![Teammates pile onto Detroit Old Redford’s Arkell Boyd after his game-winning basket Thursday at Breslin Center.](/sites/default/files/2024-03/240314_D3_2H3.png)
Boyd Finds Nothing but Net as Old Redford Earns Championship Day Debut
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 14, 2024
EAST LANSING — The day before his team’s Division 3 Semifinal against Riverview Gabriel Richard, Detroit Old Redford head coach Ray Reeves said he installed a new play for his team to run.
Lo and behold, Old Redford found itself running that play Thursday at its most important moment of the season.
The Ravens were trailing by a point with two seconds remaining in regulation and set to inbound the ball from underneath their basket.
The play was called “one,” mainly because it was one of five new plays Reeves said were installed.
“I was watching Auburn play and I saw (head coach) Bruce Pearl run it,” Reeves said. “I took it from him.”
That play ended up earning Old Redford a chance to finish this season “one” in the state, as senior Justin Austin inbounded the ball into the near corner on the left side of the floor to junior Arkell Boyd, who drained a heavily-contested 3-pointer just before the buzzer to give the Ravens a 43-41 win over Gabriel Richard.
Old Redford will meet Niles Brandywine at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in a matchup of teams making their first appearance in an MHSAA Final in this sport.
“When that particular play came at the end of the game, I knew what to do,” said Boyd, who was mobbed by teammates on the floor after the shot went in.
The win continued a magical journey for Old Redford, which earned a one-point win over 2023 champion Flint Beecher in the Quarterfinal and a two-point victory over Detroit Loyola in a Regional Final.
Expanding on his team’s run this season, Reeves said the pivotal moment came during a trip to Indiana earlier in the year that produced some roster attrition.
“We went to Indiana with 14 players and came back with nine,” Reeves said.
The roster cut came after what Reeves said were issues with overbearing parents, which he said produced a team meeting that lasted from 10 p.m. until roughly 7 a.m. the next morning in Indiana.
“We knew it had to change,” Reeves said. “You think as an adult it would sometimes get better because you are dealing with adults. But I realized it was getting worse and it was killing my team. We came together that night, and we haven’t looked back.”
Trailing 37-32 with 4:42 remaining, Gabriel Richard mounted a charge, going on a 7-0 run to take a 39-37 lead with 2:01 left following a 3-point play by junior Nick Sobush.
Old Redford tied the game at 39-39 with 33.8 seconds remaining on a steal and layup by junior Kason Mayes, but Gabriel Richard regained the lead at 41-39 with 14.3 seconds left with a layup by junior Luke Westerdale.
Following a timeout, Old Redford put the ball in the hands of Mayes, who was fouled on a layup attempt with 3.3 seconds to go.
Mayes made the first free throw and missed the second to make it 41-40 Gabriel Richard. But Old Redford got the ball back when the rebound went off a Gabriel Richard player, which set up Boyd’s heroics.
Mayes scored 16 points, and Boyd added 15 for Old Redford (21-7).
Junior Charles Kage had 15 points and nine rebounds, and Sobush added 13 points for Gabriel Richard (23-4).
“It’s tough to swallow,” Gabriel Richard head coach Kris Daiek said. “I thought our kids played hard. But hey, it happens. It’s March Madness.”
The good news for Gabriel Richard is that all six players who saw minutes Thursday are expected back to help the program expand on what was its first Semifinal appearance since 1989.
“This is an educational moment for my kids,” Daiek said. “It stinks now. I give credit to Old Redford. It was a great battle all the way down the stretch. This will build character and make us a little bit tougher.”
PHOTOS (Top) Teammates pile onto Detroit Old Redford’s Arkell Boyd after his game-winning basket Thursday at Breslin Center. (Middle) The Ravens’ Ja'Quan Stennis gets a hand up high as Gabriel Richard’s Nick Sobush (1) works to get off a shot. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
![Onekama boys basketball](/sites/default/files/2021-03/210326_Bradford_2H.jpg)
March Hoops Magic Continues to Connect Bradford Family
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
March 26, 2021
Bear Lake – Check. Onekama? You bet. Traverse City West? Yup.
Glen Lake? Absolutely!
Chances are if you played basketball at one of these schools over the last decade or so, you were coached by a very special educator named Bradford. Perhaps not the same Bradford, but it definitely was a member of the Onekama-raised family with a long line of special education teachers.
While growing up on the farm of parents Arden and Lynn in Onekama, the future educators picked up the love of the game of basketball. Some went on to play college ball, and all reportedly did some coaching.
March Madness has always been a lot of fun in the Bradford family.
“Our family has had a lot of success in March Madness, and it is fun to be able to talk about it with each other and with our kids,” said Nathan Bradford, currently the boys basketball coach, athletic director and special ed teacher at Onekama. “As a player, I also played at the Breslin Center and in the state Semifinals.
“It was an experience that I will never forget,” he continued. “My sisters have also made it to the state Semifinals.”
Nick Bradford joined Nathan’s staff as the junior varsity boys coach. The Portagers ended their season Thursday night with a hard-fought loss to Brethren after leading most of the way.
One of the sisters, April, had a long run as the Bear Lake girls coach. She still teaches special ed there.
Jason Bradford, whose undefeated Glen Lake girls squad plays for the District championship tonight against Elk Rapids, has fond memories of March Madness on the Bradford farm.
“The one that got into it the most was probably Nate,” Jason said. “We’d go back and forth picking different teams.”
“We were on the living room floor cheering – it was a friendly competitive thing,” he continued. “We were Michigan State fans. Whenever they were in the mix, we were always cheering for them.”
While the father of five doesn’t have the Spartans to root on any longer this year, he does have the Lakers. All the Bradfords will likely be cheering on the Lakers as they try to move on from last season’s abrupt end.
Jason’s oldest son, J.J., is now a freshman in college. He saw his senior season at Glen Lake come to an end with the pandemic outbreak halting tournament play last March as he was preparing for a District Final game.
His daughters, Grace, now a junior, and Maddie, a sophomore, advanced to the Regional Final against Manton last year and were pretty much boarding the bus when things stopped.
Season-ending losses have always caused sleep deprivation for Jason. They have a bigger impact when his own kids are on the team.
“It might be tougher on them,” Jason acknowledged. “Maybe I put more pressure on them. (The season ending) still hurts, but you learn to deal with it.
“You want the success for them,” he continued. “Maybe I am a little more anxious for games ... it’s the pressure.”
But it is a great and fun time of year, Nathan noted.
“I always look at throwing records aside and showing up, giving it your all because you always have a chance to win during tournaments,” he said. “I have experienced both ends of the spectrum with teams with high expectations and getting upset and teams with nothing to lose and making a run.
“You always hope your team is peaking at the right time and you can advance in the tournaments.”
Jason and Nathan have never coached against each other. They both have young boys so that could change. The sibling rivalry has presented some competitiveness.
They started coaching girls varsity basketball the same year and their teams were in different conferences at the time. Nathan moved to boys before Onekama and Glen Lake competed against each other in the Northwest Conference.
“We always set up a few (girls) scrimmages and I have to admit that Jason usually got the better of me at that time,” Nathan said. “I would say we really help each other out and talk coaching strategies quite a bit.
“Usually after games we call each other and get the run down on each other's games,” Nathan added. “It helps having another sibling in the family that coaches a varsity sport to talk to and bounce things off of.”
The summer breaks helped lure the Bradfords into teaching so they could help out on the farm. Their upbringing paved their way. Coaching is a bonus.
“While playing I always thought that it would be great to give back to the sport that gave me so many opportunities, and this led to me wanting to become a teacher and a coach,” Jason said. “Our dad taught us great work ethic and discipline growing up on a farm. Our mom is the most patient and caring individual you can meet and would do anything to help another individual.”
Tonight Glen Lake will take the floor without three seniors from last year’s team but with a lot more experience Jason hopes that bodes well for the Lakers.
“I feel we have a little more depth,” he pointed out. “We’re another year older, and it helps with confidence too.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Nathan Bradford (kneeling) and assistant and brother Nick Bradford huddle with their Onekama boys basketball team this season. (Middle) Jason Bradford guides his Maple City Glen Lake girls basketball team through an inbounds scenario, with daughters Grace inbounding and Maddie setting up to receive the pass. (Below) Clockwise from top left, Nick Bradford, Nathan Bradford, Grace Bradford, Jason Bradford and Maddie Bradford. (Onekama photos by Paul Cunningham. Glen Lake photos by Liz Moeggenberg.)