anything about it.”
Bates’ first basket was a 3-pointer with 3:52 left in the first quarter that made the score 10-4. The Railsplitters never led by fewer than six points the rest of the way.
Senior forward Amari Frye added 12 points while making half his shots from the floor, and senior guard Tahj Chatman made all four of his shots from the floor for 10 points to go with four assists.
“I’ve been on varsity four years, and the added pressure, I tell him all the time to put the pressure he gets and put it on me,” Chatman said. “I feel we’re here for him. We all embrace him. There’s no jealousy or none of that. We embrace him all the way.”
Lincoln starts four seniors with Bates, and after going 10-11 in coach Jesse Davis’ first season three seasons ago posted back-to-back winning records before breaking through this winter.
“I envisioned everything that we’re doing right now,” Davis said. “We just worked toward it. Of course I need these guys learning it, (buying in) to what I’m saying and what I’m doing and what I’m teaching them. But yes, I envisioned this for the program.”
Howell (20-7) took a similar step with its program this winter, with Friday’s Semifinal the team’s first since 1927. The Highlanders first won their third straight District title and finished with their highest win total of Howell coach Nick Simon’s seven seasons leading the program.
Palo, one of four seniors in the starting lineup, had 16 points in his final high school game. Junior guard Tony Honkala had 12 points off the bench, and senior forward Jake Sargeant had 11 points and six rebounds for the Highlanders.
“Our guys believed in this for a long time,” Simon said. “It’s not just something that’s happened at the end of the year.
“I knew we could do it, and they knew we could do it all year. We went through tough battles, went against tough opponents in the playoffs, and we were used to that tough competition. We respected them, but we were not fearful at all.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Ypsilanti Lincoln’s Emoni Bates throws down one of his two dunks during Friday’s Division 1 Semifinal. (Middle) Howell players work to break up a pass.
Tri-unity Christian Finishes Season-Long Mission to Return to Top of D4
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 16, 2024
EAST LANSING — Wyoming Tri-unity Christian may have the nickname Defenders, but for the last year “Avengers” might have been more appropriate.
Ever since losing the 2023 Boys Basketball Division 4 Final by two points to Munising, Tri-unity Christian was on a mission to get back on top of the division it had ruled the previous year.
“That was our motivation for the whole year,” Tri-unity Christian senior Owen Rosendall said. “We all thought about the (loss) every other day. It was living rent-free in our heads.”
Consider that loss avenged, and now the Defenders will get to spend the next year trying to be defenders of another Division 4 title following a 79-59 win over Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart on Saturday at Breslin Center.
In winning its sixth Finals title under coach legendary Mark Keeler, Tri-unity Christian put up a brilliant offensive display that carved up what’s been a great Sacred Heart defense all year.
Tri-unity Christian shot 60.9 percent from the field (28 of 46) overall and 41.2 percent from 3-point range (7 of 17).
The big difference was the second quarter, which saw Tri-unity Christian score 22 points and turn a 17-14 lead after the first quarter into a 39-25 lead at halftime.
The Defenders went 14 of 24 from the field overall and 4 of 10 from 3-point range during the first half.
Tri-unity Christian kept up the pressure in the third quarter, taking a 53-34 lead with 4:11 to go in the third and a 64-43 advantage into a fourth quarter that was more of a coronation than anything.
Senior Jordan VanKlompenberg led five players in double figures with 19 points. Rosendall scored 14 points, junior Keaton Blanker had 11 points and 12 assists, senior Akais Giplaye scored 11 points and senior Wesley Kaman added 10 points to lead the Defenders’ balanced attack.
“I think we had a little bit of an advantage with length,” Keeler said. “That really freed us up a little bit. They stayed with their man-to-man, so we were in a lot of rhythm. We got to run a lot of offensive sets we hadn’t done in all these games because right away other teams will go to zones. It was fun executing and see some of (the plays) work.”
Sacred Heart (26-3) advanced to the Final for the first time since 2006 and was seeking its first title since winning the Class C crown in 1975, but couldn’t solve Tri-unity Christian for a second time this year.
Tri-unity Christian defeated Sacred Heart 71-41 in its second game of the season.
Saturday was only the third time this winter an opponent scored more than 60 points on the Irish.
“When you look at their size and length on the perimeter, we just kind of sensed that they were going to be able to get shots that they wanted,” Sacred Heart head coach Justin Sherlock said. “I thought our guys did a good job contesting.”
Junior Grady Pieratt scored 21 points and sophomore Noah Zeien had 14 to lead the way for Sacred Heart, a good omen since those two along with junior guard Brody Cherry will be a part of a good core of returnees next year.
“There is a lot of youth on our team,” Sherlock said. “Now we know how to do it.”
PHOTOS (Top) Wyoming Tri-unity Christian players begin to celebrate clinching the Division 4 championship Saturday at Breslin Center. (Middle) Akais Giplaye (20) begins a move to the basket with Sacred Heart’s Aidan Halliday defending. (Below) The Defenders’ Wesley Kaman (5) works to get up a shot over Noah Zeien. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)