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Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 5
January 13, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
With the beginning of January comes the end of holiday basketball showcases and a switch in focus by MHSAA teams toward local opponents, conference races and the haul of the second half of the regular season.
The first week of 2015 saw the ranks of the undefeated decreased by 35 boys teams statewide to 64 remaining, with some listed below among those that caught my eye during the first days of the new year.
Class A
Alpena (6-0) – The Wildcats not only sit alone atop the Big North Conference standings as they look to repeat as champions, but avenged their two losses from last season – by 10 over Traverse City West before break and by 20 over Traverse City Central last week.
Detroit East English (4-2) – The Bulldogs are early leaders in a Detroit Public School League East Division 1 that includes powers Pershing, Cass Tech, Martin Luther King and Southeastern; East English’s current three-game winning streak started with a big win over solid Southfield and includes a five-pointer over better-than-its-record Cass Tech from last week.
Grand Ledge (5-0) – Last season’s somewhat-surprise Capital Area Activities Conference Blue runner-up isn’t sneaking up on anyone this winter; a strong backcourt has paced a fast start that’s included wins over Lansing Sexton on the first Friday of the season and much-improved Jackson by 15 last week.
Middleville Thornapple Kellogg (5-0) – The Trojans have bounced back from last season’s sub-.500 finish thanks in part to four wins by four or fewer points, including a 49-46 victory last week over Caledonia.
Class B
Detroit Henry Ford (7-0) – Ford is off to a strong start again this season after starting and ending strong a year ago; the Trojans look good to avoid the five-game losing streak they encountered at this time last year, although Cass Tech and Pershing are up next.
Dowagiac (4-1) – A one-point loss to Wolverine Conference West leader Paw Paw before break surely smarted a bit, but the Chieftains came back to start 2015 with a 58-55 win over rival Niles; they pick up league play Friday against Berrien Springs.
Flint Northwestern (5-0) – After struggling mightily the last two seasons, Northwestern has begun like the Northwestern of old, with a nine-point win over Midland and 37-pointer over Saginaw Heritage last week keeping the Wildcats among the undefeated.
Williamston (6-1) – Only a loss to Class A Dexter in the championship game of Coldwater’s holiday tournament has kept the Hornets from perfection – and also from beating all of their opponents by double figures as they did last week versus East Lansing and Fowlerville.
Class C
Burton Bendle (6-0) – The Tigers are halfway to last season’s 12 wins and tied for first in the Genesee Area Conference Blue thanks in large part to a 72-67 overtime win last week over New Lothrop, last season’s league runner-up.
Detroit Loyola (5-2) – The newly-crowned Division 7 football champion has been pretty good at basketball too over the years – but has looked better than that early with its only losses by six or fewer points to much bigger Henry Ford and Detroit Renaissance.
Gwinn (4-2) – The Modeltowners have won four straight after two big losses to start and beat Houghton and Norway on back-to-back nights last week – they took the lead against Norway with 31 seconds to play on the way to winning 43-41.
Laingsburg (5-0) – The Wolfpack have made a smooth transition from coach Greg Mitchell (now at Hope College) to Dan Blemaster (formerly coach of Brown City). Laingsburg sits atop the Central Michigan Athletic Conference by a half-game over Fulton-Middleton (see below).
Class D
Fulton-Middleton (5-1) – The Pirates are right behind Laingsburg in the CMAC after having last week’s game against Bath postponed, but did open the week with a 55-53 victory over reigning Class C runner-up Pewamo-Westphalia – one of only three teams to beat Fulton during 2013-14.
Peck (5-1) – The 8-player football power is strong at basketball too, with its only loss to Class B Richmond, 45-41, on Jan. 3. The Pirates lost only once in 2013-14, to eventual Class D champion Southfield Christian in their Quarterfinal.
Morenci (3-1) – The Bulldogs are following their football success of the fall with a nice start to the winter including a one-point win last week over Whitmore Lake after a two-point win to kick off the new year against Gorham-Fayette (Ohio) on Jan. 3.
Onekama (4-0) – The Portagers sit atop the West Michigan D League standings in part because of a two-point win last week over reigning league champion Baldwin; Onekama followed up with another two-point win against Manistee.
PHOTO: Detroit East English defenders block the lane during their 75-70 win over Detroit Cass Tech last week. (Photo courtesy of the Detroit Public School League.)
![2021 D3 Boys Basketball Semifinal - Iron Mountain](/sites/default/files/2021-04/210408_ironmountain_2H_0.jpg)
Wonders Gives Iron Mountain Lift in Overtime Climb
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
April 8, 2021
EAST LANSING – Schoolcraft presented a tall order in Thursday’s second Division 3 Semifinal.
With three players standing 6-foot-6 or taller, the Eagles soared over Iron Mountain in size.
But one advantage Iron Mountain had was Foster Wonders, a 6-5 senior guard with more than 2,000 career points who could see over the defense and wasn’t bashful about launching 3-pointers.
He kept the Mountaineers in the game, led them into overtime and all the way into Saturday’s Final against Flint Beecher – scoring 34 points total in a 54-50 thriller over Schoolcraft (19-2) at the Breslin Center.
“They were very physical, and they made it hard for us to do anything,’’ said Wonders, who was already thinking about Flint Beecher. “We changed the offense in the second half, and we were able to find some openings. I just tried to stay aggressive.’’
The Mountaineers (19-0) made their final push with under five minutes left in regulation on a 3-pointer by Ricky Brown to reduce the deficit to 33-32.
After a timeout, Wonders scored in the lane to give Iron Mountain a one-point lead.
However, Schoolcraft junior Ty Rykse and Wonders traded threes before senior Bryce VanderWiere scored inside to keep the Eagles up one.
Not to be denied, Wonders drained a triple, and the Mountaineers were up two, 40-38. Teammate Jurgen Kleiman scored inside while being fouled. He missed the free throw, but Iron Mountain was up four.
Schoolcraft’s Tyler DeGroote scored with 54.2 seconds left to cut the deficit in half. Each side turned the ball over before a steal and basket by Jonathon Able tied the score again with 24.3 left – and that’s where it would remain, forcing overtime.
Wonders had scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, and he then made four free throws in overtime.
“He hit his average, an average game for Foster,’’ said coach Harvey Johnson. “You see FAMILY on the front of our warmups. These guys really love each other. We matched their physicality. We competed.”
Wonders scored six points in the first quarter to give the Mountaineers an 11-7 lead as Schoolcraft shot just 22.2 percent from the field during the opening period.
The Mountaineers held on to an 18-17 advantage at halftime, but Schoolcraft pulled ahead in the third quarter. Iron Mountain went on a scoring drought and Rykse’s floater put Schoolcraft up six, 30-24, late in the period as the Eagles seemed to wear down the Mountaineers and force most of their scoring to come from the outside.
With eight minutes left in regulation, Schoolcraft maintained its six-point lead. But Wonders scored five straight points to get Iron Mountain to within three, 32-29.
“I thought we did a pretty good job on him,’’ Schoolcraft coach Randy Small said of his team’s defense on Wonders. “He hit one from 28 feet. He made some big shots. We had a hard time scoring.’’
VanderWiere led Schoolcraft with 15 points, and freshman Shane Rykse added 14. Ty Rykse had 11, and VanderWiere also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Wonders sank 13 of 24 shots from the field, including 4-10 3-point attempts, and also grabbed eight rebounds.
PHOTOS: (Top) Iron Mountain's Dante Basanese splits a pair of defenders in the lane during Thursday's Semifinal against Schoolcraft. (Middle) Schoolcraft's Tyler DeGroote and Iron Mountain's Bryce Pietrantonio battle for a loose ball. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)