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Breslin Bound: Boys Report Post-Break
January 8, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
League games mean more, and the postseason trumps all. But some of the most intriguing matchups of each basketball season take place during holiday break.
This winter was no different.
Below is this week's list of 10 boys teams that caught my eye over the last few weeks, based in large part on some impressive wins at showcases around the state.
(Records are based on results reported to the MHSAA Score Center.)
1. Detroit Consortium (5-0, Class C) – The Cougars have built another impressive start including wins over Detroit Douglass, Saginaw by 30 and Grand Rapids Christian by 35.
2. Muskegon Heights (5-1, Class C) – The Tigers looks to be back among the contenders in their class, with holiday break wins over Benton Harbor and DeWitt both by a point and their only loss by four to Rockford.
3. Taylor Truman (5-0, Class A) – The Cougars have jumped to a quick start and tie for first place in the Downriver League, with their nonleague win over Orchard Lake St. Mary’s arguably the most impressive so far.
4. North Farmington (4-0, Class A) – The Raiders’ perfect start was punctuated by their most recent win, a one-pointer over annual Class B power Lansing Sexton at the Motor City Roundball Classic.
5. Bay City John Glenn (5-1, Class B) – The Bobcats’ lone loss was to solid Class A Okemos, and a two-point win over Flint Powers Catholic last week was a great return to the win column.
6. Otsego (5-1, Class B) – The Bulldogs have beaten all of their in-state opponents by at least nine points; their lone loss was to Ontario’s St. Marguerite d’Youville in the final of the Grand Rapids Catholic Central Tournament.
7. Holt (5-0, Class A) – The Rams can make the argument, with Okemos just behind, as the Lansing area’s best team so far in 2013-14; Holt already owns a win over Lansing Eastern, another contender for the top spot.
8. Troy Athens (5-2, Class A) – The Redhawks have rattled off five straight wins including a two-pointer over Auburn Hills Avondale, and won the championship at the Northville Holiday Tournament.
9. Muskegon Western Michigan Christian (4-1, Class C) – The Warriors have been one of the most impressive small-school teams on the west side of the state, with four wins after an opening loss to Mona Shores; the latest victory was a seven-pointer over Class D power Wyoming Tri-unity Christian.
10. Lawrence (4-1, Class D) – The Tigers won only eight games last season and are halfway to equaling that total thanks in part to a 74-40 win over Climax-Scotts, a quarterfinalist in 2012-13.
PHOTO: Detroit Consortium (gray jerseys) drove past Saginaw over holiday break and the rest of its opponents so far this season. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
![Harbor Light’s Vaughn Henagan (23) gets to the basket during a 59-39 win over Kinross Maplewood Baptist on Dec. 21.](/sites/default/files/2024-03/240301_HLC_2H.jpg)
Harbor Light Building on Rock-Solid Foundation in Bringing Success to New Home
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
March 1, 2024
A review of Harbor Light Christian’s boys basketball rosters over the last couple of decades would show a lot of familiar names.
That would be especially true of the coaching slots.
Or are the players now coaches?
The coaches’ names are extremely familiar, and nothing much has changed – except some of the former players are now coaches, and the head coaches have returned to assist the program.
Today, the head coach is Jason Roussin. He’s in his 12th season at the helm of the Swordsmen. Jeff Jakeway, who was the head coach during Roussin’s junior and senior seasons at Harbor Light, is back on the Swordsmen’s staff as an assistant coach. Roussin is also assisted by long-time coach William Henagan and previous head coach Clark Hewitt.
Hewitt also serves as the Harbor Light junior varsity coach. The JV squad went 19-1 this season and 18-2 the year before.
“In 38 years, really there’s been three consistent coaches and then Pat Collins who had done one year when the program started, and now we’re all back on the sidelines working together,” Roussin said. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
The facilities Collins, Hewitt and Jakeway coached in are nothing like the Swordsmen have today – the newly-built Solid Rock Center in Harbor Springs. In fact, they used to play on a cement floor. A year ago, the Swordsmen played their first game in their new home.
A walk around the facility, five years in the making, provides the feeling of more like a small college program’s setup. Along with the new gym, the Solid Rock Center was equipped with a cafe and concession area, locker rooms, a film lounge and hangout area for the players, an upper-level full track around the gym, and three classrooms for art, music, science and more.
Jakeway served as project manager on the building — fully funded and debt-free through community support. He was the head coach of the Harbor Light girls basketball team when the facility opened.
Harbor Light’s boys suffered a 76-74 loss to hot-shooting Pellston in the facility’s first game Jan. 20, 2023, but haven’t been doing much losing since. The Swordsmen started this season 2-2, and after a heart-breaking loss to Traverse City Christian on Dec. 8 went on to share the Northern Lights Conference title with Alanson and have built that record to 20-4 heading into tonight’s District Final against St. Ignace.
The title game will be played at the Solid Rock Center. Another Jakeway, Jeff Jakeway’s son and freshman point guard Landon, will be getting his second chance to lead the Swordsmen to a District championship. He was the point guard as a seventh grader when Harbor Light won the District title two years ago. (Small schools like Harbor Light may request, for most sports, an MHSAA Executive Committee waiver to play eighth-grade students if the school’s enrollment is less than 125 and seventh-graders if the enrollment is less than 75. Harbor Light’s enrollment count for this school year is 61.)
Landon Jakeway is the team’s leading scorer, contributing 15 points per game. He scored 25 to lead the Swordsmen to a 67-31 win over Mackinaw City in Wednesday’s District Semifinal. That was Harbor Light’s third win this season over its league rival, allowing the Swordsmen to keep the Mack Light Ball, which goes to the winning team’s school after each victory in the rivalry. Wins over Mackinaw have been hard to come by in previous seasons.
David Chamberlin, at 13 points per game, and Corin Palus, scoring nine per contest, are the other leading scorers. Jakeway adds seven assists and four steals per game. Chamberlin kicks in seven rebounds per game, and Jackson Mesner and Kirk Rose contribute eight and five rebounds, respectively.
Chamberlin, Paulis, Mesner and Rose are all seniors.
“The team goal was really to ‘put the team before me’ mentality,” Roussin said. “We were going to work as a team, be loyal, be committed to one another and battle together.”
The Swordsmen also entered the season with their eyes on the Mack Light Ball, a conference championship and a long postseason run.
“We wanted to chase the conference and to battle for a District,” Roussin noted. “Obviously, we knew St. Ignace is in there and they are the favorite team.”
Senior leadership has been one of the keys to Harbor Light’s finishing atop the conference for the first time in more than a decade.
“We want to show up and play the best basketball you can to make your team the best they can,” Roussin said. “That’s what has been awesome with the leadership we’ve had on this team.
“Through all the guys is ‘it is not about me,’” Roussin continued. “It is about ‘what can I do to make the team better?’”
St. Ignace brings a 16-6 record into the Solid Rock Center. The Saints will have a chance to view some NBA history in addition to playing the final.
Above the main gym resides a mini court containing the Detroit Pistons floor from the Pontiac Silverdome. Before moving to The Palace of Auburn Hills, and most recently Little Caesars Arena, the Pistons played at the Silverdome from 1978-88.
Jeff Jakeway was able to get the court to Northern Michigan through connections in Novi.
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) Harbor Light’s Vaughn Henagan (23) gets to the basket during a 59-39 win over Kinross Maplewood Baptist on Dec. 21. (Middle) David Chamberlin (22) elevates over a Pellston defender as the Swordsmen work toward a 75-20 victory Jan. 19. (Photos by Billy Mac Photos.)