Breslin Bound: Boys Report Week 9
January 29, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Temperatures across the state may fall below zero Wednesday and Thursday, but things are expected to warm up significantly by this weekend – and Michigan high school boys basketball will follow.
Conference champions are starting to be crowned, the Detroit Public School League Tournament begins this week and Saturday offers another major showcase of MHSAA title hopefuls facing off.
Breslin Bound is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com. To offer corrections or fill in scores we’re missing, email me at [email protected].
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Detroit U-D Jesuit 70, Flint Beecher 69 – Division 1 Jesuit handed the second loss this season to Division 3 Beecher in a matchup of teams that could both end this season hoisting MHSAA Finals trophies.
2. Detroit Edison 77, Benton Harbor 68 – The reigning Class C champ and another Division 3 contender, Edison, handed reigning Class B champ and Division 2 power Benton Harbor its first defeat.
3. Wyoming Potter’s House Christian 85, Marcellus Howardsville Christian 69 – Potter’s House also is earning attention in Division 3, in this one handing Division 4 contender Howardsville Christian its first loss.
4. Saginaw Swan Valley 61, Alma 60 (OT) – Swan Valley moved into a tie with Alma for first in the Tri-Valley Conference Central by handing the Panthers their first loss in league and overall.
5. Hudsonville 45, Rockford 39 – The Eagles, 10-12 a season ago, moved into first place alone in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Red by sending the Rams into second.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
• Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern (14-0) – After back-to-back seasons of finishing 16-8 and winning District titles, Forest Hills Northern may be on the verge of a few more steps up. A 64-53 win over Grand Rapids Northview on Friday put the Huskies in first alone in the O-K White, and they also have wins over O-K Red leader Hudsonville (by 23) and O-K Green second-place Holland Christian (by 12).
• Mount Pleasant (12-0) – The Oilers followed their Class A Semifinal appearance in 2014 with a sub-.500 record the following season, but have upped their win total every season since and are closing in on surpassing last year’s 18 victories. They sit atop the Saginaw Valley League Red and posted an impressive 56-44 win over Orchard Lake St. Mary’s last week at Saginaw Valley State.
DIVISION 2
• Marine City (10-2) – Marine City has clinched outright the Macomb Area Conference Bronze championship, its first league title in 34 years. All but one of its wins have been by double digits – and the losses were in overtime by a point to St. Clair in early December and two weeks ago to Blue Water Area Conference leader and one-loss Richmond.
• New Haven (13-1) – The Rockets, Class B semifinalists last season and the champions in 2017, have taken the first step on another run by clinching the MAC White championship with Friday’s 64-37 win over second-place Warren Mott. An opening-night victory over U-D Jesuit remains impressive, and New Haven’s lone loss – by five to Roseville on Dec. 4 – keeps looking better as the Panthers are 13-1.
DIVISION 3
• Saginaw Valley Lutheran (12-1) – Valley Lutheran this week can guarantee surpassing last season’s 13-8 record, and has been climbing in a big way. Ten wins are by double digits – including a 48-38 overtime victory over Ithaca two weeks ago that put the Chargers in first alone in the TVC West. The lone defeat came against TVC Central co-leader Swan Valley.
• Wyoming Potter’s House Christian (12-1) – The Pumas have won outright or shared six straight league championships, and they hold a half-game lead in the Alliance League again after beginning last week by handing Tri-unity Christian its first conference loss, 54-53. As noted above, Potter’s House followed with a big win over Howardsville, which entered last week unbeaten and outscoring opponents by 42 points per game.
DIVISION 4
• Big Rapids Crossroads (12-1) – A 53-47 win Thursday over then co-leader Manistee Catholic Central put Crossroads in first alone in the West Michigan D League and avenged an earlier 10-point defeat to MCC. Crossroads finished 7-15 just a year ago, but has eight wins this season by double digits.
• Martin (8-1) – The Clippers are one of three teams tied for first in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Lakeshore, with Division 3 Fennville and Division 2 Coloma, and after falling to Fennville on Jan. 11. Martin’s next win will give this team just as many as when it finished 9-13 a year ago, and seven of the first eight this winter have been by double figures.
Can't-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Tuesday – Walled Lake Northern (14-0) at Milford (10-3) – The Mavericks can’t climb into first place by beating Lakes Valley Conference leader Northern, but second-place Waterford Mott could slip into a tie for the top spot in that scenario.
Wednesday – Traverse City St. Francis (7-2) at Elk Rapids (8-2) – St. Francis leads the Lake Michigan Conference by a game over the Elks, with this the first of two meetings scheduled.
Saturday – Muskegon (9-3) vs. Grand Blanc (9-4) at Grand Rapids Union – This Redhawk Showcase game pits the SVL Blue-leading Bobcats against a Big Reds team on a five-game winning streak.
Saturday – Kalamazoo Central (9-1) vs. Grand Rapids Christian (10-2) at Grand Rapids Union – The Maroon Giants lead the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East, and the Eagles are tied for first in the O-K Gold.
Saturday – Benton Harbor (14-1) vs. Ypsilanti Lincoln (10-1) at Grand Rapids Union – The 6 p.m. Redhawk Classic game might be the best featuring the reigning Class B champ and a Division 1 title hopeful led by one of the nation’s top freshman.
Second Half’s weekly “Breslin Bound” reports are powered by MI Student Aid, a part of the Student Financial Services Bureau located within the Michigan Department of Treasury. MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information, including various student financial assistance programs to help make college more affordable for Michigan students. MI Student Aid administers the state’s 529 savings programs (MET/MESP) and eight additional aid programs within its Student Scholarships and Grants division. Click for more information and connect with MI Student Aid on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.
PHOTO: Goodrich downed Lake Fenton 57-48 on Jan. 18 and remains a game off the lead in the Genesee Area Conference Red. (Photo by Terry Lyons.)
Muxlow Family Has New All-Time Leading Scorer; Brown City May Soon As Well
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 8, 2023
When Gaden Muxlow talked to his sister Kendal after passing her career point total, he received a congratulatory response – with a caveat.
“She gave me the speech about how she had to miss so many games because of her ACL injuries,” Gaden said with a laugh.
Passing a family member in the Muxlow house – regardless of how many games that family member had to miss – is quite an accomplishment, as the family is all over the Brown City basketball record books. Kendal is the all-time leading scorer in the girls program, with 1,419 points. Mom, Shari, isn’t far behind at 1,363, and dad, Doug, had 1,327.
Gaden sits at 1,481, atop his family ranks and 22 behind the school’s all-time leading scorer Justin McPhail.
With the postseason starting tonight for Brown City, it’s not a guarantee Muxlow will catch McPhail – but it’s a pretty comfortable expectation.
He’s scored at least 22 points in 18 of the Green Devils’ 22 games this season, averaging 27.6 points per game on his way to a school-record 607. The person he had to pass to break that record? Dad.
“Ever since I was a kid, basketball has always been a big focus in our family,” Gaden Muxlow said. “I remember watching my sister in AAU tournaments as a kid, it’s always on the TV. Since I was a kid, I always had goals to beat my siblings. It always gave me a little bit of fire, and I started getting a little more into the season, and as I got closer, we started talking about it a little more in my family. (Passing Kendal) actually felt really good, because my sister was pretty talented, and I grew up watching her play.”
It’s not just family records that Muxlow has been breaking, as he and his teammates enjoyed a 21-1 regular season, which included a Greater Thumb Conference East title.
Muxlow scored a school-record 45 points in a game against Ubly. He has hit 187 of his 222 free throws, smashing the previous mark of 127. He’s also made 62 3-pointers on the season, 13 behind the school record, but not out of reach if the Green Devils make a run.
“He’s a great player,” Brown City coach Bob Hatten said. “He elevates the players around him. He does a good job of staying unselfish, but he also knows in key moments when to take over.”
Muxlow has signed to play at Rochester University, making him the fourth player in his family who will play college basketball.
Kendal is currently at Purdue University-Fort Wayne, Shari played at Dayton and Doug played at Cornerstone.
Gaden’s older brother, Caleb, played football at Concordia.
“I guess it wasn’t as much pressure as it was a lot of people were telling me they were expecting big things from me, and they were excited to watch me play,” Gaden said. “I guess it was a little bit of pressure, and a bit of excitement, as well. I wanted to do as well as I could to live up to the hype or the name, or whatever.”
He’s certainly done that. And when opposing teams were throwing every exotic defense they could think of at him this season, it wasn’t because of his name. It was because of his track record.
“Early in the season, we saw everything,” Hatten said. “Box and one, triangle and two where both guys were on Gaden. We saw teams full court deny him with two guys. We trailed in the second half in seven of our first nine games, and we had to find a way to win some close ones. It was probably midseason when a lot of our guys started falling more in line with their roles and started being more comfortable.”
Thanks to those players fulfilling their roles, and playing well around Muxlow, the Green Devils have thrived, and teams can be punished for focusing too much attention on him.
Fellow senior captains Clint Ford and Callen Hagey have excelled in leadership roles, while also providing some scoring cover for Muxlow. Senior Brandon Kohler has been a threat from the outside, keeping teams honest.
As a team, the Green Devils are holding the opposition to just 39.3 points per game. They’re also executing in areas that win big games, shooting 72.5 percent from the free throw line and turning the ball over fewer than 10 times per game.
The cohesiveness and success make sense when you realize most of these players have been playing with one another since elementary school.
“I think that’s probably the biggest piece to our success; we never have to worry about any drama,” Muxlow said. “Everybody gets along, everybody’s goal is the same thing – just to win. Everybody is buying into their roles. I don’t really feel like I’m doing this in a ball hog way, it’s just a piece to the puzzle that we’ve built along the way. Everybody bought into their role, and everybody knows what they’re doing. I know my role is to put the ball in the bucket, and I do whatever I can to help us win.
“It feels more special that it’s helping and leading to wins.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Brown City’s Gaden Muxlow, right, brings the ball upcourt during a win over Burton Atherton this season. (Middle) The Muxlows celebrate Gaden’s signing with Rochester University. (Photos courtesy of the Muxlow family.)